Occasionally Impractical

For many years, I stuck with practical fashion. It's not at all hard for me to live 24/7/365 in jeans. They work for work and they work for everything else too. Topped with a tee and/or casual jacket, they were my uniform. I would look at beautiful clothes on blogs or magazines (I love to do fashion while unplugged - I feel so un-tethered! :)), and love them, but think "I have nowhere to wear that", "that's too fancy for work", "that's too fragile". And then one day I realized I wasn't having any fun. Everything I had seemed plain and boring. It was utilitarian, but little else. I was missing other aesthetics, but not having explored many, I didn't realize it. Yellow was prob my gateway - I saw it loved it, had to have it, had nowhere to wear it, had to figure it out or berate myself for wasting money ( I hate doing that!). Slowly, a new world opened up: rocker glam, femme beauty, classic chic -genres that are authentic pieces of me that I wanted to explore in real life, not just in photographs. So I started searching for ways to do that. Classic movies, fashion bloggers, catalog and magazine photos, my own creativity - they all played a part in helping me to accomplish this whole not-always-practical experiment.  There's something to be said for creating that moment, for living through that experience of being a girl in a beautiful dress on the balcony of skyscraper, for being a boho princess at work (who knows - maybe you'll inspire someone else to do the same ;)), for rocking a silk bridesmaid's gown with boots and a sweater at the symphony (done it). I've developed workarounds that make stretching fashion's limits more practical. I carry a long jacket in my car that I can throw over fancy pieces to protect them should the need arise. I carry or wear leggings under dresses and maxi skirts and flats in my bag so I can switch into and out of heels. I still sometimes fall back into practicality, but I push the envelope far more than I ever did in the past and it's a thrill. It makes me come alive. It underscores moments and gives them shades and highlights they just wouldn't have if I were living in them in something staunchly appropriate. Be fearless.  I'm not saying go hiking in heels and it doesn't have to be every day. But if it moves you and you love it, find a way to work it in to your wardrobe, even if you find yourself coloring outside the lines or dancing outside the box. Once in awhile, ditch practicality. It's fun.
 
Hint: if you need an inspirational starting point, the Fabulous Muses are the Queens of wearing tangentially appropriate fashion - ball downs in a hayfield, for example ;)