An Ode to "Dressing Up"
When I was a little girl, I LOVED wearing dresses. I would wear them around the house, to the supermarket, and the the playground. To be honest, the thing my six-year-old self disliked the most about school was that I couldn’t wear a dress. That, and also the lack of strawberry milk.
In college, I’ve rediscovered my love of dresses. The only issue is that I want to wear dresses without looking “dressed up.” For much of high school I didn’t wear dresses because I felt that they were too “dressy” or “dressed up.” In fact, one time I did wear a dress and a family member jokingly asked why I was so dressed up for church.
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But wearing a dress doesn’t always need to mean one is “dressed up;” there are many casual dresses out there. And even if wearing a dress is “dressed up,”,what’s so wrong with that?
I guess I speak from a place of bias because I’ve always been a bit of a girly-girl. I would play t-ball in the backyard wearing a Snow White dress, I liked putting on my grandmother’s makeup and jewelry, I loved trying on big, sparkly heels and purses at the store with my mom, and I always wore a cute bow or hair-tie when I played sports. I’ve always loved dressing up. I like getting ready to go out, doing my hair, putting on makeup, wearing heels, and, of course, putting on a dress. However, I would often find myself waiting in anticipation for these “special occasion” as an excuse to get all dolled up, but lately, in the age of getting dressed up to go to the supermarket, I’ve been thinking what if I, and others who felt the same way, didn’t wait to get dressed up anymore and instead just did it.
I guess I never really though about it before college. In high school, the trend was joggers, adidas sneakers, crop tops, and leggings. Of course, being in high school and not wishing to draw attention to myself, I dressed this way and I admit I still do sometimes when I want to be comfortable, but it never really felt like me. I wanted to wear dresses and skirts and heels and put on makeup and wear cute jewelry. When these special occasions came around and gave me excuse to dress up a bit, I would go for it.
That all changed at college, as many things do.
In my classes and on the quad, there was such variety in style. Some people wore leggings, since that’s what they wanted to wear, and some were what in high school I would have called “dressed up.” But they were just going to classes and then the Reg and Bartlett, how could this be?
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It was because that was their style and they dressed for themselves, regardless of whether other people were dressed up or not.
So I began to experiment, as college students do, but in small steps.I began looking for inspiration on Pinterest and on the Instagram feeds of Italian models (I’m not sure what’s in the water, but they’re always dressed so stylishly and elegantly), and let me tell you, these models make it look effortless, but nevertheless I found myself inspired. I’d add a little jewelry here, a jeweled button sweater there, maybe a little heeled boot if it wasn’t a day I would have a lot of walking to do. I found a joy in it and even wore a dress one day with the little heeled boots, which felt amazing (not for my feet though since I had forgotten it was a Tuesday and I would be walking more).
So what I’m saying is that if you want to dress up on an “average” day, just do it if it makes you happy. What’s stopping you? Dressing up is great and if it makes you happy, why not do it?
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