I have often touted the value of only owning clothes that make you feel like a million bucks. (See You Look Marvelous!) As I tell my clients, dress every day as if you are going to run into someone that you haven’t seen since high school. Do you want to be dying inside and saying to yourself, “Why did I wear this ratty old outfit that makes me look terrible?” Or do you want to be feeling confident and knowing that your classmate will be telling the old gang that you still look fabulous after all these years?
Photo courtesy of Appleseeds.com
I learned a new spin on this question when I was at my annual organizers’ conference earlier this month. As a matter of fact, a couple of instructors mentioned it. They used the same analogy, but instead of an old high school classmate, they said suppose you run into your ex! Is that the outfit you want to be wearing when you run into your ex? This made me laugh because of course it raises the stakes greatly.
That doesn’t mean you have to dress like a fashion model every day. It means that you should cull your wardrobe so that anything you own shows you off to your best advantage. For me, comfort is always the first rule. I don’t own any clothes or shoes that are uncomfortable. But beyond that, I look for what is flattering. If I realize during the day that something I am wearing makes me self-conscious in any way, then it goes into the donate pile when I get home (after laundering it, of course!)
Start looking at your clothes with the ex-factor in mind. I bet you will create quite a large donate pile of you own.
