Personal Style

Yesterday I spoke with a friend of mine from the Coaches Training Institute. Jenny Ferry was presenting an opportunity for me to be a part of her workshop, which empowers young 20 something women transitioning into the "real world". As I thought about it, it struck me that I know more about this than being a mom. I've been a mom for a year, but I was a 20 something for 10 years.

What Jenny asked me to be a part of was "Personal Style". Hmmmm....I do have a degree in Fashion Merchandising from Fashion Careers of California College and worked in the fashion industry for several years before I made the switch to Exercise Science. Which made me think about how much my personal style has changed since then. Of coarse we evolve, especially as women. We graduate from college, some get married, some have kids, some change jobs. The way we dress, our hairstyles and make-up change with the ever evolving trends, but does the core of our personal style really change? Personal style goes beyond just how we look. The music we listen to, the way we decorate our homes, even our cars emulate who we really are.

I love watching fashion programs on TV. I love Project Runway, but one that I can't stand is "What Not to Wear". First off, the woman on there, Stacy London, rips people to shreds and makes them feel stupid for the way they dress. Is that anyway to start a new look? Like it's not daunting enough to venture into a new "you", but to tell someone, "You look like you wrapped yourself in grandmas drapes and then she vomited on you!" Ugh! It's too uncomfortable for me to watch. Then, they put them in new outfits and most of the time you can see the uncomfortableness all over the peoples faces. My point is, that you can't fake it. For instance, I love Gwen Stefani's style. She's a musician, a mom, she's hip and cute, a trendsetter by every stretch of the imagination. Can I pull off her style? (Hysterical laughing)....NO! It's just not me. I would be in the back pages of Glamour Magazine's "Fashion Do's and Don'ts" with a black box over my face. The caption would read, "DON'T be a mom from the suburbs and try to pull off someone else's look and think you're cute". And Stacy London would be in the background of the picture pointing and laughing at me with her devil ears and pitchfork.

As I look in my own closet I made a mental inventory of what's there. Plain t-shirts in every color of the rainbow. Cute, well-fitting jeans, some more dressy shirts. Now, the back of my closet is more interesting, however those clothes don't see the light of day too often. It's just not where I am right now. And I'm okay with that. I'm comfortable, myself, put-together and well...a mom. Do I need to wear my Charles David heels and $200 jeans while I pick up chicken off the floor and clean dirty diapers? I'm stylish when I need to be and to me, that's my own Personal Style.