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When was the last time you dressed to the nines? To be quite honest, I personally can’t recall. I work from home and my favorite article of clothing is a hoodie. In fact, as I type this, I’m currently sporting a sweatshirt and leggings (that probably have cat hair on them). I’m not typically a fancy, chic person… Though I do clean up nice if the occasion calls for it. Recently, however, I’ve been thinking… Isn’t every dang day an occasion to be, and look, awesome? After all, the way you dress influences your identity (both to yourself and others). This is something that I remind myself all the time when I’m quizzically examining my closet for something to wear, but the concept has just been driven home quite spectacularly by my late grandmother (unbeknownst to her).
A couple of months ago, my grandma passed away and left me a treasure trove of memories – and fake costume jewelry. I’m talking pounds and pounds of “fake jewelry.” It’s overwhelming actually, in lots of different ways. The most obvious is that it’s sad to go through a lost loved one’s belongings. Another, is all the blood I’ve lost from pricked fingers courtesy of open brooches (seriously, not a single pin was latched, haha). And of course, the sheer amount of it all. Let’s just say, if it were all real gold and gemstones, my grandma would’ve put the Queen of England to utter shame! (I hope they’re not both up there in heaven shaking their fingers at me…)
As I sorted through the hat boxes of gems that still lingered strongly of Grandma’s perfume, I marveled at the vast enormity of her collection, and wondered what on Earth I should do with it all. (I still don’t know!) I’m really not exaggerating when I say that I think she had a necklace, pair of earrings, brooch, and bangles for every day of the year – for “casual” AND evening attire. (I won’t even get into the amount of clothes we cleaned out of her condo.) And I was struck then, with the realization that she was fancy. Every. Single. Day. God bless her.
Much like my grandmother (when she was alive), I currently don’t have a lot of places to go, or special occasions to be fancy for, but that certainly didn’t stop her. And so, I think I will take a page from her book and start to dress to impress, and look the part of a famous content creator. Because why not? When we look good, we often feel good. And when we look and feel good, we better attract the life we want. Maybe I’ll even pin one of her blingy brooches on my coat or something just for the fun of it. You know, for that upcoming extravagant occasion that I’ve just manifested…
Don’t get me wrong, you will NOT find me tossing out my comfy clothes, because that would simply be sacrilege. (Hoodies and top knots will always be my fave, and I still plan to be cozy now and then.) But I will make more of an effort to snazz up my wardrobe, and dress up more often. Starting tomorrow… maybe… since today has already been designated a “dress down day” haha. And… now I need to go shopping for new clothes. Dang it…
How about you? Ready to upgrade your closet? Or maybe you’re already chic and stylish. If so, that’s awesome and I applaud your fashion sense! Maybe you could give me some pointers, haha.
PS: While going through the boxes of cards that I sent my grandmother over my lifetime, and the plethora of jewel-filled hatboxes, I kept finding pennies. I laughed at how odd it was to find a random penny every so often. Then I laughed even harder at myself because it took days for it to dawn on me that they were likely pennies from heaven. Sometimes I’m not the sharpest pin in the hatbox…
PPS: For inquiring minds… This image is just a mere fraction of her jewelry collection! I didn’t feel like dragging it all out, and using my wide-angle lens.
🙂
