On my last thread LisaP challenged me with this comment "Why deflect attention? Own it!" And it is Lisa and other beautiful, wise women on this forum that have made me really question myself regarding this. I have, as long as I remember, played down my better qualities and paid most attention to hiding or fixing my flaws.

So to bring this down to style, I have only in the last couple of years started wearing lipstick. For the first time and I mean ever. I never even considered it before. To this day I rarely wear eye makeup, although my eyes are one of my "good" features. On the other hand I have always spent tons of attention trying to achieve an even complexion despite various scarring and hyper-pigmentation. I have just recently given that up and instead of foundation wear tinted sunscreen and blush. The skies have not fallen.

My self-esteem has always been problematic. My self-definition came from the positive feedback I received in school. I was definitely a brain and not a body until college, when I received male attention for the first time. (My father has always claimed to be from another planet and we have yet to find evidence to the contrary.) And I realize as I type this, I have just as hard a time owning my academic achievements. I seem to have a debilitating fear of "showing off".

Anyhow, I am not sure how to approach this issue - so I will just ask and stop trying to figure it out myself. Do you style yourself to highlight your best or camouflage your worst? Do you feel self conscious about dressing to the nines? Do you hold yourself back in other ways?

Thanks for reading if you made it this far, and thank you Lisa for asking.