Monday 9 January 2012

Olivia Palermo - or rather, a post that was meant to be about her but turned out to be about personal style...

So January has been quite intensively crafty in terms of posts so I thought I'd diversify a bit and think about some of my other resolutions. One of which is to be consistent in the ways I present myself - both in terms of style {making more of an effort, more of the time - rather than stumbling from high effort to schlomp pants} and looking after myself more with regards to {granted, vacuous} things such as haircuts, eyebrow waxes, nails. I am aware how vain and inconsequential this comes across but I recently stumbled across an interview on Vogue.com with Olivia Palermo in which she talked about personal style and some of the things she said really resonated with me.

She talked about how you can't wear the same clothes at 24 as you did at 18. As I grow up and find myself using my time differently - working full time being the main change - I find I the clothes I wear and love must adapt accordingly.  It's not to say I have had a complete style overhaul, infact I'd say my tastes have been fairly consistent since my late teens, but I am certainly more and more confident in finding pieces that I love and actually reflect my tastes. and my wardrobe is finally beginning to reflect that. A large portion of my clothes need to reflect my personality whilst still be practical for me to carry out my job well. I'm on my feet all day and working with children in a school so I need to maintain some air of authority but formal office wear isn't really appropriate. Nor are high end or trend led pieces. As such, whilst working in a school gives me more freedom than working in a corporate environment, for example, my clothes are still required to be smart and practical enough for me to do my job and show a bit of personality.

Not that that should cause much issue. My style has grown and evolved as I have: I have no desire to dress like I did at 18 nor should I really be presenting myself in the same way I did at 18. I want my outward appearance to reflect who I am as well as where I am hoping to be headed in my future. Perhaps I'm taking clothes a bit too seriously here but I certainly believe that the clothing you wear helps paint a picture of you to those around you. Working with children, I think this is particularly evident as they pick up on visual clues so well - the kooky art teacher isn't going to wear a sharp Tom Ford suit everyday. Equally, the head of a school isn't going to turn up in ragged jeans every afternoon. Especially in a work environment, I think your clothing needs to be consistent with your personality and approach to work. So, as a teaching assistant/hopefully a trainee teacher, and with youth as perhaps a barrier rather than a help, I need to dress in a way that encourages the children to interact with me and that shows a hint of personality, but that also reinforces my role and position in the classroom.

Am I making any sense? I think what I am trying to say {in a rather wordy manner} is that I want my clothing to reflect my professional ambitions, my professional position and my personal approach. Equally I want off duty clothing that reflects me as I am now, at nearly 24, rather than the clothes I wore at 18. Phew.

This new sense of "clarity" {and verbosity, apparently} isn't to say that I don't have days where I hate everything I own and believe it makes me look hideous; there are far too many pieces in my wardrobe that I have spent far too much money on only to realise I like them considerably less than I thought or that they simply don't fit with my lifestyle. Looking at Olivia Palermo and her personal sense of style, I certainly find her tastes have an affinity with mine. She always looks effortlessly polished and pulled together - something that I'd like to emulate more in 2012. Reading this back, this seems like such a vacuous thing to be pontificating on {and pontificate I have} but I know I feel so much better if outwardly I present myself in a way that exudes confidence, poise and a bit of grace. Clothes that express my personality and present myself in the way I want to seen.

Oh hell. This has turned in to a far more epic and wordy post than I had ever anticipated. Sorry. Now for some pretty pictures.









{all images via pinterest}

What do you think? Does your dress sense reflect your personality well? Or present you as you would like? Have I just chatted absolute tripe for the entirety of this post and you've wished I would just shut up?!

Love B x

1 comment:

  1. I adore Olivia Palermo's style and how she always looks fabulous at all times. I'm in complete agreement about wanting to make more of an effort and am hoping that 2012 becomes the year of the regular waxing appointments and pedicures! Lovely blog sweetie :) xo

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