NaBloPoMo Advice Column - Day 25 - Develop Your Own Sense of Style - and Own It!

I'm writing 30 thoughts in 30 days for NaBloPoMo. In no particular order, I'm giving you my worldview - as it comes up.

This piece of advice comes straight from Helen, and it's one of the things I love about her. Develop your own sense of style and own it.

When I was in college, one of my incredibly creative friends always had one piece of her outfit that did not "go". She did not care. She was among the most beautiful people I've ever known - both because she is fantastic looking AND because she's extremely thoughtful and nice.

Helen has never met her, but I feel they are soul sisters. Helen prefers to choose her own clothing, and most people would look completely ridiculous, but somehow Helen pulls it off.

Take this outfit, for example. Helen traipsed all over  Longwood Gardens today in it. And for every person that stared at her, wondering who dressed this child, she just smiled, soaking in all the attention. And then sending them some bit of cheer.

This outfit consists of the new pink pants and denim dress that my parents gave Helen, although I'm certain they did not intend for them to be worn simultaneously. She must have seen the yellow bandanna last night before bed, because she insisted Ed tie it to her head and she's had it on now for 24 hours.

As an aside, Helen has also taught a lot of people in the past few days about asking a child if they were either going to or had a big turkey dinner. "No! I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat turkey. My mom and brother are also vegetarians so they also do not eat turkey. We eat other things for Thanksgiving." And today she added "I had a chocolate turkey for Thanksgiving!" to her script. People do not know how to respond to this.

Nearly every day, Helen chooses clothing that are both bright and mismatched, and it is so clearly her personal style that I almost look at her funny when I manage to wrangle her into matching clothes. I've started to think these mismatched beauties look fantastic, though I'm not certain I could pull them off. Such a bounce she has in her step. I wonder, is it because she has developed her own sense of style and truly owns it?

Elaine

Building a worldview:
Day 1: Surround Yourself With Brilliant People (though my friend Susan makes a good point that clever is pretty good, too).
Day 2: Whatever, it works.
Day 3: Surround Yourself With Beauty
Day 4: When You Go Through Something New - Drag Someone With You
Day 5: No sweatpants.
Day 6: Embrace the Crazy
Day 7: Listen to Your Friends or Fight Old Fogey-dom. Get out there. Keep experiencing fun, new things.
Day 8: Don't Let Anyone Sell You Short
Day 9: Take a Lesson From Your Child
Day 10: Consume the best chocolate you can
Day 11: Help your neighbor.
Day 12: Take Breaks
Day 13: Establish a Realistic Rhythm
Day 14: Sometimes, you just have to ask.
Day 15: Loose Lips Sink Ships
Day 16: Stop Things from Going from Bad to Worse
Day 17: Understand the Price of Success
Day 18: Question Everything
Day 19: Drink Great Wine with Old Friends
Day 20: Never Be a Volunteer at a Street Show in New Orleans
Day 21: Let Your Friends Bail You Out
Day 22: Turn Trash Into Treasure
Day 23: Always Have a Dream
Day 24: Give Thanks