Don’t care what people think of you, but put your best face forward.

Express who you truly are, but follow the rules.

Such conflicting statements. Or are they?

It seems the battle of self-worth and confidence begins every single morning we wake up and dress ourselves for the day.

It’s so subtle, yet so powerful and significant.

Many people could give a hoot about fashion, clothes, style, and appearance. And for many people, hair, makeup, shoes, and accessories are a way of life.

We can pass judgements on both groups of people, arguing which group is more self-assured and conscious. But when we attempt to divide such groups, we find that their intentions are really quite similar.

Fashion is yet another medium for judging others and feeling insecure, but it doesn’t have to be.

Our clothes can certainly make statements for us, but they don’t have to.

How we dress may or may not say anything about us personally.

Our lives are what we make of them. And other people’s lives are what they make of them.

What we wear and how we present ourselves to the world is solely reliant on us. Other people have opinions about how we present ourselves, but those opinions don’t matter unless we want them to.

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. – Coco Chanel

Dressing ourselves is just another component of overall wellness.

If we feel good about the way we dress, we’ll feel good about ourselves. And feeling good about the way we dress does not mean that we have to conform to other people’s standards. But if we do dress according to the norm, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re limiting ourselves to other people’s expectations.

We choose how to present ourselves to the world. And if we feel good about how we look, we free ourselves from relying on other people for our own self-worth.