Welcome to the third and last part of “Your wardrobe as your Life Coach”. It is fascinating and truly amusing how much our closets are a carbon copy of what is going on in our lives!
In Part 1 we discussed how to organise your wardrobe and how to keep it current, which mirrors how up-to-date you are with any other area of your life.
In Part 2 we discussed how mindfulness is reflected in your wardrobe and – again – how this mirrors your life.
In the first two parts we did talk a lot about the quantity of your clothes. It is time to take a look at the quality.
6. Sales or high end?
Let me ask you a question: how many of your clothes did you buy mainly because they were a “bargain” on sale? Because you just couldn’t resist the “opportunity”?
If you are completely honest, you would not have bought them at the regular price, because they were not worth it or they were not quite what you wanted in the first place.
To make things clear, I like a good deal as much as the next person, but I’ve learned the hard way what really is a good deal. Most aren’t. A really good deal is one where you look at the garment and fall in love BEFORE you see the price ticket. If then it’s on sale – congratulations!
That’s a real bargain, because you love it, it fits you, you are going to wear it and feel great in it.
Anything else is not a bargain, but a money drain. And as a consequence, your wardrobe is cluttered and you can’t afford the really classy pieces…
In the same line, some people stuff their days to the brim with “things do to”, most of them devoid of quality:
- activities to distract them from their actual goals
- mindless internet or social media dwadleling (is that a word?)
- things they do for other people when they would rather say No but don’t dare to
- things they do routinely without wondering how to do them better or if they need to do them at all
- doing things to “fit in”.
On our way to a first class life, all of us need to learn to do less better.
Talking about fitting in….
7. Are you boring?
You are not, but….
Do you remember when you were 14? What was the worst possible thing that could happen to you, worse than death or teachers’ and parents’ wrath?
Not fitting in with your friends.
The wrong shoes, the wrong shade of pink nail polish, the wrong sweater, the wrong bag at school, the wrong hairstyle could all become matters of life and death because of your friends’ reaction.
Remember the feeling?
Here is the surprising fact: many – adult – women let their inner teenager choose their clothes and dictate their lives. Teenagers would probably be more than surprised if they knew how much these same anxieties (“I need to fit in”) are ruling the content of their mothers’ wardrobe:
- not too long
- not too short
- not too colourful
- not too unconventional
- not too conventional
- not too classic
- not too cheap
- not too expensive
- not too crazy
- not too simple
- not too eccentric.
The list goes on and one…
Put blandly: how boring is your wardrobe?*
If you want to avoid a well-lived life at all costs, here’s what to do: be generic. Do what everyone around you does. Let the others establish the rules and ignore your essence.
True elegance means your personality can shine!
What is your personal brand of femininity? Are you eccentric, classic, natural, refined, trendy, sophisticated, down to earth? Does your wardrobe enhance and reflect your uniqueness? Or is it full with clothes, which do not make you feel like the best version of yourself, but rather what you think you “should” wear to “fit in”?
- How many hours in your day are spent wasted on activities you do because you feel you should do them in order to “fit in”?
- If you were sure everyone would love you for it, what would you do differently right now (you know, the thing you always tell your best friend to go for it)?
- Can you notice when your inner teenager is ruling the game in your closet and in your life?
Rather than wasting your energy and your life to get a little better at something you don’t really like, strive for doing unashamedly what you love and do it extraordinarily well!
Let’s get out of the closet (excuse the pun),
Rima
* BTW, a wardrobe (or a house, or a spouse or a life), which exists merely to impress the Joneses is 100 percent boring in my book, no matter how tasteful or luxurious or unconventional!
