Are You Complicating Things?

We all know that women have many options of clothing to choose from. This gives us more opportunity to create a personal style, but it can also make things complicated and overwhelming.

Let’s think about the girl who is a “tomboy” growing up. It could have been you, your daughter, a friend growing up or your friend’s daughter. Many girls go through a stage where they only want to wear pants. And despite how the mom may argue with her, the girl at this time of her life has made a style decision.

So what happens when there is a special event and the girl is supposed to dress up? Well, one of two things happen.

1) Depending on what exactly the event is, who is throwing it and how young the girl is, she may be able to get away with not wearing a dress.

Often though, what happens is the second thing.

2) The mother forces the little girl to wear the dress which she is miserable about.

The good news here…

We are now all grown-up and can actually make the decisions on what we want to wear.

So are we sometimes forcing ourselves to wear things that we don’t really want to?

Why do we do this and are there other options?

Image from freedigitalphotos.net by Stuart Miles

Yes, usually there are other options.  In most cases, we may be thinking we have to buy and own things from every category. The truth is, that if there is a category or two that doesn’t suit you, chances are there are ways around it.

 Let’s go back to the special occasion. If you as an adult don’t want to wear a dress you don’t have to. That is right, you heard me. If you are going to a dressy event and you don’t like wearing dresses, there are options for wearing pants and adding shoes, jewelry bags and other accessories to the outfit that will make it very appropriate for a special occasion. So if you don’t like wearing dresses, simply don’t wear them. (One advantage to being an adult) 

I was never a fan of shorts. But as a kid going to camp, I had no choice. Many years ago, it hit me; I really don’t need to seek out purchasing new shorts. The bulk of the summer, I can wear pants or dresses and pretty much avoid shorts. I do keep around a few pairs for active sporty events or sitting in grass etc. However, shorts are no longer an item on my summer shopping list.

Similarly, I was recently working with a client who was looking for some cropped summer pants. She is a difficult fit, because her tummy is a much larger proportion than her legs. In the winter she does well with leggings which can stretch and cling accordingly. So when she told me she was on the look out for summer pants, I proposed to her the question. Did she really want summer pants because it was a category that she thought she needed, or would she be equally happy to instead focus on some breezy summer dresses which would be an easier fit for her?

Now this is just food for thought. She may have some summer tops that she loves and hence want the pants to go with them. Wait could we look for skirts instead? Maybe she loves pants and that is fine too, we will seek out some that will work for her.

But the point is, if there is a category you struggle with, present yourself with the question, is this a category I need in my wardrobe or do I just feel some how obligated to own things in all categories.? 

You might be relieved to find that you have one less category to shop for.