Your Fashion Vision - Your Best Self, In Style

I was recently invited to be part of an upcoming seminar on fashion and lifestyle and the requirement to participate was that I come up with a lifestyle presentation (of my choice). I believe that lifestyle includes everything about how you live, so there were many options.

Since I’m passionate about living my life to the fullest, I decided to explore how fashion fits into that equation. I decided to explore the idea of how loving yourself and self care are all part of how you present yourself to the world. After some contemplation, the questions that came up for me were…

As it relates to fashion…how do I want to feel?

How can fashion help me to create my story and achieve my goals?

Why does it matter how I show up in the world?

And lastly…since I can be anything I want to be in my life, how can fashion help me show as the woman I desire to be?

I thought I would give you all an overview of my presentation and so…here goes! I hope you enjoy!

Oprah Winfrey is the queen of living on purpose and she has a famous quote that says “The energy of your intention is what determines you life.” She goes on to say that most people don’t think about their intention, they just think about what they want to do. Most people don’t think about why they want to do the thing. But ultimately, what’s going to come back to you, the energy that’s going to come back to you is the real why of why you do what you do. It’s worth contemplating the why of your intention so that the energy that comes back is what you want it to be. Keep reading…

You may be asking…what in the world do energy and intention have to do with fashion?

As a lifestyle blogger with a definite emphasis on fashion, I receive lots of comments from women (mostly women in midlife) and often, they are self deprecating comments. The meaning of SELF-DEPRECATING is tending or serving to disparage or undervalue oneself.

“Talk to yourself like you would talk to someone you love.” ~ Brene Brown

The value we see in ourselves is the starting point, so let’s explore a few more questions…

Do I value myself?

Why am I valuable?

Does my idea about my value affect how my life is going?

Does my idea about my value determine how I dress?

Is my idea about my value even true?

How can I begin to reframe this and why is it important?

Everything and I mean everything in life is determined by how much value we place on ourselves. As I’ve stated many times before, we are all creative expressions of the Source of all things! Therefore, we all have unique gifts that we are responsible for sharing with the world.

You may be thinking…what does fashion even have to do with this?

The way you choose to dress yourself is more often than not, the way the world judges you. The way you choose to dress yourself is more often than not, a reflection of the value you place on yourself. Why does that matter?

Let’s go back to the quote from Oprah - “The energy of your intention is what determines your life.”

When you get dressed, what is your energy? How do the clothes you choose make you feel? Clothes can make you feel like a rock star and clothes can also make you feel frumpy and unattractive and most of the time, the things you choose to put on are a reflection of your mindset at the moment!

How you feel influences how you act and how you show up in the world. Your actions create your life. Dressing for the woman you want to be is a good start to creating the life you want to live.

It’s like a cycle…which comes first? You love yourself and truly believe you are valuable and here on purpose…as a result, you feel important and ready to go out into the world and shine…you choose clothes that reflect the way you feel. Your intention is to live your purpose, you dress the part, and your energy draws in people, situations and ideas that guide you along your path rather effortlessly.

So the first and most important thing is to figure out how to love yourself and know your intrinsic worth. Then, create a vision for your life. Michael Beckwith talks about “life visioning” and part of life visioning is creating a vision and then saying to the Universe - “I am ready for the next, greatest version of myself. I am available”. Inner work creates the version of you that the world sees and you become an energetic match for your vision!

When you begin to create a vision for your life, what does that look like that and how can what you wear reflect and reinforce that vision? How can you show up in your life with your own unique style?

“Confidence. If you have it, you can make anything look good.” ~ Diane Von Furstenberg

Let’s go back to the original questions…

How do I want to feel? This question really has nothing to do with fashion, but the clothes you wear can help to reflect the way you want to feel and reinforce those feelings. Do you want to feel confident, powerful, romantic, cute, sassy or sexy? First, go back to the why…because your why is the energy behind the intention of feeling a certain way. Do you want to feel a certain way because you think you are not that way, or do you want to feel a certain way to reflect your personality and where you’re headed in your life?

What is the greatest version of yourself that you can show to the world right now? If you’re not feeling powerful or cute, can you list (on paper or in your head) a few things that are powerful about you (remember true power lies within) and can you list a few ways that you’re cute. Let your clothing choices reflect these things and then compliment yourself on your choices. Talking to yourself in a positive way is an affirmation to the Universe that you are moving forward and showing up! This is different than trying to “be positive”.

How can fashion help me to create my story and achieve my goals? Here is a quote from Rosabeth Moss Kanter that really says it all…

“Confidence isn’t optimism or pessimism, and it’s not a character attribute. It’s the expectation of a positive outcome.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Work on your confidence! When I started blogging, I had no confidence and was scared to death of what people would think. I was very needy and expected all of my validation to come from outside situations, people and places. It wasn’t until my marriage nearly ended and I hit rock bottom that I realized something had to change and I began to do the inner work that was necessary to bring about change and help me to find happiness. After much contemplation, study, journaling, meditation and prayer, I began to truly believe that I had unique gifts to share with the world and I started to ask…why not me? I still have to remind myself almost daily, but I believe in myself and when I dress the part…I only feel more confident! An occasional bad day is normal, but deep inside I know my worth so when those bad days come along, clothes really can do the trick! Fashion is so much more fun when you’re confident!

Why does it matter how I show up in the world? It matters because you matter! It is also true that the way you present yourself is important because you only have one chance to make a first impression! What if your dream partner or the person that will one day invest in your company or knows someone who knows someone is in the grocery story at the same time you are and you’ve just rolled in with sweatpants and no makeup and…they never notice you? If you’re expecting a positive outcome, then it’s a good idea to dress for it!

“Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.” ~ Rachel Zoe

And my favorite…Since I can be anything I want to be in my life, how can fashion help me show as the woman I desire to be? Having and holding a vision is important! One thing I’ve learned through my self awareness work is that our desires are not random. Your desires are there for a reason! There is nothing wrong with wanting! Gratitude for what is and desire for more is the key to moving forward in life. For example…I am beyond grateful for everything in my life right now…my gorgeous grandsons, my beautiful and peaceful home, my marriage, my smart, beautiful and accomplished daughters and I’m so grateful for my business and the growth I’ve experienced but I STILL WANT MORE! The more successful I am, the more I can share my message and help others…the further my reach can be!

Everyone’s “more” looks different and because we are all unique, that’s the way it should be! You could be at the point in life where you are ready to retire from what you’ve done for years but you want to do something more peaceful that allows you to have more time to travel, etc. You can still dress for the version of you that’s coming next!

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I always knew the woman I wanted to be.” ~ Diane Von Furstenberg

I always feel that I need to clarify about dressing well and spending money. The two don’t have to go hand in hand. You can dress well with clothing that you’ve purchased at a consignment or vintage store. The point here is to let your clothing express who you are becoming because you are doing the inner work to become the next and greatest version of you!

This is a two part post and the next part will come soon and I want to help you to actually get into your closet and figure out what to wear! I’ll help you to make a Fashion Vision Board that will reflect the next, greatest version of yourself (it’s ever evolving).

Have you noticed your clothes reflecting how you feel about yourself and life? I’d love to hear in the comments!