Over the last several weeks I’ve talked about seeing your life as a story, with you in the starring role.
You’re making decisions that affect the action (plot) of your life’s story, and your story is taking place in a specific setting. Next up is the costuming!
As a general rule, I have a definite tendency to downplay the importance of clothes. Shopping for clothes isn’t something I enjoy all that much, and figuring out what to wear is nowhere near the highlight of my day. It’s a necessary hoop to jump through.
But just as costumes are a crucial part of any stage play or movie, clothes are an important part of our everyday life.
Back in the 1970s Frank Zappa, during one of his rock concerts, was heckled by a man in the audience. Zappa famously replied, “Everyone in this room is wearing a uniform, don’t kid yourself.”
I’ve thought about Zappa’s comment often and realized there’s a lot of truth to what he said.
I think about the different types of uniforms I wear for work and professional situations, in my life as a mom, for casual weekends and fancy dress occasions, or team / group activities. All these uniforms (a.k.a. costumes) show different sides to my life and my purpose at any given point in time.
But what do my costumes really look like? Do I like what those clothes say about me? Do my costumes reflect my character and how you see myself? Do they help others to see me? How has my taste changed — and consequently the costumes I choose for myself — since I was younger?
Thinking of my life as a story had me making time to reconsider my wardrobe from the perspective of someone in the costume department for a new play.
It’s called “The Story of My Life Right Now.”
To begin, I took everything out of my closet with the philosophy that I would build my costume department around the life that I’m living Right Now, not my life from 10 years (and 10 pounds) ago, not my life 5 years from now. I need to costume the ME I am today.
I got rid of the skinny jeans that may never fit again, and I also didn’t keep the fat jeans just in case I fall off the wagon. I dressed the body I have right now so I’m ready to leave the house each day.
Remember, I’m The Star in this story of my life, and as such, I deserve to feel good about the clothes I wear and the way I look. When clothes were out of style or seem tired and worn — I got rid of them. When I didn’t like the way clothes looked on me, I got rid of them. When I didn’t like the way clothes felt against my skin — I got rid of them. When the costume jewelry was tarnished, I got rid of it.
Along the way, I realized less can be more. Streamlining my Costume Department, means I don’t spend nearly as much time in the morning fretting about “not having anything to wear” because everything that’s in my closet fits and it’s something I like.
Now when I go shopping I do so with a clearer sense of what I want to communicate through my costuming.
What sort of costumes do you need for the next exciting chapter in The Story of You?
Are you changing jobs, retiring, deciding to be a stay-at-home mom? Why not schedule a field trip to your closet so you can dress the part with style?