Herd Mentality
Nothing remarkable about that, or the coat itself for that matter. I spotted it whilst looking for something else as is so often the case, and popped it on. It fitted me perfectly and was exactly what I wanted / needed for a very particular purpose.
All jolly yes!?!
Well not exactly, you see I bought this coat for a very specific purpose and I won’t be wearing it often. However in buying this particular coat I end up looking like all the other people that also engage in this one activity, it’s rather like an unspoken uniform. I was somewhat aghast upon returning home with said coat, as it hit me I had unwittingly participated in this unspoken uniform, how had that happened?
My friend whom I was meeting for coffee kindly said “no, you always look a little bit different” when I mentioned the uniform bit and my BFF across the pond who knew exactly what I was referring to said “hmmn well there’s a reason people dress the way they do”. Kind on both counts but doesn’t get by the fact I still bought this coat!
I’ve always wanted to be a little different, I never wanted to look like the other girls, fitting in wasn’t high on my list of priorities. Unfortunately I didn’t and apparently still don’t, have quite the imagination to really stand out from the crowd. Whatever youthful determination I had to be a tad different has since diminished and I dress in what suits me and what is suitable, well mostly. So why is it so painful to me to wear this coat?
I suspect it’s because this poor harangued coat serves as a reflection of a lifestyle I never envisioned for myself. Not that my life is bad, far from it, just not where I thought it would be or more precisely where I had planned it would be.
One could also argue that I am wasting time agonizing over a coat and that is probably true. However here at SoffiaB our motto is Look Gorgeous, Feel Fabulous! That is why I designed our robes the way they are, so the wearer feels good! I am a huge proponent of buying clothes that only add to one’s sense of self-worth. Clothes that give you that little bit of additional strength, that finishing touch to add to your beauty, that increased dose of confidence, that smidgen extra of daring, that looking gorgeousness and perhaps more importantly feeling fabulousness – after all that’s why I started SoffiaB.
So what was I thinking? I don’t know, but I do know that if a wee, innocuous coat has the ability to make me feel so rotten, I need to (not donate it immediately), quite the contrary, I need to ignore the feelings only I am perpetuating and in a quiet moment do a spot of reflection and sort out my life-goals. Oh and perhaps throw in a dash of gratitude whilst I’m at it.
Because at the end of the day no one cares one jot about my coat, but they do care about my robes and dressing gowns and that’s where my focus needs to be!!
So tell me have you ever bought an item of clothing that had an unexpected effect on your psyche?
Look Gorgeous, Feel Fabulous – Sophie
P.S. and for those State-side, wishing you all a superb Thanksgiving next week!