Fashionable Clothing and Attitude - How One Affects the Other

Have you ever noticed how you feel affects how you dress for the day? And the reverse is also true: What you wear affects your mood? So clothing and attitude are both the cause and the effect, constantly interchanging which side of the equation they fall under.

There are times when I wake up feeling worn out and dowdy, and then I select frumpy sweats to wear and tie my hair back in a ponytail, matching perfectly my emotions. Or another scenario, I wake up still feeling like a frump but instead this time I style my hair, put on some make-up, and choose a cute outfit. The day gets better, and I'm feeling better about myself. Or yet another scenario, we wake up feeling wonderful and then put on an old stained t-shirt and some ripped up jeans -- not feeling so hot anymore. The best scenario: we wake up excited about life and our clothing matches that attitude.

These may sound like shallow statements, but they are so true. The essential difference that I want to make though is that clothing shouldn't define who we are but yet they may represent a state of emotion at a particular time -- and clothing can simply enhance or even alter our attitude for the better.

The bottom line is that fashion changes all the time -- think about the bell bottom jeans of the seventies -- would you have even dared to wear those in the nineties? You could wear them again today and look like you're on top of the fashion world. Remember leg warmers? Most people don't even know what they are today. Our attitude should not change as drastically as changing fashion. We want to be in touch with who we are while playing with fashion along the way.

We don't have to be a fashion guru, I know I'm certainly not, but there are some basics I think we can all handle -- and they can only enhance our feeling good about ourselves.

• Confidence: Choose clothes that you can wear with an attitude, that help you feel attractive and good about yourself. Have fun with it!
• Clothes that Fit: The worse thing you can do for yourself is to buy clothes that don't fit properly. If you wear clothes that are too small, you'll only feel huge and you'll look it too. Buy the size that you are now, not the one you want to be, or you'll just get frustrated. By the same token, don't wear clothing that drowns you. Enhance some of your better features while playing down perhaps the ones that aren't your best.
• Cleanliness: So what do I mean by that? Simple -- wear clean clothes. Filthy clothing may send a message that our hygiene isn't the best either. And that won't help our confidence!
• Accessorize, but don't overdo: Maybe if we're wearing a simple outfit, big flashy jewelry will work -- or vice versa. We all remember those girls in high school -- the ones with the big hair, heavy make-up, massive earrings, and fancy-clad clothing -- who had to overdo for lack of confidence, but unbeknownst to them it usually backfired.

If we're confident about ourselves, we'll be confident in whatever we wear whether it's a pair of jeans and t-shirt, or a little black dress. There are real fashion resources out there, and there are also plenty of programs and books to help feel better about ourselves. Good luck in your fashion journey!