A SHOT IN THE ARM

It’s a common misconception that a good sense of style is all it takes to have an impeccable hold on fashion. Sure, style is an important factor but it is only part of the equation. The other important factor which is often less spoken about is confidence. Many fashion bloggers, image enhancers and stylists tend to talk about what to wear but often fail to impart into people, the confidence that is needed to wear what they suggest. I myself have talked a lot about style on my social media pages and even here in my blog, while completely neglecting the confidence part of fashion and this blog is an attempt from my end to try and right that wrong.
Having confidence is important in order to express your creativity and have fun with fashion. But unfortunately, the people whom we look up to for styling tips and what not, knowingly or unknowingly create surreal standards for “looking good” which just kills the already-low confidence of people with self-esteem problems. While trying out fashion tips, they subconsciously compare themselves to models with unrealistic beauty ideals that are cast by these “influencers” they look up to and just accept that there’s no way that the particular tip will ever work for them.
But I believe that there is always a way so here are a few things that you can follow to build confidence and enjoy fashion without getting bothered by the societal pressure that is wanting you to look like a perfectly suave fitness model all the time:

Be You – If you look at some outfit and think that it is exactly your style and that it perfectly portrays who you are as a person, do not think of any concessions to that thought and just go for it. You do not need to look like what an “ideal model” would like in it, all you should care about is what you think and how you feel about the outfit. There is nothing wrong in getting inspired by someone, but by trying to look like them and be more and more like them, you lose your own identity which is not good for you and your self-esteem. I can’t stress on this enough when I say that you need to be happy with who you are.

Lose ‘em – You ever open your closet and find clothes or accessories that don’t make you feel good about yourself, the only reason for buying which was that they were trending? It’s high time you throw those things away! Your closet is a place that you visit more than most other places and you need to make sure that your closet visits are good for your confidence and self-esteem. Need help with your wardrobe? Visit our Instagram page and find our “Wardrobe Organizing” series and if that’s not enough, I’m only one call away.

Fashion Confidante – More often than not, we’re our own worst critic. So instead of just sticking to our own opinion of ourself, it’s not too bad to have another viewpoint. Find someone, a family member, a friend, a distant cousin, basically anyone who has a good sense of style and would have brutally honest opinions and make them your go-to person whenever you’re in two minds about some outfit.

Say NO to insecurities – Finally, and most importantly, this one is for people who have already made up sets of rules and regulations in their minds about particular outfits, like “Wearing skinny jeans will make me look fat”. That will only make you never even try out that particular outfit ever again. Expand your comfort zone bit by bit, dress in tune with your own personal style and always remember, it’s all about how you feel regarding a particular outfit and not about what others think of it.

Confidence is superior to any other aspect when it comes to fashion. With confidence on your side, you’re always 80% prepared to do anything that you’re aiming for. And anyway, life is too short to lose opportunities to be yourself just because you couldn’t gather the confidence to do that, so as they say, fake it till you make it!

Love,

Rubleen Kaur