Do our emotions affect the way we dress?
I was saying a few days ago that whenever Mr Smaggle is away I always wear jewellery that he has given me. I assure you that it is entirely subconscious. I’m not one of those girls that needs her man stapled to her face at all times but I just think it’s interesting that something that seems completely unrelated to my wardrobe has such an effect on it. Maybe the way I am feeling on certain days has a bigger influence on the way I dress than I had originally thought. I’ve decided to explore this theory further. Here, I have compiled a list of practical elements that play a part in my daily outfit selection…
* The weather
* How much walking I’ll be doing
* Where I am going
I think about these things everyday. It’s entirely conscious and these factors are rather obvious. These elements determine whether I wear heels or flats but they don’t determine the essence of the outfit. So what are the elements that contribute to the bling? To the sparkle? That make my outfits Smaggly? I went for a cruise through my daily outfits and made a few interesting discoveries. Here the ‘other’ factors that contribute to my daily style…
* The fact that I’m a drama queen - I’ll often dress in black if I am mourning for something. On this day for instance. I also wore red on Valentine’s day. Damn it, I’m adorable.
* Current Inspiration – If I’m reading a book or I stumble across someone fabulous I’ll often dress in a tribute to them. Diana Vreeland, Nancy Cunard, Alannah Hill, Fruits. Some days I’m just a walking shrine…
* Fat days – We all have them. Even skinny girls. When I’m having a fat day (or the dreaded monthlies) you can bet I’m wearing something flowy, comfortable and dark. After this hideous experience I will never wear anything but black around that time of the month.
* New Purchases or recent gifts – I can’t help it. Whenever I have something new I absolutely have to wear it right away. Like these socks my friend bought for me in America. And when I finally got my Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Mary Janes.
What about you kittens? What weird and wacky elements will change the way you dress? Is there a certain person that you dress differently around? Do you wear yellow when you feel sad? Do you wear a certain length of skirt at a certain time of the year? Apart from the obvious, what changes the way you dress?
Love Lady Smaggle
xxx
P.S The guy in photo is gorgeous. Check out his Flickr stream.
Lately I have been craving colours – I think it’s a reaction to the grey Melbourne skies and my own grey moods. One day I wore a black skirt, a red jumper, a royal-blue cardigan, canary yellow tights, bright blue shoes and an orange scarf. It definitely worked to cut through all that grey, and put smiles on the faces of my tutor and classmates!
Aside from the obvious, it’s ‘who’s going to see me?’. Am I at home, am I school-teaching, how old are the kids, will I be teaching ballet instead (these poor students do have to look at me all day). Am I going to a meeting, am I going to Pak n Save, do I have to do some physical chores involving kneeling/crawling (not dress-friendly). Am I in a total rut and do I need to make things more interesting?
(And also, of course, “what would Smaggle wear?”)
I generally dress to impress or dress to intimidate. Especially in regards to work: I try to wear slacks and shirts to work with neat looking sweaters because most of my coworkers wear track pants and lumionus yellow vests; and I’m a snob and I aim to set myself appart from them.
I totally agree with Current Inspiration though: since discovering your Blog I have been trying to find a way to sucessfully wear an obi belt, to little avail
Xx
My reasons seem to be very similar to yours and inspiration plays a role as well.
Plus, sometimes I dress to cheer myself up: really fancy or bright, when I’m feeling glum.
Great question. My main three are yours: Weather, walking, destination. But also factored in are level of fatness, level of happiness, and what else has been worn that week. I, like so many, am drawn to the same 5 pieces in my closet over and over, so I make a conscious effort to mix it up.
You’ve pretty much said all the factors I was going to write!
Although I wear clothes I normally wouldnt when I have a date.
And I agree with The Clothes Horse – sometimes I’m not going anywhere, but I’ll dress in crazy bright funky clothes to cheer myself up
Ooo! I just had a peeek at the guy in the photos art:
http://www.stewartbremner.co.uk/minisite/figure/
funky
On reflection I have concluded that subconsciously my dress is totally AFFECTED (I got it right, yes?) by the people I shall be seeing. I am a total mimic
If I will be seeing my super fit old housemate who is currently cycling around kygrstan (or some other stan) I will wear practical sporty no-fuss-things clothes, or if I will be seeing my theatrical better dressed friend (the lovely Lady Smaggle for example) I (usually) try to wear something a little bit interesting (I realise I probably don’t hit the mark on this one).
Oh yes, my mood IS how I dress.
Lilly – I love people who dress in bright colours! It’s never worked on me and I adore the quality in others.
Nadist – Oh you flatter me! I generally dress up all the time. There is only one friend that I dress down for but that’s because we have a tradition of wearing trackies and hoodies and drinking gin together.
Grant – Oh honey! How sad for you… Maybe you could wear one around your head? Karate Kid style?
The Clothes Horse – Me too. If I feel like crap there is nothing better than wearing something smashing!
Sal – I actually have a really high wardrobe turnover. I wear most of the things in my cupboard.
Ivy – I don’t know how I would dress on a date. I haven’t been on one in ages and Mr Smaggle loves the way I dress so I’ve never had to tone it down for him. Oh and this guy is great isn’t he?
Dr Stumpy – Aw that gives me a bit of a shucks!
Hailey – Totally!