Happy New Year! (The start of my adventure into the roaring 20s!)

Hey guys!

So today is the first day of my venture into dressing from the 1920s!

I made a short video debuting my first outfit (which I will be headed to Verizon Wireless in shortly, oh boy that should be fun!) I posted it on FB so you can view it there!

https://www.facebook.com/BethWheatcraft/videos/2478758545732247/

(Also if you are not following me on FB, DO IT! I am also posting different content on IG as well, so join me there too!)

Ok, so I sort of explained in my first video why I am doing all this, but I wanted to go into a little deeper of an explanation on here.

I have always been kind of a garbage person. Like, since my childhood I have never given 2 fucks about how I looked.

My mom tried to make me presentable. She did my hair up to a certain age, and put me in cute frilly dresses for parties and holidays, but I pretty much lived in hand-me-downs from my brother, and therefore could often be spotted in baggy pants and t-shirts with baseballs on them.

I started caring a little more about how I looked when I got into high school, but I also went through some weird phases that sort of shifted how I presented myself. I was a skater for a while and wore crazy huge red parachute pants. I was emo for a while, and during this time I was also a theater nerd and a cheerleader. Yeah. Square that circle. I'll wait. (Bahaha)

For some reason, I never associated how I looked with how I felt. Which I feel like now was a really dumb thing to have missed.

I have suffered from depression since my teens, and many things affected it I am sure, but one thing that was always in my control, but that I never connected to feeling low was my appearance.

Was it just a mere coincidence that on days that I had an audition and had to make myself presentable, that I also felt more self confident and just a little happier? I thought so for the longest time.

It wasn't until more recently in my life that I started connecting the two as being relevant to each other.

I feel better emotionally, when I look better physically.

It is that simple.

Am I saying that looking your best will magically take away your depression?

Nope. Please don't get me wrong.

Am I saying that pulling yourself out of your burrito blanket and sweatpants and putting on some makeup and changing into an outfit that you feel confident in may boost your self esteem and make you feel better?

Yeah, that's absolutely right.

When I look at pics from the 1920s, something that really sticks out is that everyone is dressed their best, all the time.

(These peeps are looking pretty fabulous)

I think as decades have past and many things have affected fashion, people have become more complacent, and so much more lazy.

(Don't get me wrong, Lularoe Leggings are LYFE but they definitely scream "comfortable" and not "confident".)

I think with this huge movement toward comfort and convenience, something really important has been lost, and that's self-worth, confidence, happiness to a degree, and self-respect.

It is 100% societally acceptable to peruse a Walmart in whatever attire you can put on your meatsuit, but that doesn't mean it should be that way. People Of Walmart is a funny site to look at but it is also depressing. People care less about how they present themselves than ever before, and that must be doing something to everyone's general perception of themselves. No wonder depression is at all time highs and there isn't a standard being held really to anything or anyone anymore. We have traversed down a slippery slope and I feel like fashion is an easily recognizable problem in all of this.

That being said, I wanted to do this crazy "dress from the 20s thing" to see if my experiment worked, on me anyway. Do I really feel better throughout the day when I feel good about how I look? Do I feel more calm when I have had some time to myself in the morning just focused on me and my hair or makeup? As opposed to just starting each day at the whim of my children. How do I feel at the end of the day when my clothes were less comfortable, but they made me smile when I looked at myself in the mirror?

These are all things that I am going to be carefully monitoring over the next few weeks and reporting back here!

Wish me luck friends!

xx - Lady Steem