Clothing has always been very therapeutic for me. My mom always told me that when you are sick you should wear a cashmere scarf and that if you buy cheap shoes that make your feet hurt, your whole body hurts. These are not mere old wives tales; the woman speaks the truth. So when I was feeling blue I took my own take on her words of wisdom.
Last week I was feeling so bummed I didn’t know what to do with myself. I tried everything to cheer myself up. I took time cooking a gourmet dinner at home, I played tennis with the ultimate goal of hitting the ball as hard as I could, and I spent all my commute time talking on the phone to my oldest, dearest friends, but I still couldn’t kick the blues. Perhaps it was post-vacation blues or pre-holiday blues? I know the blues came off a fabulously fun weekend where I saw virtually all my closest friends. I had this moment when I realized that I would spend the rest of my life on the opposite side of the country from them. New friends are great, but you can’t make old friends. When I couldn’t make my sadness go away so I decided to try something new. I thought to myself, “Self, what is my favorite part of the day?” I replied, “Getting dressed in the morning of course!” So I decided to make a game of it—for every day of the week that I was feeling blue, I would wear something blue. According to the rules of the game, jeans didn’t count as a blue clothing item. The challenge began on my third day of ultimate sadness, and I must admit, it actually made me feel better. It even made me feel better than petting my dog. I’m no doctor, but I think if you have a serious fashion habit, this could be a medical breakthrough for depression.
Day 1 of Sadness: On my first day of sadness I wanted to wear a pair of comfy jeans, but it was Wednesday and I try only to wear jeans on Friday, so I had to improvise. Instead I wore a pair of electric blue pants and paired it with an off-white long sleeve blouse and a black blazer. Since the pants were so incredibly loud I created one of my signature “office mullet” looks—business on top, party on the bottom. It was the kind of outfit that looks very professional when you are sitting at your desk and no one can see your bottom half.
Day 2 of Sadness: On my second day of feeling blue I was going for a classic, androgynous look. I paired brown work pants with a navy Marc Jacobs vest that has the most delightfully preppy neck bow and gold buttons. Because the bow at the neck is so voluminous, I pulled my hair back. In order to avoid looking too mannish, I accented my face with a strong, red lip and wore feminine, patent-leather nude pumps. I think this look was a winner for when I feel either happy or sad.
Day 3 of Sadness: On the third day of sadness I was feeling a little bit better so I threw on a bright blue winter coat over an all-black ensemble. This wasn’t my most creative of moments, but it does follow one of my cardinal rules which is to throw a splash of color into any monochromatic outfit.
Whether it is the holidays or something else that is making you feel blue, I hope that something wearable in the sky blue to navy range will provide a great pick-me-up!
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