Since moving down to this town, this mentality made me stick out like a sore thumb.
I realize now that no matter how much I pretend not to care about my appearance the more awkward it makes me seem to the people around me.
I feel that in many ways my direct appearance reflects who I am and what mood I am in. If I am not feeling the best, chances are I am not looking my best.
So we had a community club meeting; eating burgers, socializing and playing horseshoes.
I decided that in the spirit of me (and consequently October); I'd dress in my version of ultra casual... but today I actually did my make up, so maybe it was more on the dressy side of my usual summer-esque attire.
It was today also that I decided that I'm going to wear make up any time I go out-- I tend to think it makes me look a little older, but not overtly so. For the light smoky eyes, a quick youtube video and my dollarstore goods helped me to yield the result; it was a gold and a dark brown with hints of gold. I really have to laugh every time I think about what I use... it is, for a lack of a better word, ghetto.
I felt out of place, definitely. But that isn't new, and at least I felt I was portraying who I am, rather than the black lamb trying to paint her wool white.
The run down of the outfit:
- Top, waist belt and earrings: Fairweather Co.
- Lace leggings: Claires
- Necklace & hair piece: self-made
- Shoes: Dr. Scholls
Do you feel like clothing represents who you are? Or just your tastes?
I love that necklace! I, personally, feel that my clothing represents my interests. my interests are a part of who I am, so I guess a little bit of both.:)
ReplyDeleteI feel that as an alternative person, my clothing reflects who I am more so that other people might think clothes reflect who they are. A big part of being Goth (or anything else) is looking different than "normal" people. But it doesn't necessarily have to negate everything about you if you have an off day, or a casual day, or just a "screw it I'm wearing colors" day, because that is who you are that day. I hope I'm making since.
ReplyDeleteI think I see where you're going.
DeleteFor me, clothing is a medium. Fashion, textiles, needle, thread, whatever is a more comfortable perspective to see it. Romantic goth just happens to reflect my tastes. I express myself through the clothing I make and purchase-- it seems so trivial, but it's no more trivial than an artist who appreciates and uses his or her medium to paint a picture of their minds eye.
If I do have an off day, which only ever happens if I am home, it'd be exactly that to me-- a day in which I am not myself. So when I look back, it's not with an indifference of mood that I contemplate it, but rather treat it with the same meticulousness of watching a painting before continuing work on it. I don't feel like less of a person if I don't manage to dress to the nines, nor do I think that of others-- what I do see and feel are emotions, good and bad, through the choices we make in adornments. It's part of the reason I love sitting at park benches and people-watch, and the biggest part of dreaming of becoming a designer.
I hope, as well, that all that made sense heheh
I totally agree with your theory about appearance and mood. Sometimes, I have to totally tone it down at job environment and simply have not a real chance to dress like "myself" until the weekend. When Friday comes and I finally drees up, I suddenly feel comfortable and happy. The most of the times I even don´t notice this during the week, but when weekend comes. It´s really sad that people can´t choose freely their appearance just for social conventions, isn´t it?
ReplyDeleteI struggle with the clothing representing who you are thing since I am no longer free to dress the way that I would like 90% of the time due to my job. I feel that you need to become comfortable with yourself and know who you are such that you can kind of let go of the appearance thing if you're not able to wear what you want most of the time. However, I always feel so much better when I am dressed in a way that I like. Anyway, I really like your handmade hairpiece!
ReplyDelete