I have always admired people with good style, and I would put my two sisters at the top of that list. My style, and I use that term loosely, for most of my middle and high school days was jeans and a t-shirt, with my very thick hair in a ponytail and no makeup. I wanted to do more (for awhile I went through a blazer phase) but my lack of confidence in my clothing choices paired with a bit of laziness meant that I didn’t deviate much.
I remember being told at some point that you should dress for the job you want, and I thought I better find an outdoorsy job where my basic uniform would be okay. And early in my career, I did find a job where jeans and a t-shirt was normal - direct youth work, but as I moved into higher positions, I knew I needed a new wardrobe. Figuring out what looked good on me and what I felt confident in was a lot of trial and error. I tried to emulate images I saw, watched a lot of What Not to Wear, sought Maria’s advice, and bought lots of different pieces, until in typical me fashion I was able to create a list of the things I liked and if it doesn’t fit the list, I won’t buy it.
While I don’t wear a t-shirt and jeans all the time anymore, my outfits still follow a general formula and I’m okay with that. I believe in the power of clothes to make you feel both good and bad, but to make my style work for me it’s definitely more of a science than an art.  Â
-VickiÂ
