Style

First of all, apologies AGAIN about the lack of posting. The process of moving into and setting up our new house is much longer and more drawn out than I ever would have suspected. We've moving things from 3 other houses, one of which is 4 hours away, into one home. Plus we're moving another person's things out of the house we've moved into, so it's a mess. Actually, it's not a mess because I won't tolerate that, but it is a lot of work and I'm mostly too exhausted to do anything else. I'm cutting myself a little slack on posting and working out, but I'm trying to get back on track. One change I'll be making to facilitate getting-on-track-ness is cutting back posts so that Daily Smiles and full length posts do not coincide. That means no more Smiles on Mondays and Fridays. Other than the one you get from my regular posts - like this one!

Earlier today I read an article about how men, especially powerful men, can get away with wearing pretty much the same thing everyday while mostly all women are expected to change it up. I've often lamented this fact before because I'm lazy when it comes to maintaining beauty standards, but as someone who's fairly recently been through a feminist awakening, I'm a little more righteously indignant about it now. Why should we ladies have to work so much harder at every aspect of our appearance? Even to the point that it's considered unprofessional if we wear the same thing too often? I fully support repeat outfits. Viva la revolucion! #SameOutfitDifferentDay

That being said, and as I said when I shared the article on the Facebook page, "I also, however, think a lot of people over-think creative new ensembles. I pretty much grab a couple of things I like and throw them on and I'm ready to go. The things in my wardrobe mostly all work together; an intentional state for exactly this reason. It makes decisions about what to wear easy and fun instead of time consuming and stressful, and I still look amazing, if I do say so myself." I've posted an example below.

Bad photo, I need  full length mirror!

That outfit - which I know you can't see well but is super cute, I swear! - took me less than 5 minutes to put together, accessories and all. It's part of a Style Me April challenge courtesy of a fashion savvy business lady I follow on Instagram named Hilary Rushford. (Today's inspiration is "always nabs a compliment," and that dress surely does!) She's a stylist who strongly encourages 2 things: 1. Fill your wardrobe with things that work together so you can grab and go and still look amazing, and 2. Put stuff together you wouldn't usually. Odds are, the risk will pay off. Having been doing exactly that for several months now, I can tell you it works. My mornings are faster and stress free, and I get more compliments than ever. I also do reuse pieces a lot more often than I used to because I'll pair it with something totally different so people don't even notice.

Lookie, if you want to wear the same ensemble everyday, you absolutely, man, woman, or otherwise should be able to do that. And I encourage you to. But if, like me, you just personally like a little fashion variety, take a few risks. It might make your life easier.