Changes clothes -- and go.

I believe in nice clothes. Particularly for the professional/office type setting I’m living in, regardless of what the official dress code is (it’s pretty loose around these parts). As a lady, I feel I need to look nice everyday (I’m not suggesting wearing a suit everyday [I don’t own one], but nice, presentable, like Christmas Mass nice). Women are held to very different standards than the male counterpart and dressing nice is one way I feel I help keep my impression around my office positive. I know I’m not helping to level out the standard any, but it makes my life easier and I feel better about myself. Dressing nice is an extension of character (how often have you said You look nice or Person X dresses so nice!) as well as a reflection of how you feel about yourself.

When I got this job and I knew I’d be making a fairly strong lifestyle change, I opened up a J.Crew account and dumped about a grand into a new wardrobe as well as nice, new (read: grown up/adult) jeans (my matchstick/extra-super-skinny leg jeans felt grotesquely inappropriate) and tshirts. I wanted people who barely knew my name to know that I’m always put together and look like I’m on top of it (regardless of whether or not I actually know what’s going on!). Maybe I’m just trying to justify that money to myself, but I feel it was worth it. I open my closet everyday and can create an outfit I’m proud to wear (usually thinking to myself: “I’m fancy!”) and I know fits me perfectly. I have a few pairs of shoes that are neutral enough to go with all my pants/shirts but are cute and unique enough that I’ll wear them after work. And although I haven’t bought new clothes for months, I’m still getting compliments on what I’m wearing, depending upon how I’ve chosen to focus the outfit.

I get really annoyed when people don’t dress their bodies correctly. It’s so easy to do and if you don’t wanna dump a ton of money into it up front, build your wardrobe over time. Buy a nice piece, trash (donate) five pieces. When you’re new to an environment, dress nice, and dress nice for a looong time, don’t give in to khakis and polos after the first week. If “dress” clothes make you uncomfortable, they don’t fit right or they’re made of polyester. Donate them and get new ones. Seriously. It’s worth it. Nice cotton, nice merino wool, and well woven pants are heavenly.

The days of “band” tshirts are mostly behind me and my baggy, ripped, patched jeans have been deemed yardwork jeans. They’ve been replaced with solid colored tshirts, jeans that I don’t have to peel off (and fewer stomachaches to boot!), but I’ve kept all my tennis shoes (I’ll never part with my checkboard vans, black chuck taylors, or flipflops!)! It’s all part of growing up, I suppose, but I’m proud of my style and I’m glad I went from being a total slob to a not so slob, because I appreciate my nice clothes so much more (my apologies to that giant pair of wal-mart cargo pants I loved so dearly in high school).

Now, for all my soap-boxin about looking nice, it’s important to note that I don’t wear makeup hardly ever. I do have slightly sensitive skin and I love the make up I have (I used to sell the stuff and its another thing I invested in for awhile so I know what I like) but I just don’t wear it. Someone feel free to get all soapboxy on me about wearing makeup, I’ll hear you out. Also, I never style my hair, if it doesn’t look good air-dried, its time to get it re-cut/styled.