Style: More Than Just An Image

Style: More Than Just An Image 

      So recently my mom brought to my attention how often I need some type of "change" in my life: whether it's what food I'm obsessed with eating, the way my room is set up, and most importantly (cause it's actually true) what clothes I'm wearing. Now in my defense I change foods so quickly because I have a habit of becoming obsessed with certain foods and they're ALL I eat, to the point that I start to hate it and never want to see it again...so you really can't blame me for that (I'll tell myself that to make myself feel better (;) and the room thing...well I don't really have an excuse for that I just get tired of seeing everything in my room in the same spot allll the time, in my mind moving things around just makes things better and fresher (since lets face it I'm a broke college student, until I finish school it's not like I can afford all new items to change up my room, moving things around is the closest change I can get lol) but my mom was right when she said the clothes I wear change, because my style really has changed DRASTICALLY within one single year. 

      I started giving it some thought and I think my style has changed so much because of all of the transitions I've been going through in my life this year, between having a job in a preppy store, starting to dress for interviews for jobs in my chosen profession, and basically because I'm finally starting to figure out who I am, my constant change of appearance is just a reflection of how I'm still a work in progress, slowly but surely coming into the successful woman I will be. 

    

     Despite my indecision style wise, my presentation is always on point. It never fails to amaze me when my mom gets all worked up about how I put on jeans and a nice shirt to go to the supermarket, or look overly presentable to walk the dog or run errands, because to me it's necessary. For exactly two reasons 

     1. The first reason I always look my best regardless of where I'm going is because you never know who you're going to meet wherever you go. Now before you start thinking oh Ashley is trying to look all good in case she meets a guy (it's so much more than that),  in this case I mean you never know where you're going to meet a potential employer, or encounter an opportunity to network; and do you really wanna blow that opportunity because you look like you just rolled out of bed except, oops instead of rolling out of bed to the bathroom to shower, you rolled down the street to what could of been the job of a lifetime that someone else got because they weren't in some leggings and UGG boots. (Nothing personal against either article of clothing but seriously they're too casual for their own good.)

     2.  The second reason I look my best no matter what is because there are no second impressions, all you have is that first impression and do you really want it to be you looking sloppy because you didn't wanna wake up a half hour earlier to make yourself presentable, and what does that say about you? Would you hire someone who looked sloppy in public? I think that our society as a whole has taken feeling comfortable to new extremes, you should feel comfortable in what you wear, but there's no reason that you can't feel comfortable in some jeans and flats once in a while! 

    3. The final reason I always look my best is because when you look your best you feel your best and you get your best work done. When you know you look good, you're more likely to not only deliver results but surpass your best work (at least for me.) Looking your best gives you that extra boost of confidence that will not only make you more productive, also feeling happier getting that work done. 

   Now I'm not saying we aren't all entitled to a bummy day occasionally but come on people let's leave the sweats and yoga pants at home or at the gym where they belong 99.9% of the time. What we wear says so much about us especially when we're out where most of the people we pass don't know us, and may not want to know us depending on how we're representing ourselves. How do we expect a stranger to know that we're a type A personality with a 4.0 gpa on the pre- law track when we're walking in public with our hair in a messy bun, sweat pants on, an oversized t-shirt and some worn out ugg boots on our feet. No you don't need to look like you've stepped off the runway all the time but take a little time in the morning, brush out that hair, put on some jeans, flats, and a shirt that fits and have a little fun with fashion; it's a great way to get show a little creativity!

Here are a couple of pictures of the many looks I've had throughout the year! I've started with my looks from the beginning of the 2013-2014 year and ended with my most recent looks. Hope you enjoy.