Don't be a Cliche'

Sometimes it's so hard to make a decision about what to wear. Especially when you have tendencies... Like me. 

Today I had to go to a training to work with Creative Youth, and I thought, "Now try your hardest to not look like a Retired Eccentric Art Teacher". aka Loud Prints, Lots of Color, dressing like current day Cyndi Lauper, etc etc. 

This girl (above) has got "Eccentric Art Teacher" dressing down like a science. 

This outfit above, I would wear the shit out of that. But you know what, there's something about looking like a cliche' and I just don't want to do it. 

I don't want to fit in boxes. I want to be myself. 

I'd rather do something like this. LOSE THE HEADBAND THOUGH. Pick one stand-out piece, that you really love, keep the rest different. Be subversive. Pair this awesome dress with tough boots.

I know what everyone is going to say. "Just wear what you want to wear." Yeah, well, yes, that makes sense. But you have to remember to retain that sense of yourself, and just not slip down the slope of the facets that are just *PART* of you. My ART TEACHER-Y-ness is just one part of me. And as much as sometimes I fall into that style top to toe, I sometimes need to rein it in, and remember the rest of me.

Like, I've always loved Punk Rock. And people would see this studded jacket, and say, "Oh, that is SO YOU!!"

But it's not me. I'm not one of these guys:

I'm 34, I'm a mom. So if I want to do the punky moto jacket, I need to turn it on it's ear a bit, like this:

Or Skulls. I just can't wear skulls. 

Because I am not Doyle. No matter how much I want to be.

So don't just step into these categories and roles. TRUELY be yourself. A complex human, not a cliche. Make everything your own, and pride yourself on that.