Don’t let fashion and style boss you around. It’s there for enjoyment and upliftment, not stress and sadness. Use the power of fashion and style to boost your confidence and feel fabulous. Don’t let it prey on your insecurities. Think for yourself, rather than worrying about what other people think. 

Here are ten things I make a point of remembering to stay in charge of my style:

  1. The buffet of trends is there so that you can feast or fast as you please. Don’t feel obligated to try a trend that doesn’t feel right. Continue wearing a trend that sparks joy.
  2. Do your own thing (DYOT) is the most important trend of all. Stand out or blend in, it’s all good as long as you’re achieving what you want with your style, and are confident sporting it.
  3. Don’t let anyone make you feel that your sartorial choices are inferior to theirs. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and style is extremely subjective. Conversely, don’t make anyone feel bad about their fab-for-them-style, no matter how different it is to yours.
  4. Don’t obsess about your physical appearance because there is much, MUCH more to life. Having a fab-for-you style can be confidence-boosting and therapeutic, but keep a balanced approach. Try to find a style, beauty regimen, and workout routine that you can manage regularly, afford, enjoy, and feel good about instead of trying to keep up with some idealized benchmark of perfection that makes you unhappy.
  5. Don’t take the fashion world too seriously because it’s fickle, ridiculous at times, and not nearly as diverse as it should be. Laugh at it. A lot!
  6. Compare, but don’t despair. Aspire to being the best version of yourself rather than an inauthentic version of someone else.
  7. You can’t please everyone in life, so stop trying to do that. Choose a small subset of people whose stylish opinions matter to you. Throw the rest of the peanut gallery out the window and rock on.
  8. Your favourite colours, neutral and non-neutral are ALWAYS in style. A colour is wrong when it makes you feel less than fab, not when it’s off trend.
  9. Don’t wear things to please other people unless it pleases you too. People pleasing and dressing to suit your audience is thoughtful and sensitive, but only up to a point. Be mindful and in control of that threshold.
  10. When you do feel that fashion and style are bossing you around, re-read this list, or step away and focus on something else. Soul search to pinpoint what makes you happy, and incorporate as much of that as you can into your life.

Be bossy!