As a woman who is strong-willed, I have also attracted so many strong-willed people into my life.
We are rebels; we really only do what we want in the exact way we want it done. You can’t tell us how to do things – we have our own way, thankyouverymuch.
At least, that’s what we like to think.
There are some things, and it’s different for everyone, for which we don’t know how to do it “our way” just yet. So, until we have our own way, we go at it using a hybrid of tradition and dysfunction. Something between the way we think everyone else does it and a totally backward way of doing it. It could be grocery shopping efficiently, using maps or managing the finances. For me, up until about 3 years ago, it was shopping for my wardrobe.
Year after year, all through my 20s and into ages 30 and 31, I shopped in a way that didn’t work for me. But I kept doing it that way because I didn’t know any other way. And, because I didn’t really like shopping, I wasn’t interested in investigating new ways of shopping. To me, I figured I was still going to end up buying the wrong stuff, so why bother?
That way of shopping for me was to save up $300 and run through the mall in a panic, buying clothing which I hoped could be both versatile but also sum up my entire personality. That’s a lot of pressure to put on your clothing.
But, as fate would have it, the apple that fell and hit me on the head was passing by a local thrift store. Since I live near mega-affluent and image-obsessed Newport Beach, CA, I figured that locals were probably donating nicer clothing than, say, locals in Omaha or Cleveland.
I was right. So I spent several months rebuilding my wardrobe from the hand-me-downs of Orange County’s elite and generous. But as I began to master this alternate way of shopping, I found several other ways of acquiring clothing which didn’t require a visit to South Coast Plaza.
If you’ve ever felt that your way of shopping isn’t quite right for you, I hope you will take some time to watch this recording of a webinar I did last week. It’s called, “How to Build a Great Wardrobe (even if you hate shopping).” Full disclosure, it’s about an hour in length, but time well-invested if shopping frustrates you.
I hope you enjoyed that! If you want to learn more about building a wardrobe you love, you can sign up for my weekly fashion pep talk, “Collages & Commentary.” My subscribers think my content is the bees-knees, and you even get a free guide to being your own stylist when you sign up.
