Outfit: A Revolutionary Act of Art!

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you ever felt that your jeans and sneakers did not feel right with your dramatic emotional state? Or that your heart wished to scream to the world your love, but can’t do it in a school uniform? Our emotional state is a colorful palette. Let’s paint!

I have found that one of the most liberating things to do is to just dress how I feel each and every day.
Allow yourself to be how you feel without judging! And if it looks weird, then embrace your weirdness! That is what makes you unique in a world with 7 billion people!

Your outfit is your best way to express yourself!

We are emotional creatures and most of our emotions don’t get to be expressed.

These unexpressed emotions turn into unpleasant feelings and they end up being expressed in an unconscious way through anger, frustration, sadness, etc.

A way to express what is happening inside without the need of rationalizing it through words is by allowing yourself to be the one you feel each and every day. Explore the archetypes that live inside of you and are untapped.

If you woke up feeling romantic, dress up romantic. The world will treat you in a romantic way and the romantic in you will get its time to shine, express, explore, and find peace.

If you woke up feeling combative, dress like a warrior would. Choose an outfit that makes you feel empowered. The world will respond to you and the archetype of the conquistador will be expressed and released.

I don’t mean that you should dress up in fancy carnival clothes.
I mean you should allow what you feel distill itself into your outfit and allow your outfit to help express how you feel.

Sometimes a leather jacket and boots gives me the courage I need to accomplish a mission. Or a white dress and my head cover with a turban helps me to reconnect with my inner peace.

Spiritual & Shamanic dress code had a magic reason

Our society has long ago forgotten the reasoning behind certain outfits.

Shamans had very special relationships with their clothes and knew exactly which piece was appropriate for which ritual. They also knew how clothes have an impact and an effect in the way we are perceived and the way we express, move, and behave.

Gurus and spiritual leaders also use their clothes as a way to carry their practice throughout their daily life.

Wearing a turban, for example, keeps the energy focused in the third eye and gives a clear sensation of awareness through the whole day. It is said in the Kundalini Yoga School that the turban commands your sixth chakra, stabilizing the cerebral matter and its relation with the electromagnetic field.

Covering your head with a veil helps to keep silence in your mind and prevent you from picking up other people’s thoughts. As a highly sensitive person, this was a very important discovery for me. I also use it when I need to be left alone. People seem to respect you better if you have your head cover! Try it out!!

As Inside so Outside

Don’t let others design your life!

The way we dress deeply affects the way we are perceived and the way we feel through the entire day.

We show others how to treat us by the way we treat ourselves.

It’s the way we present ourselves to the others, the first thing that is perceived by someone that doesn’t know us. And it is the very first aspect in which we base our positive and negative prejudices.

In today’s society, it is hard to maintain our individuality. The fear of judgments and the hardcore self-judgments we impose on ourselves kill the spontaneity of our personality.

Fashion seems to dictate every aspect of our lives. Dress is the number one target, and it isn’t random.

It is also not random that institutions like the military, jail, big corporations, etc. have such strict dress codes. Even social movements always go hand in hand with strong changes in clothes and fashion.

The exterior is a reflection of the interior. By affecting our exterior, our interior gets affected too.

It is important to get our power back when it comes to decisions about our own appearance.

I have worked as a model for many years and dealt with having to wear clothes that did not express who I was and how I felt! It was time for skinny jeans and Fluor shirts when I was feeling long, white, decadent dresses!

Originality in your dressing kick-starts the machinery of self-love by telling the world the message: I am in charge! I give more credit to my feelings than your opinion.

Self-love leads to self-esteem in a quick blink!

Make it affordable!

This might sound like a crazy expensive habit to have, but it is not. Keep your wardrobe dynamic by organizing clothes-swaps with friends. Travel often to your favorite thrift shop to sell and buy clothes. Don´t let your closet get stagnant!

Get creative customizing your own pieces; painting your body, using natural elements as decoration…the sky is the limit!

Once you get into the habit of allowing your emotions to shine through your uniqueness, dressing will be a revolutionary, artistic act!

Remember if you feel it, wear it!

Allow yourself to be yourself. Everybody else is taken!
-Oscar Wild

Layla.

Artist Featured: Chanel Baran