Okay so, I have been doing that whole read a book every week thing I promised. First off, I had very very high goals for myself. I was thinking that I would read like a book a day when I was 11, but believe it or not I am a little busier now than when I was 11. I am still reading a book a week, but they are school assigned books. Which sounds awful but I am in classes only for my major now. So all history all the time aka my dream. But the first book on my fun strong women author book list was Anna Kendrick's book Scrappy Little Nobody. I did not love it, which was incredibly disappointing. I expected more of it to resonate with me. But I did not relate to it because I did not grow up acting or anything close. If you are a theater kid, you will love it.
But Anna Kendrick did bring up something that stuck with me: Fashion. She had an entire chapter dedicated to her dislike for it. She discusses how she learned to respect even if she does not love it. She always saw fashion as a way to have the class distinction present without even talking. Which can be true. Unless you learn to absolutely fake it and thrift and coupon like hell. There is always this mindset that it is better to dress casual. It is completely equal. It just depends on your preference. I have met so many absolute morons in college that judge you and tell you that you only dress nice because you are a freshmen and eventually you will stop caring. Or the girls that try to act like they are better because they wear 'band tee shirts and sneakers' and 'are not like other girls'. What about being like another awesome lady is so awful? Why is dressing one way or another better? It is like clothes are automatically a way to compete with others instead of using it as a way to feel amazing.
It is completely and all about personal preference. There are days where I feel like dressing down because an 11 am class is still way too early for me and other days where I feel 100% better in a dress.
I wanted to take this time to discuss why I started dressing the weird way that I do.
I suffered since I hit puberty with being so incredibly uncomfortable in my skin. My mother made a very very big mistake my freshmen year by buying me an Ed Sheeran Grey Hoodie. It was became a closet staple. That year I cut my hair too short to do anything, so I strutted to school every day with my hair clipped to my head with black skinny jeans and my trusted hoodie on. It was a nightmare. My mom fought hand and foot to try and get me to wear something besides that god dang hoodie, but to no avail. The hoodie served as this weird protective border for me. It kept me comfortable and unnoticed. I went to Spain for the summer, it was too hot to bring the hoodie unfortunately. When I came back, the hoodie had mysteriously disappeared. I still suspect my mother was behind it.
But anyway, it forced me to embrace my intense fear of wearing anything else. And so sophomore year I wore a skirt. First off, I learned wearing a dress takes literally no effort at all. You don't have to match anything. People also automatically assume you put effort in.
I learned my sophomore year that I felt the most comfortable in weird outfits. I want my skirt down to my knees. If I don't get stared at throughout the day, it is not a good day. And I could not be happier that way.
Clothes should not be about shielding yourself off from other people. There also isn't one way to dress that is better than the other. Wear tee shirts and jeans every day or act like you are going to the grammys every day. It doesn't matter as long as you are happy and content with it!
But anyway here is the casual outfit I wore today, not because I was comfy or wanted to, but because it was the outfit closest to me and I was running late. Ft. my very constant photobombing dog.
Until Next Time,
Hailey
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