And So It Has Come To This

“Be yourself no matter what they say.” - Sting.

Once upon a land, in a time far far away, I said I’d never come home in the middle of the day to change clothes midstream for different audiences. Because, first of all, who has the time? And seriously, am I that vain, pathetic and shallow? I think we can definitively say the answer to that question is now ‘yes’.

I am.

In days of old, I would always get ready for work in the morning. Business casual. Business formal. Business casually formal. Whatever. I could start with a genre and then shed a coat, change accessories, details, etc. and viola newish outfit that still worked. I had it down. From morning corporate meeting to evening gala with a cocktail party tracer. Just one basic outfit with a few twists and turns in the day. No problem.

But that was then.

Now, I’ve discovered that my genres, my directions and my appointments are too varied and competing and clashing. My morning pre-school class coffee outfit can’t be conformed into my client’s-client’s afternoon meeting. Throw in a lunch with a toddler and a business meeting with an ex-boyfriend, and we’re completely out of whack. Whacked. Which is no good without the crack. So. I went home. And changed.

Three times.

In one day, I changed clothes three times. Who am I? Cher? Or any of those other chicks who only need one name but need seven different outfits in one evening. Yes.

I am like them.

So you can see why I really needed The Little Black Book of Style by Nina Garcia. Which is now officially my favorite book evaah.

"The little black book (which is literally a smallish black book) is itself as stylish as anything else on my bookshelf. So much so, I think it’s starting its own clique that the Jane Greens, Sophie Kinsellas and Candace Bushnells would all gladly give up their dust jackets to get in (while the Sylvia Plaths and Virginia Woolfs are scowling in the corner, Anne Lamott is just annoyed it doesn’t have a chapter on Northern California, and Ayn Rand thinks I’m an idiot.)"

Go to Cool Stuff to read more. Seriously. You won’t be disappointed. (Plus, there's a giveaway.)

“Confidence is captivating, it is powerful, and it does not fade—and that is endlessly more interesting than beauty.”
- Nina Garcia