4 Ways I’m Practicing Clothing-Confidence in Quarantine
Billie for Seeking Inspriato, a series that features real, Clothing-Confident people.
What is Clothing-Confidence?
Clothing-Confidence is the practice of dressing yourself in a way you love everyday.
Everyone is invited to feel Clothing-Confident! Clothing-Confidence begins by believing that you will achieve it. The 4 ingredients to Clothing-Confidence are 1) Knowing you that you can become Clothing-Confident, 2) Personal style ownership, 3) Closet refinement, and 4) Collecting items you crave to wear.
Pick out a piece that you haven’t worn in a while and style it!
I haven’t worn this dress in YEARS but decided to wear it and I ended up loving the look.
Owning our standards in new Territory
We own our standards.
They are ours to change, bend, or re-define.
Given that we’re all (consciously or subconsciously) defining standards in new territory, I asked myself:
How do I want to appear? Both for myself, but also for video conference meetings. What level of professionalism do I want to show up with?
How do I want to feel? What do I need to do to feel good (food + exercise)?
How am I going to seek creativity?
How am I going to treat others and myself?
Asking these questions made me realize that some of my pre-Quarantine habits needed to travel into this new life.
For example:
I’m dancing to 305 Fitness at home workouts
I’m writing daily
I’m eating healthy
I’m Clothing-Confident
These are still my standards, just re-fit for a new (temporary) environment.
Clothing-Confidence Routines
I’ve listed out my favorite habits and routines below to maintain Clothing-Confidence. These habits keep me positive and Clothing-Confident.
Without them, I don’t know where my mental health would be. Probably halfway to Honolulu by now!
A case for getting dressed in the morning
I live alone, so why on EARTH 🌍🌎🌏do I follow the same routine each morning as if I was going into the office? I have no one to impress!
I do my makeup, my hair, and pick out an outfit I love because I’m dressing for the way I want to feel.
👏DRESSING👏FOR👏THE👏WAY👏I👏WANT👏TO👏FEEL👏
Clothing is powerful and it has a huge effect on my mood.
This isn’t to say that I haven’t been wearing spandex–I have! While the outfits I’m putting together are more comfortable than they would be if I was going into work, they still represent the way I want to show up in the world.
In a Zoom-meeting-world, we have to set our own professional standards.
👘No robes, please! 👘
😂At least it’s not Monday!?😂
A Time to Experiment
Whether it’s funky socks, earrings, a different hair style, a change in make up–whatever, I have enjoyed accessorizing looks to jazz things up a bit.
I’ve found this to be the PERFECT TIME to experiment with my wardrobe and try out a new personal style.
No one is going to judge me and if I hate what I put together, my closet is within reach to swap it for something else.
Here are some fun and relevant hashtags I enjoy exploring:
🎥🤳🏼 Be proud to turn your CAMERA ON! 📹📽
Be nice to you!
Now more than ever, I’m reminding myself to be kinder to myself and others. We’re all experiencing different severities of a difficult situation, and though it’s challenging, I’ve found it helpful to level up my resilience game.
Practicing resilience in hard times is a sure-fire way to re-emerge as a stronger person.
One way I’ve been practicing resilience is through positive Mirror Talk, which is the practice of saying a positive truth about yourself in the mirror.
I create my own little sphere of positivity and reassurance. Mirror Talk costs me nothing. With regular practice, it can positively lift confidence and self-image.
Here are some easy examples you can begin practicing with now:
“Killer hair day - yay."
“So glad I added that finishing touch with the earring!”
“I love how I look today.”
Who doesn’t want to smell like tide?
Maybe you're doing more laundry than ever because you're working from home, or you're letting it pile up because, well, who wants to do it?
I've found that particularly during these routine-less times that when I put on clean, freshly washed clothing it not only makes me feel better, but it also gives me a sense of normalcy.
It feels strange to admit this because I'm a super clean person, but I have found myself re-wearing clothing due to convenience. Strange times, people. I'm getting back into the habit of doing laundry just as regularly and immediately putting the clothing away so that everything stays nice and fresh. Clean clothes rock, and so do routines! 🧼🧽🧹🛀🏻
READ: Food 52 Article on how to wash your clothes at home without having to go to the laundromat