Style: Either You Have It Or You Don’t…

Style: Either You Have

It Or You Don’t!

by Gloria Gibson

One weekend, after losing a bet with my journalist brother, I ended up re-arranging and organizing his closets as my payoff.   The work was dull and uninteresting until I came across his journal hidden in the back of his closet.

Prior to this interesting find, I had always viewed my brother, as a “typical playa” who walked around confused in his quest to find the “right woman.”   My sister and I, though proud of his good looks, often chided him about his seemingly frivolous disregard for the emotional strings of a woman’s heart.  He was in our minds, a dog, a “pedigreed dog.” but still a dog when it came to women. He had always seemed too hard to please and never satisfied with one woman until a year ago.  That’s when he met Liza.  After reading his journal, I understood why. One paragraph particularly inspired this article.

 Since he recently proposed to her, I’ve been allowed to quote directly from his journal.  Of course, I suffered much verbal abuse at being found out, but from what I learned, it was worth it. He wrote this about her after two months of dating…

“I’ve come to realize that for a long time, I’ve been inadvertently looking, while having a bunch of fun, for a woman who could keep me stimulated both mentally and visually.  And meeting Liza has put this in real perspective for me.   I’ve dated beautiful women all my life, but I never found one who had the imagination and the freedom of expression I needed until I met Liza.  The most exciting thing about her is that I never know how she’s going to look from one day to the next.  She puts all her fashion fantasies to work and it’s exciting to watch her imagination in action. Her sense of personal style puts her in a class by herself. She totally satisfies my need for visual variety.“

After reading that particular passage, I sat there thinking about my sisters, my girlfriends, and myself.  We were all basically ordinary in dress and style, except for my sister, Tara, whose personal style always gets an over-abundance of attention wherever she goes.  I’ve never seen her with a guy who wasn’t fascinated with her.

She thinks nothing of buying two pairs of shoes or boots the same in style but different colors and wearing them mix-match to match an outfit that’s a combination of both colors.  Her ever-changing hairstyles and zest for life are always the topic of the week in our family.

I thought about Liza and her nonconformist outfits, which always looked eclectic, yet chic.  I also realized that often when I saw her, I secretly wished I had the guts to wear what she wore.   She’d have on a hat one day with her long hair tucked completely out of sight, and the next time you saw her it would be loose and carefree, with two ponytails tied with ribbon. After violating my brother’s privacy, (the words he used) I decided to do a small survey among friends on their thoughts regarding an impressive personal style.  Some of my questions included…Is it rare or not?  Do you have to be bold to make a fashion statement?  Or is it a mysterious gift to only a few? Here are a few of the most interesting answers.

• Kim:  “Most of us are clones who either cover our bodies to get through the day, or wear what everyone else is wearing.”
• Geniece:   “Too many of us dress to please or impress others and are afraid to move away from the norm.”
• Carla:  “Most of us put no work into exploring or discovering the creative side of ourselves when it comes to fashion.”
• Merle:  “Stylish means having a sincere personal commitment to not look like everybody else.”
• Pam:  “In order to have style, you must be driven to distinguish yourself.”
• Chloe:  “In order to have style, you must be daring and carefree about the opinions of others.”
• Dee:  “The funny thing is that millions of women spend thousands of dollars each year on their hair and clothes, and they all step out looking the same.”
• Ava:  “Those with real style are masters at capturing every eye in the room.”
• Amanda:  “Style doesn’t have to be an expensive foray into designer labels.  The good news is, this look can also be easily obtained if you are a resale junkie.”