Today we are talking about fashion, Mom jeans, putting together outfits and how to improve your style.

Let’s first go ahead and say that fashion sense isn’t one of your five inherent senses. Very few people feel like they were just “born with it” when it comes to style… I am not one of those people. I struggled with knowing what to wear, how to assemble outfits, and how to, honestly, dress so that I would “fit in” and look like everyone else. From middle school on, essentially when I was old enough to realize that I had control over what I wanted to wear (sorry, Mom) I’ve been growing, changing, struggling, and failing forward in the realm of style.

I bumbled along in the dark with my fashion sense from the ages of 12 to 27… not kidding. Then, as I discussed last week in my chat about all things fashion with my friend Melissa, a friend asked me to participate in a Putting Me Together Style challenge. The rest, they say is history. Since then I’ve become a student of style and seeking to find fashion in a way that fits with my life and expresses who I truly am. Dressing with confidence has played a role in my career path, my entrepreneurial journey and even my love life! I’m so excited to be talking about style and that journey today… let’s go!
The first step to improving in any area of your life is admitting that you suck (in my case) or simply deciding that you’d like to up your game.

Of course… this step, although the most simple, is often the hardest step. Inertia is the tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. You’ve had a habit of doing things a certain way for years and years. You have to get fed up enough, or just be sick-and-tired of being sick and tired to actually make a change. Maybe today’s episode will serve as the inspiration to get going and learn something new!

Find fashionable folks to follow online.

Obviously I’m a huge fan of Audrey of Putting Me Together – she was the very first fashion blogger I ever followed and remains a daily source of inspiration. I use her website like a search engine – it’s one of my premier resources for how to wear certain items or getting inspiration for date nights, business casual, comfy weekend outfits and the list goes on.

Merrick of Merrick’s Art has become a recent go-to of mine as well. Merrick has a wealth of knowledge and her blog and website are also very searchable. She’s got awesome reels on many ways to wear one piece and get dressed with Merrick features on her IG stories never fail to inform and inspire me to try wearing certain items but wearing them well. Her style guides are crucial for when you buy the new item – say combat boots – that has been trending, but when you get it home you aren’t sure how to style it. Merrick nails the “HOW” of different pieces and assembling outfits each and every time.

There are so many fashion and lifestyle bloggers and influencers that I find it’s best to choose just a few. You should be following people who share about styles that fit your lifestyle.

Try one thing at a time.

When you start following a blogger, don’t try to go from drab to fab overnight…. Look for themes, trends, and things they recommend regularly (front tucking your shirt, cuffing your jeans with ankle boots, or layering) and master one skill at a time. This will do two things – it will boost your confidence and give you that “shot in the arm” to keep experimenting without being disappointed.

It’s about more than just clothing…

Fashion is sometimes thought to be superficial… it’s “just clothing” it’s “just makeup” or “just haircolor or a new haircut”… but honestly, it’s so much more than that. You will hear me say often that Confidence is the best accessory and nothing is more true.

When you feel confident in your clothing you walk taller, take chances, and you are a different, more vibrant and braver version of you. You’re still you and yes, you need to work on your self, your self-care, and cultivating a healthy body, positive mind with a growth mindset, positive relationships… but you’re going to get dressed any way. I’m 99.9% sure you aren’t wandering through life completely naked. You get dressed each and every day.

So… If what you get dressed in is leaving you feeling confident, glowing, put together and simply great… this will change the way you approach your day.

I have seen a MASSIVE transformation in my style and therefore my confidence in the past 4 years. I attribute this podcast, my confidence to quit my job, build this platform and this business in large part to the fact that I felt confident clothes. This was because I have clothes that fit, I felt comfortable putting together outfits and I felt better about myself.

It was something external, forward facing to the World, but also what I saw when I looked in the mirror, in photos and what I was posting on social media. It’s interesting… feeling confident when I’m put together with a well-thought out outfit and makeup on… has made me more likely to show up on social media at 4am, makeup-less in my worn tie-dyed sweatshirt. I’m not entirely sure I can explain why… I would have to say that by looking good and feeling confident about my fashion sense… put me in the habit of feeling confidence day-in-and-day-out – to the point where it doesn’t actually matter what I’m wearing.

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