On Fashion

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others;
for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness;
and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. 
Audrey Hepburn

On Fridays, I write about fashion.  Why?

For starters, I love clothes and shoes and styles and patterns and fabrics.  I’m not an artist but I am a creative.  I can’t create with music or paint.  So I create with outfits and words and Christmas cards and party themes.

Fashion is also a way I connect with women.  This little spot on the blogosphere connects me to women who love to ask what to wear to a garden wedding or how to overhaul their closet.

I’ve learned, over the years, how keep fashion from taking me hostage, and there are times I’m at my happiest in a ponytail and pullover.

But I also use fashion to help buoy me when I need an extra jolt of confidence.  A big presentation yesterday called for a sleek black sheath, a modern purple blazer, and high heels with beautiful lines.

Fashion is an integral part of my memories.  When I remember a special moment, I can tell you exactly what I wore.

The night Bray saw me for the first time, I wore a taupe tweed skirt suit with faux fur collar and knee-high heeled boots.  At the Mucky Duck, for our first conversation, I wore black leather pants and a long gray sweater with ankle boots.  The day the kids were baptized, I donned a beautiful cranberry dress with buttons and ruffles down the bodice and a full skirt.  For high school graduation, my mom purchased a lovely fit and flare dress with an abstract pattern in blues and purples and greens.

I wear long jackets when I speak.  I’m almost 5’10 so there’s something about having a power jacket and heels on to give me the confidence my little introverted heart needs.

For years, I’ve tried to find opportunities to wear knee-high boots (tricky in Houston).  This outfit was especially precious to me because Little Bit and I matched.  Matching denim dresses, knee high boots, and fox scarves – not my typical ‘style.’  Fashion isn’t always work formal for me (even though that’s what I write about most). Sometimes it’s these annual pumpkin patch pictures we take to commemorate their birthdays.

I embrace bright colors.  I love this shot, not because it’s the prettiest photo of me, because little bit snapped it while I was sitting on the farm’s front porch.

If given the chance, ever so rarely, I love dressing up.  (And chairing a gala makes it extra fun to get gussied up!)

Fashion is a way I show how I feel and get through tough days and have fun.

Gianni Versace once said, “That is the key of this collection, being yourself. Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way you live.”

That’s my key to fashion.  And my love for fashion.

Individuality.  Embracing creativity.  Having fun.

So you can expect Fashion Fridays for a while…

{This is the third in a series of essays On Living.}