Take a look at what you’re wearing — does it convey the complex, intriguing person that you are? If it doesn’t, it might be time for you to rethink your wardrobe, according to style coach Stasia Savasuk.
What are the questions that go through your mind when you’re deciding what to wear?
“Does it have any obvious stains or holes?”
“Can I fit into it?”
“Do the pieces go together — or at least not clash?”
“I didn’t wear it yesterday, did I?”
“Does it smell OK?
And then we get dressed.
Vermont-based style coach Stasia Savasuk suggests we ask ourselves these two questions instead.
“Who am I? And how do I want to show up in the world?”
While Savasuk’s wardrobe (and Instagram) are now filled with attractive, colorful outfits, it wasn’t always this way. She says, “I broke up with style when I was a teenager. I thought it was petty, trite and superficial, because in my experience, clothes had one primary purpose — they were the liaison or the barrier between me and any social group I wanted to fit into.”
She adopted, and discarded, many different looks — “preppy, outdoorsy, bohemian, classic, sporty, I tried them all and none of them ever fit.” Frustrated and confused, Savasuk says, “I accepted a life of beige, yoga pants, fleece, sensible brown shoes, and I became invisible … I convinced myself that it’s what’s on the inside that matters.”
But her daughter, Raisa, caused Savasuk to reevaluate her attitude towards style. She adored putting 5-year-old Raisa in sweet dresses, but the little girl hated wearing them. Why? They just weren’t her — Raisa wanted to wear a shirt and tie.
When Savasuk let her daughter have her way, something wonderful happened: “Raisa said to me in a whisper, ‘Mama, look how handsome I look.’ And then she ran across the living room and said, ‘Mama, Mama, look how much faster I can run.’ And then she jumped high in the air and said, ‘Mama, look how much higher I can jump when I’m wearing a shirt and tie.’”
Raisa felt her best when she dressed in a way that expressed her authentic self. Not only was Savasuk inspired to do the same, she started working with people to overhaul their wardrobes and embrace the bodies they own and the shapes and colors they love. And their new style has helped many of them achieve their own kind of lift-off.
Savasuk uses the word “congruent” when she describes that just-right alignment between your outsides and your insides. She says, “I’m not talking about the tired, exhausted, worn-out you. I’m not talking about the you that needs to lose 10 pounds or start going to the gym. I’m talking about the essence of you, your spirit, that place inside you that is pure unadulterated magic.”
You know, your best self.
So, tomorrow morning or next week or next month, start asking yourself: “Who am I? And how do I want to show up in the world?”
Watch her TEDxPortsmouth talk here:
