In Pursuit of Awesomeness

I've been inspired recently to formalise my commitment to wearing awesome clothes. The reasons? Well, I guess there are many but the main ones are the inspiring example of Kathleen's No Pants Challenge, the life enhancing effect of wearing fabulous clothes and my own personal experience of not having that opportunity. A year ago all I got to wear for nine weeks was pyjamas or hospital gowns, with scrubs reserved for dressy occasions. And as always in times such as those, one of the things I would regret (along with the possibility of never seeing the end of my favourite tv shows) was the clothes I hadn't worn. And I don't want to have such easily avoidable regrets so one year on it seems like a good time to reaffirm that commitment to myself.

I know this could seem like a superficial goal to some. But I honestly don't feel it is - or at least it doesn't have to be. If I had a mission statement or a motto I think it would be 'Better living through better dressing' or 'A life well dressed is a life well lived'. Because I truly feel that awesome clothes are life enhancing. I'm not talking about designer labels that will make people jealous or that are aspirationally expensive. I'm referring to the kind of clothes that make you feel awesome. Clothes that make you feel empowered when you look in the mirror. Clothes that make your day a happy one simply because you are wearing them, regardless of how mundane or tedious your day may otherwise be. Clothes that make you smile just by looking at them. These are the kind of clothes that make you feel more confident, more resilient, more cheerful, more positive. And when you feel like that, you really can achieve more, cope with more and enjoy more. I hesitate to say it in case it sounds completely ludicrous, but I even think it makes me a more generous, patient and tolerant person - and maybe it's not so silly and it's actually part of what makes Emma the kind and wonderful person that she is. My own personal philosophy is that I like things to be pretty but I don't think people should feel they have to be. Most importantly I don't think it's right to judge people on the way they look or even whether they seem to be making an effort with their appearance. This is something positive I'm choosing to do for myself not a measure by which to judge others.

So I've been following my own little challenge for the last few weeks and I'm really enjoying it so far and have definitely noticed the positive effect on my life. I've had to work out my own rules - I've even put in a loophole for truly awesome pants should I ever actually come across any, because awesomeness is the only meaningful goal here. I've had to rename it too because 1) there are some differences from the No Pants Challenge and 2) no pants means something quite different here. So I've simply entitled my challenge 'The Pursuit of Awesomeness'.

Here's a handy pictorial guide to the similarities and differences between my challenge and the No Pants Challenge

On Nopantskathleen's side we have all kinds of loveliness that Emma has actually worn *pauses for moment of hushed reverence*. On my side we sadly have nothing that Emma's ever worn but we do have some pretty Mad Men-esque dresses and some *gasp* Rachel Berry-worthy minis. And in the middle, the area of overlap, we have bows, cardis, ladybugs, berets, owls, brooches and mary janes which I hope you'll agree all adds up to a whole lot of awesomeness.

I think this is one of those times that what we have in common is oh so much more important than our differences and I like to think that we can consider ourselves, if you'll permit me the religious analogy, part of the same broad church. I personally feel that this church could even encompass awesome pant wearing.

And if this were a religion, then I think an excellent basis for our religious text would be this post by Kendra on 15 reasons to dress up everyday. It's inspiring and motivational. And two fabulous candidates for our religious leaders, people who embody these values and would practice what they preached, would of course be Emma Pillsbury and Kurt Hummel. This would definitely be a religion that Kurt would be comfortable with. I also think he would approve, probably even demand, that we have an anthem, a hymn to dressing well. We can just call it a theme song! I'd like to suggest 'Put on your Sunday clothes' from Hello Dolly because the lyrics really couldn't be more perfect.



Since Kurt really lives and breathes the spirit of this I felt I really should make him an outfit. I don't know if he'd wear it but I hope he'd appreciate the thought.

My inaugural Kurt set by shinyprettythings featuring a white shawl

So really I'm just at the beginning of this journey but I think I like where I'm going and that I'm going to enjoy myself along the way. There'll be some adaptations made but so far they all seem good. One thing I've realised about being more dressy everyday is that formerly dressy occasions need to be stepped up a notch too. Fortunately I have a family who are 1) predominantly female and 2) need no persuading to get glammed up so from now on all family occasions are officially formal. And as someone who's always liked the idea of dressing for dinner that suits me fine.

Life is too short to not wear your best clothes