You are what you wear: science says so (see this article about enclothed cognition for more). However, if you’re currently wearing an old oversized t-shirt and athletic shorts, don’t worry; your entire life isn’t doomed for failure based on this one fact.
In my opinion, at least, it’s not what you wear, it’s how you wear it and how you carry yourself when you walk into a room.
I have personally struggled a lot with self-confidence. In eighth grade, I wore black leggings and a sweatshirt every single day. If this is what you feel most comfortable in, great, but for me, I hid behind my baggy sweatshirts and hoped to blend in with the crowd. I was able to recognize the path I had traveled down so I decided to challenge myself for freshman year of high school: go an entire school year (180 days!) without wearing leggings. To some of you who resort to leggings and a sweatshirt often, this may seem unfathomable. To others, this may seem like the most stupid, insignificant thing. To me, it was life-changing in the best ways possible.
A New Passion
Up until ninth grade, I never really cared about fashion, but when I started forcing myself to wear things other than black leggings, I didn’t really have a choice but to love it. By the second week of school, I was over the challenge and wanted to give up; however, I think one of the best decisions I’ve ever made was not to. Since starting and completing this self-stated dare, fashion has become something that I am seriously fascinated by, and I plan to pursue this fascination in some capacity as I start thinking about my plans for after high school.
School Becomes Fun
There is an indescribable excitement of picking out an outfit that showcases a new shirt perfectly, and then looking forward to wearing it the next day. It is something that I have come to thrive off of. Not only does it bring me joy, but I have talked to so many people that I typically wouldn’t as the result of an especially interesting outfit. This network expanded, even more, when I decided to document my 180-day journey on an Instagram account (@closetbysabs, please follow me).
Self-Confidence
Last, but certainly not least, is the level of self-confidence that fashion has enabled me to reach. Instead of hiding behind black leggings and a big sweatshirt, I now proudly strut down hallways in bright red sneakers, a bedazzled t-shirt, and everything in between. The eighth-grade girl who stared at the floor while she walked now holds her head high.
I encourage all of you to search for that one thing that lights a fire within you, and don’t stop searching until it is found. Discovering my love of fashion, which may sound insignificant, has shaped me to be the confident, cheetah-print wearing girl I am today.
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