Why Style Matters

 

For years I said that I wasn’t interested in fashion and that I didn’t care about clothes. When I started designing high-end scarves I began having a serious battle with myself. I couldn’t stop myself from making scarves, but felt like I was feeding into the consumer market that I didn’t like. Feeling like I was adding to the pressure of women thinking about how they looked didn’t feel so great either.

Recently , I accepted that I am interested in fashion, how we dress and present ourselves, I’m interested because of the story that we tell through the clothes that we wear.

Whether you like it or not, the way that you dress and present yourself is telling a story, what story is your style telling?

As many of you know, along with designing scarves, I’m also a high school art teacher. Research demonstrates that by age 15 only 10% of students are divergent thinkers. In order to come up with creative ideas, one needs to be a divergent thinker, this means that I have my work cut out for me.

What does this have to do with style? A lot actually.

Schools teach creativity out of our students, therefore, even though I’m teaching in a school, I need to make my room feel different from students experiences and expectations of what a classroom should feel like. And the easiest way to make that change, to  look different than what students expect a teacher to look like.

During the first two weeks of school students referred to me as Cat Women, a white Alicia Keys, and an overall superhero. They also exclaimed that I’m totally opposite any teacher that they’ve ever met. This is exactly what I want to happen in my classroom, and it was possible in large part because of my style.

You don’t need to spend a ton of money, or go on a huge shopping spree to change the message that your style is sending.  But you do need to get honest with yourself. Look in the mirror and ask what your look is telling those around you. If you don’t like the message, it’s not hard to change. You can change the message that you’re sending with what you already have in your closet, plus a few accessories.

Leave a comment telling me what message your style is sending.

 

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