27 February 2008

dress to impress.


one of my favorite pictures of the week. altamiranyc. it's also fun how i dressed like the girl version of this today. i had four hours of sleep so i think i did pretty swell for even putting a skirt on. i love that it's his not just his clothes that make his fashionable, but his slouch, his hat, everything about him screams ''IM COOL AND I KNOW IT." He's dressing for himself. And also the random kid is cute.

who do you dress for?
I dress for myself, cliche as that may seem. To a certain extent I dress for other girls--being complimented always puts a smile on my face--but it doesn't bother me if people describe my style to be ''out there'' or ''unusual''. I would much rather be described as an unusual dresser than as a nice dresser. Nice reminds me of a forgetful, whimpy sales clerk or teller that has friends but occasionally they'll forget she exists. No, I am certainly not ''nice'' and nor should my clothes give that impression. Nice doesn't suit me. I like gory, ridiculous cheap B-movies and tin lunch boxes as bags. How does that translate to nice dressing? It doesn't. It's more borderline tacky, and thats how I like it.

More often than not I'm dissatisfied with my outfit of the day. This is probably because at the end of the day when I'm taking a picture for you lot, they just don't picture well. Maybe it's just my lack of camera skill / patience / posing, but it just doesn't look right. I over analyze my outfits to a point where I wonder why I wore it, on the bad days. I know, given the resources or time I could come up with something infinitely more interesting than what I end up wearing. I could do better for myself with what I have, actually. It's just that sometimes something is missing and I don't feel like I thought I should.

When did this competition with myself start? I don't know what exactly to make of it, but after dwelling on it for awhile and avoiding my homework I guess it's a double edged sword. It's a good thing, to be in this state, because a challenge always--or should always--bring out the best in people. It also makes me observe all the facets of fashion and style, so I can realize what I like, what works for me, what I don't like, and what doesn't work. It forces me to use my imagination more (which is of course the lifeblood of fashion and art) so I can transfer looks I liked at the runways into my own interpretation for inexpensive daily wear. Plus, I like looking at myself and pretending I'm modeling. Because I'm just really vain and awesome like that.

Perhaps the only downside is the fact it's a battle between myself, and those are always the hardest. I can feel great in sweats and parade around the block (I am known for doing so in the Spring, actually. It's pretty rad, you should try it sometime.) and at the same time I might just sit in my bed and curse life. I can feel great in my most luxurious dress but then feel frumpy in it a minute later. To be blunt, it's not really about what I wear so much as how I feel when I'm wearing it. Will, self-confidence, it controls how you look. People can be impressed with what you're wearing but it depends on you and how you feel in it.

People can dress for best friends, worst enemies, parents or coworkers pretty easily from what I make of it.

It's just so much harder to dress for yourself.