Monday, July 14, 2008

Clothing Confidence


by Whitney Portnoy
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not very adventurous when it comes to the clothes I wear. Sure, I like reading about fashion, and I like shopping (occasionally) but as much as I liked all those cute dresses and trendy tops, I never really wanted to wear them on a day-to-day basis. Isn’t it easier to wear jeans and sneakers? I’m much more comfortable that way, so why go through all the hassle of dressing up if I’m just spending the day running errands?

I started working at a clothing store last month. I applied there because I loved their clothes, and even had a few things from the store, but I didn’t wear some of the things I had on a regular basis because I was worried they were too “dressy” to be in my everyday rotation. All the skirts I liked to wear were pretty basic, and I didn’t feel like getting that dolled up just to go to class.

That changed pretty quickly once I started working there! Not only do we get a great discount, but I’ve noticed that I’m picking up a lot of style tips from the people I work with. I really like a lot of the clothes we carry, and I figure that if everyone else can wear a cute dress or dress up a great top and a pair of jeans with some accessories (one of the little lessons I’ve learned) without needing a special occasion to, then why can’t I? I’ve had a lot of fun mixing and matching different pieces, and seeing how I can make my cute-but-still-casual style work with the clothes in the store.

In the end, I think it all comes down to trusting yourself. Your own personal style can be anything you want, and you can pull off any look as long as you wear that dress and those brightly colored shoes with a little bit of confidence.

So tell me, what’s your favorite style?