Don’t Dress “Normal”.

Dress to express yourself.

I was reading about how Gap is currently facing massive sales slumps. They blame part of that on the ad campaign “Dress Normal” of two years ago.

People don’t want to be normal.  They want to stand out.

Gap is paying for their normal, basic everyday wear with slumping sales figures and empty stores.  They are closing stores in an effort to restructure.

The last time I shopped at Gap was at least five years ago. To be clear, I don’t often shop retail preferring to shop thrift or vintage. It is a personal choice to help me stretch my dollar, save the planet and expand my style repertoire.

I also  have a preference for wearing items no one else is wearing. Making an effort to ensure that other people aren’t wearing the same item as myself is a personal passion, therefore the whole idea of Gap falls far from my style goals.

 

When I get dressed I dress to express myself, to show the real me and hopefully, leave a lasting memorable impression.

Whether that impression is, “Oh isn’t she eccentric?” or, “What a weirdo!” or, “I really like your style!” is irrelevant.  Creating visual ripples in a pond of calm, safe, subdued style is my way of spicing up my life and those I meet.

Every time I go out in what is just about the furthest thing from normal for example this vintage dress…

I get loads of compliments and smiling faces in return.

People approach me more often and are much more likely to start a conversation with me when I am dressed in a creative manner than when I am dressed to blend in.  It is enjoyable and thrilling to wear something that sparks conversation and positivity.

This is my newest totally “abnormal” dress.

It is a wild stretchy, asymmetrical body con dress in a bold pink and black zebra pattern made in the USA.

Totally crazy?

Oh yes!

Totally comfortable?

You bet!

This dress is a versatile transformer, it can be worn midi length, knee length, or mini length. There are overlapping folds which create ruching similar to a bandage dress however I’ve chosen to wear it pulled down and sleek.

The dress is body conscious, but the bold pattern and many folds are so visually overwhelming it confuses the eyes making it impossible to decipher concave from convex which makes my baby Buddha belly very happy.

I never would have bought this dress in a regular retail store. Thrifting is personal style yoga.  It stretches your style sense in ways you never knew possible.

 

This is a great article from Modern Mrs. Darcy about how she made a conscious choice to change her style in order to properly express her personality through her clothing choices.

 

Do you consider how you dress to be normal or abnormal?

Do your clothes invite conversation? Are you expressing everything you want to communicate effectively via your style choices?

 

 

 

Linking up with Visible Monday, I Will Wear What I Like, Shoe and Tell, Turning Heads Tuesdays,