Fashion? Style? Uhh...

Before I started work with a company that required me to be in business-dress all day, every day, I used to be a lot more fashion conscious. Now, it's more or less a matter of having a clean pair of work pants, leggings to wear under them (I'm a huge wimp and the thermostat in my store is NEVER set properly... that's what you get for working with a bunch of menopausal women, I guess?), a tank top and a clean blouse or sweater.

I feel so boring sometimes.

When you come right down to it, I suppose I *could* wear skirts to work, but I'm perpetually kneeling on the ground to go through understocks, sitting on the ground, climbing ladders to get product boxes... dress pants are so much more practical for me.

So it suffices to say that once I'm no longer with this company (please, please let that be sooner rather than later...), my wardrobe is finally going to actually get used. As opposed to me wearing the same 3 pairs of pants and 10 shirts all the time. I have so many cute shoes and some comfy t-shirts and things that I never really get the opportunity to wear.

I post in a couple fashion-oriented forums (and creep a few fashion blogs) online, and see the things that these girls/women wear for school and for work, and I can't help but think "wow, that's cute but totally impractical for what I do and what my sense of style is like!"-- most of what's really in-style right now is very sloppy-looking. Love the knits, but the baggy shapeless shirts and dresses really aren't flattering on my body shape, nor do they look very professional.

That tends to bring me to the point of "what exactly IS my sense of style??!"... And I never really have a solid answer for this, other than "comfortable and practical". Bras that fit properly, tank tops to layer over them with t-shirts and sweaters or hoodies. I could live in my leggings if given the chance, and used to frequently wear leggings + legwarmers to university. And I love knit fingerless gloves. And brightly-coloured socks. Hehe.

Not gonna lie, I miss the days of being vain and really caring about my appearance. I've even stopped caring about my makeup! All I ever wear nowadays is foundation, powder and mascara. Eyeliner if I'm really feeling vain. But really, I'm at work-- not out at a club or a fancy dinner. I don't care what customers think about my appearance, as long as I'm presentable and professional-looking (which I am, for the most part. That being said, I don't like wearing heels to work. I'd rather wear my suede boots under my work pants and be comfortable while I'm running around all day, rather than getting home and crying because my poor little feet hurt so much.)

I think I've just come to care more about getting sleep than anything, haha. That extra hour of sleep I get because I choose not to agonize for hours over what I wear and how I look is much-appreciated.

Not to say that I never, ever ever care about my appearance. It's just that, by and large, practicality is paramount. That being said, if we're going to a party or going out dancing, I can take hours upon hours to get ready... and the end result is usually worth it, even if I do have one or two small "I have nothing to wear! AUGH!" temper tantrums in between.

To summarize? While I do miss having a work/schooling situation where I can be a bit more creative in terms of what I'm wearing, and be more expressive... I'm a creature of simplicity. And it's nice to not have to think too hard about what I want to wear when I'm groggy and trying to straighten my hair without burning myself. Plus, it's saved me a LOT of money! And closet space.