Pulling It Off

Style is a funny thing. Everyone has a style, because everyone has been told, "This is so you!" ...To which {through a pasted smile} we often think to ourselves, "Oh no, please no...what about that made you think of me?" But that's beside the point.

What is style, anyway? I think of it as the way someone goes about his life. Style is revealed in everything, from what a person decides to wear, to how she drives, to the way her mouth moves when she talks. And in how many times a day she decides to eat toast.

For today's post, let's stick to the most obvious form of style: our clothing. If we still lived in the Garden of Eden and didn't have clothes to worry about, what would you be known for? Would you be known for your humor, your wit, your reserved nature, your awkwardness? Would you be the drama queen, the guy who takes himself way too seriously, or the creative one? Think about your answer, then think about clothing combos that demonstrate those qualities. Fig leaves don't count.

Denslow's Animal Fair

The beauty of this approach is that you have the option to compare yourself to no one. When you offer a compliment, it can be honestly that: a compliment, with no strings attached. We must admit that most of us can't pull off any look we want. Every person has boundaries that he shouldn't cross, and when he recognizes that someone outside his boundaries has done well, he can say so without comparing himself. But this is where it's fun, because you can take something you admire and twist it so it works within your style. Creativity is, after all, a new twist on an old idea.

A small voice inside my head keeps repeating that this is really about being comfortable with how we've been created. And that small voice is right. It's not about clothing. When we're comfortable with how our Creator has made us, we don't need to worry about how we're being perceived or if people think we're "cool" or not. Because we're not. We can simply enjoy what's around us, enjoy the people right in front of us without being threatened by them.

What if Picasso had spent his whole life trying to be Van Gogh?

Or if Tolstoy decided he wanted to write just like Shakespeare?

Whoever you are, be comfortable. I don't know why it's so tempting to pretend sometimes, but let's not. Let's be restless until we've broken out of the claustrophobia-inducing walls of ourselves and seen the big, wide, beautiful world out there. And then we can laugh because of how utterly different the world is from each of us, but marvel at how we each bring something remarkable to it that is absolutely necessary. So be yourself, because we need you.