Style That Makes You Smile
LOVE, JOY, PEACE
If you’re familiar with the fruit of the spirit…you know that love, joy and peace show up when you’re living the life you’re meant to live.
Truly, your style reflects these same fruits. When you’ve got it, it’s easy to see the power style has on your life. Most of us don’t recognize it or know how to control it, but if you figure it out you’ll have a deadly skill. (If looks could kill.)
Style comes from a place of love, it can give you unexpected freedom to really feel joy, and it will bring you peace of mind so you can focus on what matters the most.
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LOVE: STYLE IS ART
When I’m exploring my love for color, texture, design, perfect proportions, and when I feel comfortable and beautiful in my outfits, it’s like I’m in love.
There’s no other time or place that I feel so connected with my Creator, or feel so much gratitude, than when I’m surrounded by beautiful things, in nature or around inspiring design that humans created.
When I started to pursue beauty, doing more than wrapping Barbie in dresses made up of flowing scarves, or designing brochures for fake companies in Microsoft Publisher, or re-decorating the living room every time I dusted, I realized I had a real knack for design.
Designing, a visual art, turned into styling which I then learned was something very personal and important for everyone. It’s also dysfunctional.
So I got this crazy idea that I can do something I love, using art to help people change their negative feelings about fashion and appearance.
I want women to be more confident and comfortable in their style, which will help them feel more loving and loveable and appreciate the beauty around them.
JOY: PURE STYLE
Your clothes reflect the pain you feel about your body and self-image. Your childhood experiences, how you’ve been treated for the way you look, and your unspoken fears are all buried deep in your closet.
If you don’t let go of that baggage, your clothes will control you, sucking up your time, energy, and money. You won’t find any joy getting the latest and greatest fashions, luxury brands, or approval from other people. That’s all just a trap.
Make a conscious choice to wear apparel that makes you feel good, in your mind and body, and you’ll start to feel joy and hope in your style.
So many times I’ve watched the faces of women when they start to recognize this freedom. This is the power of style, style that can bring joy, style that everyone has.
DON’T MISTAKE STYLE FOR MATERIALISM
Most of us grew up in a culture where a life focused on desiring and accumulating things is unhealthy, if not immoral.
I grew up in a religious culture that made me feel I needed to diminish my femininity, creativity, appreciation for shopping, apparel, and (dare I say it) desire to feel beautiful.
I felt like I needed to be more like the guys, told myself I was vain and worldly (like Susan in the last of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books…no heaven because she was shopping…!?), and that I wasn’t sensible or spiritual enough.
It’s true that humans are good at making anything ridiculous, and it’s not right to make style an idol anymore than Baal or money or the latest Netflix series or food craze or the latest tech or media obsessions.
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
Fortunately, I also grew up around people who shared my values and had genuine style.
This included my parents who’ve always appreciated and had style as I’ve defined over (def #5) and over (naturally, I didn’t realize they were cool until I was an adult), and they taught me to pursue truth and not be afraid of going against the grain.
It still took a while to learn I could love God and enjoy fashion without worry or guilt. Perhaps that has made me all the more passionate to help women experience the joy style can bring.
PEACE: FINDING COMFORT IN STYLE
We spend a significant part of our lives thinking about apparel.
We shop for it, change into and out of it (multiple times a day), plan what to wear, clean it, prepare it, adjust it for comfort or when moving, and look at it to understand people or simply appreciate it.
It’s unavoidable. It’s part of living a thoughtful, rational life.
Whether you’ve taken the time to consciously consider your style or not, it’s affected your past, it’s affecting your present, and will affect your future.
It’s smart to take advantage of style’s utility to improve your life. Why not look for apparel that makes you feel good, gives you comfort, confidence, and the mental freedom to focus on what’s important to you?
Style won’t end poverty, heal cancer, or stop sexual abuse. But when you use your clothing to bring you comfort and support your lifestyle, you’re giving yourself peace of mind.
Peace that transcends the clothes you put on and gives you the freedom to think about how you can save the world. Or simply be a great mom, a great doctor, a great saleswoman, and a great friend and lover.
Use style to bring you more peace to be more you.