Day Eight: Why I'm awkward. Clothing stages through the years. When I was a punk. (:

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Writing Challenge Day 8
I'm doing a 31 day writing challenge, found on the Reverb website, designed to reflect on the past year and look forward to what's to come in 2011.

Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful.

This prompt makes me feel like I'm just going to be awkwardly talking about myself the whole time. That will probably be true. I also feel like they are two separate prompts and I'm not sure how related they are. I guess we'll see.

Part I. Different:
>>>> Clothing I have honestly felt "different" my whole life, but mostly in the awkward fashion stages I've gone through. I have almost never been content to wear "normal" clothes. I don't like to blend in with the way I look. I think the way we dress is a wonderful means of expression and art and creativity. I also understand that not everyone thinks like this,  and some people could care less about the clothes they wear. Allow me to explain my awkwardness through stages:




[Stage One: 2th grade - 6th grade] (Above) Anything horse-related, OR my dad's huge Gus Macker basketball shirts and any athletic pants. Oh, and a baseball hat. This might have still been my mullet stage. Ha. This is when I started getting really into volleyball (AAU, school team, travel leagues, summer camps). I also was obsessed with horses and rode at least once a week. You could tell. The volleyball and horseback riding didn't stop after 6th grade, but it stopped being apparent what my hobbies were based on my clothing. Haha.

[Stage Two: Middle school] Refused to wear jeans. Wore khakis and black pants everyday... mostly with chunky sweaters. Remember the ones with the single stripe running down the sleeves and across the chest? Anyone? I'm on the left in this photo. Perfect example of my khaki/cardigan combo above.

[Stage Three: Beginning of high school] Went through an awkward cargo pants and cords phase. I also bought knock-off shoes that looked like Doc Martins and colored the seam/thread thing yellow. I'm strong enough to admit that now. (:

[Stage Four: Sophomore year] I turned into a punk. I wore trucker hats non-stop. I cut up toe socks and wore them on my arms. Pink converses. Eyeliner. Vintage t-shirts from my parents' closet or Goodwill. Thrifting. (Thanks to my friends for still loving me through this :)



[Stage Five: Junior - senior year] I started to care (about half the time). I would still wear sweatpants and sweatshirts often, but I shopped at Express constantly. Back when it was not so expensive. For about 3 months of junior year, I wanted everything from Abercrombie.
 




[Stage Six: Summer after high school - Freshman year of college]
Went through a I-don't-care-about-anything-and-I'm-not-going-to-wear-makeup stage. Worked at Springhill. That might have something to do with it. This carried over to my entire freshman year of college. Did. Not. Care. Sweatpants all the time. Hurley sweatshirts. Hair in ponytail. Somehow boys still dated me. I don't know. (:

[Stage Seven: Middle of college] Did not like to match. Tried my very hardest to wear the weirdest combination of clothing I could get away with, and still have it look somewhat stylish. Mixing patterns. Bright colors. My mom would often say "you sure have a unique look," and other similar things. Haha. I had BLUE HAIR for a short period of time. Just the ends and underneath.

[Stage Eight: End of college - now] For a while, I wore hippie clothes. Headbands across my forehead. Tie-dye. Peasant skirts. Lots of layers. Blunt bangs. I liked it. I don't know what my style is now. It's so hard because I have a dress code at work, so I often feel like I can't fully express myself through my clothing. That might be why some of my outfits are so interesting when I'm home from work. If I could, I would just shop at Anthropologie now. Or Urban. Or Zara.




So, fashion identity crisis much? Seriously. I feel settled into my current style and I don't really plan on it changing a whole lot in the near future. It's still kind of out there, but toned down and professional. Favorite things lately:
          -skinny jeans,
          -boots with socks,
          -big necklaces,
          -neutral colors (usually with one bright color),
          -cardigans,
           -flower clips. (:

To summarize, I went from: boy clothes to grandma clothes to punk clothes to scrub clothes to hippie/gypsy clothes to semi-professional clothes. still kind of hippie sometimes. Phew. What a mess.




---------------- (Ways I'm "different" continued)
>>>> Food preferences. I like weird things. Like spinach in Greek yogurt. Falafel. Palak Paneer. Tabouli. I don't like a lot of normal things. Like meat. Cheesecake. Pancakes. Etc.
>>>> Ambition. Not that this is different than everyone, but I'm not a big talker. If I say something, my mind is usually set, and I'll do it. Starting a business, for example. Planning a trip to California on a whim with my BFF, for example.
>>>>Art. I love creative things. I need creativity in my life. I guess not everyone is like that. I say it makes me different because no one in my family shares that passion with me. I don't know where I got it from.



Part II. Lights people up
I like people. I think I'm pretty decent at reading people. I don't feel the need to elaborate on these things, but I think this is what I do to "light people up."
-encouragement. little notes. messages. affirmation. texts. whatever.
-creative gifts. i love giving gifts. a lot.
-dreaming. about travel and goals and inspiring people to pursue their passions and dreams.
-sharing/listening. aka conversations, i guess. i love asking questions about people and listening to their stories. i don't like talking about myself much until i really trust someone. 
-hugs. i like them. i'm such a physical touch person. 


Your challenge: answer both of those questions. I want to know how you'd answer them for yourself!