Guest Post- Jen & Kam from The Closet Narcissist

Hi there – we're Jenarcissist and KameraWhore (the Narcissisters), and we’re the gals behind “the closet narcissist.” We were really excited to be paired up with Nnenna for our first ever guest posting opportunity from Ashley at Two Eyes in the Mirror. The mission of our blog is to promote and celebrate self-love…to remind you of how amazing you are! So we thought we would combine the fashion talk behind Nnenna’s blog with the self-image talk behind ours and explore how the way you dress can reflect, and sometimes enhance, the way you feel about yourself.

Of course, your real source of confidence should come from inside you, regardless of how you look. But let’s be honest; appearance matters to most, if not all, of us to an extent, and the way you present yourself to the world is often a reflection of how you see yourself...or perhaps how you would LIKE to be seen by the world or the kind of attitude you'd like to develop. 

We thought we’d share with you a couple of outfits that make us personally feel confident.

Jen:

I usually feel at my most confident when I’m wearing a dress. There’s just something about the girliness and how great you can feel in a dress that really suits your body shape. But sometimes, at least for me, dressing up just isn’t comfortable. I unconsciously sit up straighter and feel more put together, and that can definitely add to my confidence level, but for an average, everyday look, I want to feel like I can put my feet up! So the outfit I’m sharing is really nothing especially creative, but it does have several confidence-inducing features, and I think the outfit pretty accurately portrays my personality for everyday…girly, fun, comfortable – and comfortable with myself!

First, the yellow shirt. I always feel more confident when I wear bright colors. The shirt is comfortable but still has a nice shape that’s a step above a T-shirt. It has ruching on the sleeves, which adds a little visual interest. My black jeggings are a fairly recent purchase; I had initially dismissed jeggings as something that would not flatter my body type and would feel uncomfortable, til I found these pull-ons at Wal-Mart...and I love them! Not only do I feel awesome when I wear them, but they’re also comfortable. Then you have the jean vest (which I got for about 3 bucks at a thrift store). When I wear it, it just makes me feel more fun; it’s not something I can really put my finger on. Then you have these cute floral wedges I got from Target. Okay, I admit they are not the most comfortable shoes on the planet, and they are even a little hard to walk in, so I wouldn’t wear them to stroll around town…but they’re very feminine and trendy and make me feel girly and stylish when I wear them. Last is my necklace. Kam and I have an online shop where we have 22 designs (so far) of self-love-boosting necklaces we make by hand. Whenever I wear the various designs, just knowing they’re there somehow courses the messages through my subconscious all day long. I find myself reaching up to touch them all the time without thinking about it, and every time I do, the message is reaffirmed again. We have messages like, “Stay Confident,” “I Don’t Have to be Perfect,” “Invincible,” etc. They’ve become integral parts of my outfits every single day. Sometimes I will wear one that has a message of how I WANT to feel that day, and before long, I do!

Kam:

I am a jeans girl through and through. My outfit is simple but the epitome of what makes me feel confident. My jeans are a skinny pair that I picked up at Old Navy several years back. My husband encouraged me to buy them even though I was worried I wouldn’t be able to pull them off. Three years later, and these jeans have cycled in and out of my go-to, feel-good pile of clothes. I tend to go through periods of time when I don’t feel like my body looks especially flattering in them. However, I am trying to overcome that, so recently, these jeans have made a comeback! They are nicely worn, quite slim-fitting, and they’re not low-rise, which can actually sometimes be more flattering.

My shirt is a recent purchase made at *gasp* Wal-Mart. Surprisingly, this store is actually starting to carry some cute items. This blouse is made by L.E.I. and was a steal on the clearance rack for $3. In my mind, it conveys a bit of a punk, rockabilly essence with its plaid pattern and ruffled accents. To me, this gives off a youthful vibe that I definitely want to hold onto. It also makes me feel like I appear as a creative, open-minded gal, which is truly who I am. I must admit that when I wear this shirt, I like to keep the top button undone. I rarely feel comfortable showing off my cleavage, but in this shirt, it makes me feel sexy to do so. I’m not sure why this is so, but it just feels okay in this particular blouse. I feel sexy and super confident about my body. Score!

We found this great blog post about wearing what fits you RIGHT NOW…no matter what your shape or size and despite the fact that you might wish to lose a few pounds. It’s important to dress for what your body looks like in the present moment and play to its strengths because it DOES have strengths. As Katie writes, when she was ashamed of her body and feeling that she was too heavy, she would either stuff herself into clothes that were too small (“part self-punishment for gaining weight, and part ‘motivation’ to lose it) or too big (“this allowed me to hide my body – and my shame – underneath layers”). Eventually, she embraced her body as it was and began dressing in a way that was more comfortable and more suited to her body type. When you do this, you're naturally going to gain more confidence because you'll see what a difference it makes. 

If you want to portray a more confident self and therefore actually become more confident over time, you can do that partly by finding and defining a personal style that suits who you are, dressing to flatter your body type, taking good care of yourself, and wearing things that just make you feel good. And that certainly doesn't have to equate to expensive.

And, just for fun since Nnenna posts such fabulous knitted creations, we thought we’d share with you Jenarcissist’s first ever crocheting project. It isn’t anything yet! But it’s full of promise, right?!

What does the way you dress say about you? Is it an accurate reflection of your personality? Does it reflect how you feel about yourself?

Also, don't forget to check out my guest post on The Closet Narcissist! :D