Dress to Impress | Teen Ink

Dress to Impress

January 13, 2009
By AlwaysWrite28 DIAMOND, Flushing, New York
AlwaysWrite28 DIAMOND, Flushing, New York
95 articles 28 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"What makes a flower a flower? And why doesn't the dandelion qualify?" -From my poem "Dandelions"


When I wake up in the morning, before I change out of my pajamas I look out the window. Depending on the weather I’ll where something different, breezy, I’ll wear a sweater, snowy, time for boots, sunny, shorts and sandals, and so on. I also think, ‘where am I going today?’ to the mall, I’ll wear something trendy, yet easy to change in and out of so that I can try on clothes and shoes. The beach calls for, sandals, flip flops, sunglasses. The farms, earthy looking shirt, earthy wash jeans. ‘Who will I see today?’ If I’m going to see my cousins, I think hard to remember what I wore the last time I saw them because I don’t see them often and wearing the same outfit twice when seeing them would look so wrong. I make sure I’m wearing sneakers because I’ll be playing tag and other sports with them if not video games. If I’m going to see my grandparents, I have to make sure I don’t use the temporary blue hair dye I use quite often, they don’t like it. . . unless I want to annoy them that day. If we’re on vacation it has to be something that says I’m from New York, and you’re not, but it has to be comfortable, vacations often involve walking. Now here are the basics of what I wear:

Pants: Flare Jeans, Skinny Jeans, Wide Leg Jeans, Boot cut Jeans, Ripped Jeans, Plaid Short shorts, Navy or Olive colored Bermuda shorts... never a skirt, not my thing.
Shirt: Tank top, T-short in Boyfriend or Baby Doll fit one that usually says something sarcastic, an oversized t-shirt, sweater, or shrunken blazer, and I love to layer! I make sure I don’t revolve my outfit around a jacket, or around not wearing a jacket because I get cold often.
Shoes: Sneakers by Puma or Converse with ultra low below the ankle you can’t even see them socks because I think tube socks are for dorks and I’m a nerd!, Flats, Sandals, Flip Flops, Native American Looking boots, not made from real animals faux fur all the way.
Accessories: Earrings are dangle or hoops, the dangles are; peace love freedom, stars, or hearts. The hoops are medium sized color gold, medium sized in silver, or large in silver for attitude. Dangles cannot be worn with t-shirts, and only studs are to be worn with a sweater. My second ear piercing will have a stud that matches the shirt I’m wearing every day. Necklaces depend on the cut of the shirt and the style of the earrings, you can’t mix silver and gold, my most worn necklaces are my army “dog tag” with my name on it, my sea shell necklaces, my cross, my medieval dragon’s claw, my shark tooth, and my peace sign. Bracelets are usually a charm bracelet, always my evil eye bracelet, my sailor’s knot bracelet, and I usually add in my thick rubber bracelets that support different organizations and countries.
Makeup: Nothing, once in a long while I’ll wear lip gloss, I always have my toe nails cut short and painted a neon color, black, dark blue, or bright gold, my fingernails are always dark blue or bare, and always cut short. Perfume sometimes, usually a vanilla, peppery or fruity smell, never flowery.
Hair: I comb my thick, long hair, it frizzes up so I keep it in a loose messy side braid most of the time, or I wrap one side of my hair with thread for a hippie look, but when I need my hair out of the way, I pull it back into a medium or low back pony tail, no gel, spray, mousse, nada zilch depota!
I would define my style as a hippie, vintage, rock n roll; go with the flow kind of thing. I’m eclectic. . .

That is what goes through the average mind of a teenaged girl every morning, which would explain the stress zits that pop up out of nowhere! We need to make sure we’re prepared for anything and everything; we have to dress in an ambiguous way to cover all the factors, all the bits and pieces of our hectic day. This can result in broken hangers, a messy closet, and a heap of rejected clothes in your bedroom every morning that just keeps on growing bigger and bigger until it seems like you have NOTHING to wear. It’s never that you have nothing, it’s that you don’t have what you are looking for, something that is practical yet attractive for whatever you have planned for that day.
That is just me, everyone is different, and no one thinks the same way about getting dressed in the morning. How a person dresses really does reflect more than his or her taste in clothing. You can tell a lot about where a person is going by their attire. A person running up the street in a suit clutching a briefcase glancing at their watch constantly is a business person late for work. A kid with a backpack at the arcade at 12:00 pm cut school. Someone in exercise wear, jogs into Starbuck’s for an ultra fattening frappucino with a pastry is allegedly trying to get healthier. Someone holding a guitar, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and messy hair is trying to make it in the music industry. Someone sitting on a park bench wearing leggings a cute dress and a scarf drawing what she sees is an aspiring artist. The one dressed in black interviewing random people is an author. Every outfit tells a story.
If there is an interview for the occupation of editor at the local newspaper and a person who goes in wearing in suit with a made up resume and a nice way of speaking can get the job before someone who needs, wants, and deserves the job but can’t afford the suit and doesn’t express his or her thought as clearly. The familiar saying “dress to impress” is often true. I’ve had a first row seat, when my family was interviewing people to become clown’s in our children’s entertainment company, we were all there and all met the people. When the day was over, certain people wearing certain things we considered Goth, hoodlum, convict, and when we checked their records, some weren’t good people. We can’t send a convict to a children’s party, what if they have harmed children in one way or another before? First impressions are important. Others dress like they are upper class, but live like lower middle class because all the money they spend on clothes puts them in debt. You look at that person in envy, thinking how much you wish you could shop there, until you snap out of it and realize that $300 for a pair is sunglasses is insane compared to the $10 you usually spend. People dress to make you think they are something that they aren’t because it makes them look confident, even though they are rather dead inside.

In conclusion, how a person dresses, really does paint a picture of who they are on the inside, or at least who they want us to believe they are. Something as simple as the outfit you decide to put on in the morning will show others you meet who you are, so dress to impress, and be yourself, never dress in a way that you think you should, just in a way YOU want to.



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This article has 6 comments.


on Apr. 3 2011 at 12:16 pm
Aliescha BRONZE, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 3 comments
Same here, clothes really do describe a person. It shows your personality.

Adonis said...
on Aug. 4 2010 at 4:33 pm
Adonis,
0 articles 0 photos 21 comments

my clothes are very important to me.  it's wierd when you think about it because clothes, sometimes, are more for the people you're with then how you actually feel. every day would be pajama day if it wasn't for work, school, parties etc.

And yet, i think the point of fashion is, it's still you even if you have to follow a dress code.  Because ultimately you can decide upon the impression you make it's just how you want to do that.


on Jul. 13 2010 at 11:18 pm
everthought BRONZE, Vancouver, Other
1 article 13 photos 69 comments

Favorite Quote:
"forever is the new now"
-anonymous

Good for you for keeping an open mind when writing this article, taking note about how this routine doesn't apply to everyone...thumbs up.

on Mar. 2 2010 at 9:14 am
Wow......wow....wow.....it like you wrote the story of my daily life. Fashion is a great hobby but can also be stressful. Good Work!

VampireBabiE said...
on Dec. 4 2009 at 4:25 pm
i meant.. .*it really captured*

VampireBabiE said...
on Dec. 4 2009 at 4:25 pm
Nicely done, i really captured what every teen goes through!!!