Dress Your Life – A Manifesto

I’m not gonna lie, ladies. Dressing for an event is fun, whether it is you who is attending, or whether you are dressing someone else.  N’s TV appearance was an exciting step out of the realities of my life, and therefore a pleasure to style.  Style for everyday, however, is different.

My late grandmother ז"ל dressed up to go out – anywhere. Not in her evening finery, no,  but she was always put together with lipstick applied no matter where she went. As she grew older the destinations diminished but she always kept up appearances. I miss my grandmother terribly… and my birthdays, that once were a day we shared (I was born on the day she turned 50), have a large gaping hole in them...  But I think of her often, especially now that my life consists of many school or supermarket runs and fewer work related appearances.  I always see her in my mind’s eye, painting that dab of  plummy lipstick on her way out of the door.

I don’t think I am alone in this. For many of us, who work less, or work from home, or work AT home, life has changed dramatically and with it how we look.

When your life feels circumscribed it is easy to put on the same ratty gym clothes and wear them, day in and day out. It is easy to tuck away your work wardrobe in a far corner of your closet and forget. It is easy to run out last minute without your lipstick.

But is ‘easy’ better?

In a time when our beings are regulated by medicine, when “The Eternal Sunshine of the Beautiful Mind” is no longer science fiction, we forget that simple, uncomplicated remedies can help. Making an effort when an effort is unnecessary for anyone but your inner self is worth the while, ladies.  My grandmother’s  advice actually, truly, works.

It isn’t just dress the body you have, ladies, rather than the one you once had or wish you could regain. The maxim is also dress the life you have, not the one you once had or wish you could regain.

 Dress your life.

How , ye may ask?

The first step of “Dress Your Life” is re-organizing and purging.

-          Go through your work clothes and pick out the casual items . Put them where you can see them.

-          Throw out old jeans , Tshirts, and sweatpants. Anything that has been worn every day over the past few years deserves the boot.  Anything sagging around the bottom or the boobs. Anything with piling fabric.   Throw them out! These are terrorists, constantly infiltrating past your safeguards.

The next step is to reassess, take stock of what there is, and get a few key items. Doesn’t have to be pricey – any budget can accommodate a thing or two.  Next time I will post on the first key item – the outer layer.

“Dress Your Life” will be a recurring series on the blog.  Please come back and follow them!