Sunday, October 4, 2015

October 4: Writing Prompt #277-The Clothes That (May) Make the (Wo)man

How important are clothes to you? Describe your style, if you have one, and tell us how appearance impacts how you feel about yourself.

How important are clothes to me?  Well, I like clothes. I enjoy shopping and the challenge of putting things together now and again.  My mom used to like me to go shopping with her to pick out things she might like that she probably wouldn’t choose on her own.  I like that she trusted my sense of style in later years because I know she thought I dressed a little oddly in high school.  I had my own style, including wearing multiple watches up my wrist (all Swatch, of course) along with all kinds of costume jewelry and interesting combinations of outfits from nice church dresses to beatnik and grunge styles.  I have since come into my own, and I’m pretty good at choosing what most flatters my aging figure today.  I realized a little too late that I should have appreciated my figure as a teenager and young woman a bit more when I picked up clothes from storage at my parent’s house back in December…everything was large and even extra large! These were the clothes I wore in college, when I was between 19-22 years old!! Today, I am usually a medium and back then possibly even a small at times, but I was SO self conscious, I didn’t feel comfortable wearing anything less than really baggy and extra big.  Once on Kwajalein, I gained confidence and by the time I left, I was wearing clothes that were definitely more appropriately fitted to me.  My self-esteem grew up, you could say.  Appearance impacts how I feel about myself more than I care to admit. You know if I’m super tired, sick, or having a bad day because I’ll be dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt to work, but if I’m feeling positive and ready to face the day’s challenges confidently, I will have a nice skirt and top on and my best shoes and accessories.  When I’m feeling good, my style shines through, which is kind of unique to me, I think, not sure I know how to describe it exactly. Maybe you all who know me would be better at that. What about you? What’s your style and what does it say about you?    

No comments: