My Closet is Cleaned Out!
I feel so good now that my closet is cleaned out!
I had the good fortune to cross paths with the book titled It’s So You! Fitting Fashion to Your Life. Of course I was doubtful that there would be anything in the book that would benefit me—me who covers everything but my face and hands. If I hear the lovely advice, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” one more time, I’ll…I’ll…blog about it.
Well, good news. Mary Sheehan Warren did not suggest even one time to flaunt it. Her fashion advice is based on a beautiful premise which she puts like this:
“Each relationship (professional, casual, friendly, familial, and intimate) provides its own level of give and take. So, in the most superficial of these you are barely affected because you give very little away. (You don’t love what you don’t know.) For the most part, you are unmarked and unchanged.
A sexual relationship affects you in a far more pervasive way because you give your most intimate self. So if you are still wired the way you began, you are given in a wholly emotional way in response to that kind of give and take. (Sex and the Single Girl never really got into this stuff.)
How in the world is this related to your style? Dressing for success for your whole life means dressing with the confident knowledge of your true value. If we cannot take our sexuality for granted, our style shouldn’t either. Our style is about who we are and the kinds of relationships we have. If we shouldn’t give ourselves sexually to just anyone, our style must facilitate this. This quality, that is, the refinement that protects our sexuality from the eyes and minds of just anybody, is called modesty.
Try not to conjure up the image of a character from Little House on the Prairie! Modesty isn’t retro. It isn’t weird or even self-denying. It is a positive paradigm for fashion choices; not a strain of fashion removed from the mainstream.
It blends. It’s real and works for real women and promotes our material well-being as well as (and even more importantly) our dignity. It can be fashion-forward and will work in anyone’s personal style — even the trendiest.”
Well that was a pleasant surprise. I felt invigorated and kept reading the book with a sigh of relief.
That’s how I got my closet cleaned out. This book takes you through the hands-on process of figuring out the clothes that work best for your body shape (not size—that’s irrelevant), fashion personality, and skin tone. You don’t just read—you empty your closet, take your measurements, and hold up pink and orange to your face—among other things.
How very interesting that pink brings out the glow in my skin, and orange suits one of my friends the best. I would have thought that our skin tones were the same because our hair and skin look similar, but not so. She looks beautiful next to bright orange, and I look sick next to it!
Granted, I cannot take advantage of everything the author had to say. For example, I do not wear makeup every day like she advises. I’m trying to wean myself off makeup. But at least now I know that if I wear a headscarf in “light cool” colors, my skin will glow all on its own. And I won’t be wearing all of the lengths of skirts that are supposed to suit me (I only wear very long), but from amongst the skirts that are long enough for me, I can choose skirts in the cuts and prints that are supposed to suit me AND that fit my religious guidelines.
