Getting Dressed

Tracy McWilliams’ book “Dress to Express” is my favorite personal image resource for working to create a balance of self expression with desired personal image. I like the names of her clothing personalities, and I’ve also included additional descriptors and my own take on their meanings.

Clothing Personality: Actress (aka Dramatic)

Choosing clothing in this category supports a desire to be the center of attention. Every piece of an outfit will look like it was made for that body shape and incorporates to different degrees current fashion trends. Clothing is an artistic outlet to show creativeness.

• Flirty
• Unique twists on current trends
• Style, pattern, fabric matching guru
• Focused on your body’s natural beauty

Clothing Personality: Artist (aka Romantic)

Texture and pattern rule the Artist personality. Whether matching or not, clothing will be comfortable with a loose fit (that is not baggy or shapeless). The first thing that pops into my mind is bohemian, and this is just one facet of the artist personality. Ruffles and frills of layered lightweight fabric to the simple lines of matching cotton pieces fall into this clothing personality.

• Wraps and scarves
• Fringe, embroidery, ruffles
• Layers
• Fabric and jewelry with their own story

There are many ways to express yourself: tattoos, piercings, accessories, and the clothing we wear.

Clothing is the ultimate way to express your feeling. If you wear big baggy clothes, people will assume you are not in the best of moods or don’t like your body very much. If you wear clothing draws attention or focuses on a specific body part people see that you want to draw attention to yourself.

Many of us have clothes that we pull out when we feel fat, sad, happy. We also have clothing that we have for specific occasions that we force ourselves into when we absolutely have to.

Here’s A Thought

What if we only owned clothing that flattered our body shape and that made us feel good? If we didn’t have fat clothes, would we feel fat? Sure we may feel fat, however if we don’t have fat clothes to wear we can help ourselves overcome that feeling by wearing clothing we own that we like and that makes us look good. This is practical application of “Fake it ‘til you make it” and The Secret
When I tried to get rid of my fat clothes the first time, it was very very hard… I didn’t realize how much emotional baggage existed. I tried to give them away and physically could not part with them. It took some time to be able to remove them from the house. I started by removing them from the closet, and that’s a whole other article.

Clothing Personalities

In the coming weeks I will explore the prominent clothing styles that I regularly see:

• Actress
• Artist
• Classic
• Rebel
• Sporty
• Social

This list does not cover all the clothing personalities - mixing and matching them creates unique looks and new clothing personalities.

We, by what we wear, give others cues about how to interact with us. Our clothing gives us the ability to enhance our non-verbal cues and help others interpret us. Most importantly allowing our personality and creativity shine through what we wear makes us feel good.

I love silk - from the weight to the texture.  Most of all it is warm to wear when cool and isn’t too warm when it is hot.  It is easy to wear to work and for non-work functions.

As far as taking care of silk, I’ve always thought it was hard.  Well, it isn’t so difficult after all to maintain silk garments and keep them look as beautiful as when they were first purchased.

Stains

Removing stains from any item of clothing can be tricky, and silk is no exception.  Techniques will vary based on the type of silk.

Depending on the type of stain, there are several solutions offered by Silk Roads.  Tips for our work-wear silk include:

Butter and other Animal Fats (this may also include coconut oil):
Wash in warm sudsy water if a washable fabric. If not, sponge dry fabric with a grease solvent, e.g. laundry pre-soak…

Gum:
Scrape or peel away as much as possible first. Rubbing the stain with ice will harden the gum and make this easier…

Coffee & Tea:
Remove fresh stains from cotton and linen materials by first rinsing in warm water then pouring boiling water from a height of…

In general, corn starch is a tried-and-true method that my grandma shared with me.

Silk Sheets Guide provides a list that includes hints for managing sweat and makeup stains:

Perspiration:
Use diluted ammonia (equal part of ammonia and water). Rinse well.

Lipstick and Makeup:
Try the laundry soap you use to regularly clean the sheets but in a little more concentrated form. If that does not work, try ammonia but be careful…

Be Careful with Your Silk

Notice that in the examples cited here (and on their websites) there is no mention of Oxy-Clean (or similar products) and bleach!  If research doesn’t get you the information you need, your local dry cleaner may be able to help - they are a very good resource for all sorts of stain removal ideas for any fabric.