Dress To Impress

“I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do a photo-shoot, people desperately want to change me - dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know that everyone wants a picture of me in a miniskirt. But that’s not me.” - Emma Watson

Dressing to impress isn’t an uncommon thing. People pick the clothes they buy and wear to impress other people every day, but the truth is, if the clothes you are wearing aren’t making you happy why wear them?

Some people may call the things I wear ‘weird’ because I don’t necessarily always wear clothes that, well, match. But if I want to wear a top with bottoms that ‘don’t go’, I’ll wear it anyway because I want to wear that top and those bottoms. I don’t pick my outfit based on the other things I’m wearing, I pick it based simply on if I want to wear it or not because that’s what makes me happy.

If people want to wear outfits that go perfectly together then you can do so because that’s what makes you happy.

If you want to wear an outfit that’s entirely black then do that because it makes you happy.

If you want to wear an outfit that has spots and stripes next to each other then wear that because it makes you happy.

If you want to wear the slouchiest hoodie and biggest jogging bottoms you own then wear them because that is what makes you happy.

If you want to wear trainers (sneakers) with a dress then do that because that is what makes you happy.

Anything you want to wear, you can wear and should be able to wear without the fear of other people telling you that what you’re wearing is wrong. You can’t wear anything that is wrong because if it is making you happy then it is right.

To me, happiness is the most important thing. All I want when I’m older is to be happy and if that means wearing a hat in the shape of a zebra with a frilly, layered dress and Pikachu slippers then that is what I will do.

I really wish we lived in a world where everyone wore what they wanted and it had absolutely nothing to do with what the latest ‘trends’ are or what their friends were wearing.

I’m not saying that you “can’t get inspiration from what other people are wearing” and “you must only wear things different to everyone else” because if you like a top that Zoella is wearing in her latest video there is nothing wrong with you wearing that because it makes you happy. If people say you’re “copying Zoella” then ignore them because you are creating your own style that makes you happy. Odds are someone is going to like the same style of clothes as you.

You might make a few mistakes a wear some things that you deeply regret wearing in the future but, hey, you’re creating your own style. You’re bound to make some mistakes.

The point I’m trying to make is: don’t dress to impress other people. Dress to impress yourself.

“You’re perfect the way you are.” - Perfect, Emma Blackery

Laughter

Laugh - verb - "make the spontaneous sounds and movements of the face and body that are instinctive expressions of lively amusement and sometimes also of derision."

We all laugh. It's just a thing we do in life when something is funny. Right? Not always.

Sometimes we laugh when we know we've said something that has hurt someone, so we laugh and pretend it was a joke.

Sometimes we laugh when we're in pain. When we've fallen over and it hurts but we laugh and pretend we're fine so we don't make a fuss.

Sometimes we laugh when we hurt emotionally. To hide the pain so no-one knows that we're actually sad.

Sometimes we laugh even when nothing is funny. When someone makes a bad joke but we don't want to make them feel bad so we laugh and pretend it was hilarious.

Sometimes we laugh when someone dies in a movie and all our friends are bawling their eyes out.

The other week, one of my friends got frustrated and started punching their lunch box when it wouldn't fit in their bag but she started laughing afterwards to cover up that she was feeling (well, I think she may have been feeling) stressed or angry, and at that moment she let some of the anger out but laughed it off to hide it.

We don't only laugh when something is funny. We use laughter as a mask to hide our true emotions. We laugh to make people feel better or when we're scared. I know I laugh when someone is shouting at me or telling me off as I hate people telling me off - it terrifies me. It doesn't help the situation when I laugh, of course, but I can't help it.

Of course, we still laugh when things are funny, but, next time someone laughs, maybe we should question if they're laughing because something is funny or for some other reason.

"I can fake a smile. I can force a laugh." - human, Christina Perri