body quirks
Bodies are funny things.
Heck, ya gotta cover them up (most of the time), and it’s fun to choose how to express yourself with fabrics and fibers, shapes and shoes. But have you ever snagged a cool piece of clothing only to find that you just can’t wear it all day long? Your body might balk at a too-tight neckline, or sleeves that are too short, or a waistband that digs. If your body isn’t comfortable, you won’t stay happily focused on the work you want to do in the world.
Each of our bodies have funny, individual things that they like or don’t like – necklines, sleeves, waistbands can all be points of frustration with clothing, sometimes so subtle that we haven’t really registered them as a problem until we notice that we’re changing clothes at 10am because we just can’t stand it anymore.
Here are a few examples of my own personal body quirks:
My forearms run hot (like a kangaroo’s!), so long sleeves are my nemesis.
Tight turtlenecks are a no-no (I feel like I’m being strangled); but perversely I also can’t stand a draft down the back of my neck.
I prefer more support through the waist and belly; I’m one of the rare few among my friends who doesn’t mind wearing ‘hard pants’ (aka jeans).
If you’ve started going through your closet and identifying your favorites, you’ve probably also run across a few maybes that make you wonder “why do I never wear this? it’s so great!” Try pulling on those pieces to see if the problem is in how they treat your body. How are the sleeves? Too short, too long, too tight, too flowy? What about the neckline? Does it hit you in a weird place, or is it so wide that it annoyingly falls off your shoulder?
Start collecting your own personal list of body quirks, and make those non-negotiable when you shop or put together projects. If you hold the line with and respect those body quirks, you’ll soon be able to stop buying or making pieces that look good on paper, but don’t feel good on your body. Like it or not, we really can’t override our bodies: if you’re not truly comfortable in something, your body will make you change it out for something that feels better. Your body, like it or not, is the boss.
[*The only exception I make for this personally is formalwear. ‘Date shoes’ can be a thing - if you’re only going to walk from your front door to the car and then from the car to the restaurant table, you might be able to leave a space in your closet for spiky, uncomfortable shoes in the name of fashion. Ditto that dress that you need to wear shapewear under, but is great to wear to shorter events. I keep a small selection of those pieces in my closet, but make the deal with my body that we won’t be in them for very long.]
