We all have that one crazy unique person in the family. I’m positive someone just popped into your mind. Well, needless to say, by the age of 6, I wanted to be just like my crazy aunt. She traveled all over the country on volunteer missions, graduated from college in anthropology, had dreads for a while, knew how to snowboard and surf, and her style was off the charts cool. My aunt basically just screamed awesome! The first time I walked into my aunt’s home, the smell of eucalyptus filled my head, and I generally felt like I entered her mind. Her home was decorated exactly how I would have thought –it was so uniquely her.
After this life-altering experience, I decided that was how I wanted my room and my closet to look, not like hers because that would be copying but a reflection of who I was as a person. I failed miserably for a few years, getting caught up in the fast fashion trends and just trying to look cute, but then as I got older, something flipped, and I was just sick of living my life how everyone else lived theirs. So I went on strike. I donated over 75% of my closet to a thrift trade store.
The cool thing about thrift trade stores is you can trade in your clothes, and in exchange, you will receive money or store credit. I chose the store credit because I gave away my whole closet and was trying to piece it back together.
My next step was I went around the store and looked carefully at everything Anything that sparked joy, I put in the cart. For some reason, it was lots of pinks and super girly things, which was odd because I did not have any of that stuff before. I left the store with a new (well, new to me) pair of Chuck Taylor yellow Converse, denim overalls, a pink ruffled top, a yellow dress, and, wait for it, an embroidered lavender vintage crewneck. I got flicked a lot of shit for my unique style choices for a while, but I did not care –I loved it; and it was the first time I really felt like myself.
Today, my closet is filled with different styles of overalls and jumpsuits, colorful basics, and vintage pieces I wear often. I normally get my inspiration from elderly ladies who are at the coffee shop or paintings that speak to me. But the whole point of this story is to tell you how I found my style, so if you are searching for a secret to developing yours…you need not look any further.
Finding pieces that speak to you will soon flip your boring style around, even if it is a quirky bow or a vintage tea cup, or anything you want if it makes you happy and brings you joy, then it is meant to be. Replacing things that don’t spark joy with things that do, you will soon start to see your own personal unique style shine through. Marie Kondo wrote a book called the life-changing magic of tidying up. I recommend it to anyone who is feeling a need for change.
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up (The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up)https://a.co/d/idxStjh
“Does it spark joy?” – Marie Kondo
