Dress yourself, not somebody else

I wanted to take a minute to talk a little bit about style, fashion, and how it is portrayed within our culture. Often, high fashion is portrayed as something for people of high socioeconomic class. Many times, it is. New, brand name, this season, designer clothing is expensive. Check out Rag and Bone, Free People, Alice and Olivia, or just about anything on Shop Bop. A lot of great new fashion is not financially available to everyone.  I do not think it is supposed to be. However, sometimes you need to take yourself out of elitism and realize that the things you wear should be representations of you, not what a few people think is the next big thing. After all, being debt free is more attractive than designer clothing.

Someone thought this was great. It certainly is creative, and probably does represent this lady. That doesn't mean you should wear it.

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanwoodswalker/4029336310/">Urban Woodswalker</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

So, while you are keeping this is mind. Dress your body for your body. If skinny jeans don't make you feel skinny, do not force it. Feel like a clown in bright purple pants even though you've seen other people in them? I don't blame you. Feel like you are drowning in a pool of fabric in a maxi dress? It's okay to dress for a petite body and lose the long flowing dress. Do you wish you were a size 6 when you are a size 12? Don't wear the size 6 even if you can fit it over you. Wear clothes true to size. Wearing something too small or too big doesn't look good. Embrace your size, large or small. Focus on your health, not your size or weight. A healthy lifestyle is more important than dress measurements. On the same note, a well fitting dress will make you feel better than the number on the label. Does shopping at juniors stores and only fitting into a large or extra large size when you are usually a small or medium make you feel bad? Stop going there. Chances are, those clothes are not made for you anyways. Everything doesn't work for everyone. Focus on what works for you. This woman above did and you can just see that confidence.