Ah Ha!

Outward appearance

Now that I’m graduated college and don’t play sports anymore I can’t wear my school issued SDSU sweats every day (darn).  I now have to impress clients with my outward appearance, convince them that I have good style and make a fantastic first impression as a designer. 

The way that people dress has been on my mind lately and I realized something worth sharing.  

Effortlessly Cool

You know that girl who is effortlessly cool?  

The girl who looks put together after her workout?

She’s blessed with magical hair that naturally looks amazing?

She wears little more than mascara but looks good in every photo?

She wears jumpsuits with a wide brim hat and doesn’t look like a try-hard?

How?

I know for a fact she doesn’t wake up at 5am to do her makeup. She doesn’t change into 5 different outfits every morning.  The “effortlessly cool girl”  in my life has a newborn and was telling me how she was up all night.  So how, every day, despite the craziness of her life, does she look so so perfectly effortless?

I asked Daniel about this a couple months ago.  He said “I bet she’s been working on her looks for years.  Little actions she has taken to improve her style and appearance have turned into habits, and now she’s able to look so put together with seemingly minimal effort each day.”  I thought about it for a second then convinced myself that she doesn’t try, because thats what I wanted to believe.  

I had an Ah Ha moment the other day about this whole situation.  It seems obvious now, but heres how I came the to conclusion that Daniel was right.  

I had a friend come up to me recently.  She was sitting next to me while I was working so I asked her opinion.  She kindly responded with a shower of complements.  “You design so beautifully. You have so much talent.  I could never do that!” she finished this shower of compliments with, “You don’t even try and it looks perfect!”.  

Does she really believe that last statement?

The design I showed her I had spent about an hour on, it seems like a short time but I’ve made so many designs in the past.  And each design I made I tried really really hard!  I have been trying hard at design for years, heck, I studied it at College! 

I was flattered by her comment, and I suddenly realized in this situation I was that “put together girl”.  For her to think that I don’t even try (was a major complement) but completely wrong.  Its taken me years to get to this point.  I have high expectations for myself and have worked hard to become not only a good designer but also an efficient one.  

I think she picked up on the fact that I truly enjoy what I do.   She’s seen me work and I often talk while I work.  Trying isn’t a huge effort when you enjoy the process.  

So that is how I came to the conclusion that the girl who dresses beautifully, who’s hair looks amazing after a night with a newborn, that girl, she loves to look nice.  She enjoys washing her face and getting her hair cut well, so that the nights when she gets no sleep she can wake up and still look flawless.