My daughter’s sense of style has evolved over the years. When she was young she would wear almost anything. Plaids, stripes, polka dots, matching colors, none of that was important. She frequently wore dress up clothes, like a Cinderella princess outfit, around the house, and even to the store. She especially loved to wear dresses, and always had something on her head. For about three months she wouldn’t leave the house without her red feathered hair band. As she got older and reached school age though, she started worrying about how other people would react to her clothes.
She quickly learned that some clothes were cool and trendy, and some were not. She also learned that trendy clothes are expensive, and go out of style quickly. Now she rarely wears dresses, and mostly sticks to the teenage uniform of t-shirts and jeans. She picks her outfit out the night before school, and will frequently try on more than one combination, and ask for the rest of the family’s opinion.
She also has learned that it makes more sense to buy a few expensive things that will last, rather than lots of cheap clothes to meet the latest trend. She has a pair of Ugg boots, which are certainly trendy, but with the amount of snow we get a good pair of boots makes sense. So she wears her trendy Ugg boots with her cheap jeans and t-shirts, and still feels stylish.
She reserves her outlandish sense of fashion for more subtle areas now. She loves to wear fake nails, and the brighter the colors the better. She has some nails that change color in the sunlight, which she thinks is the greatest thing ever. She also likes to play around with her hair, and has used both tie in hair glitter and colored hair extensions. I’m just glad she doesn’t want to use dye in her hair yet. The blue hair is not nearly as alarming when it can be taken out at night.
Even though she worries about what the kids at school will think she is still not afraid to express her views. She loves the Jonas Brothers and still wears their t-shirts to school, even though everyone at school tells her they are totally over. She isn’t afraid to be herself, and she lets her fashion reflect her personality, but not overwhelm it.
Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and jcpenney blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
