The art of dressing is dead; as a doornail and I think it died sometime during the late 80′s. As much as I love this decade (we have gay rights, globalization and Facebook! ), I hate that clothing oneself, for the most part has fallen to the wayside.

Take this weekend as a prime example and arguably the ignition of this rant. This past Saturday I was invited to the lovely wedding of my friend Agata. This being the first wedding of my adult life, I was extremely excited. So few and far between are the chances to get dressed up, to feel really and truly exquisite and to don your best frocks.

Needless to say, I caused myself much stress over the dress to wear, and on a very small budget. Finally, the night before, I chose a beige biased-cut dress from H&M with beige strappy sandals. I woke up early in the morning to blow dry my wild hair and fasten it into a tight ballerina bun and chose to accentuate my eyes with soft purples and bronzes. As a final touch, I picked my grandma’s tiny beaded purse as an accent to the black straps that criss crossed the bust of my dress.

The final product was an outfit that I clearly thought about, and I was proud of how I looked.

When I actually arrived to the wedding however, I was shocked at how many people did not think about what they were throwing on. I saw one man in khakis and a golf style polo, while another wore a brown belt with his dress pants. The women, to their credit, were wearing formal dresses, but threw their hair up with a ponytail and were wearing their  over-sized day purses.

I was horrified.

When I whispered to my date my horror, he scoffed that “the practice of getting dressed up is an outdated ritual designed purely to show off to one another”.

I happen to disagree. I think that the ritual of dressing… picking the perfect dress, and the right nail polish or cuff link, and spraying the final touch of fragrance is a beautiful thing. It’s excellent for self esteem, for the longevity of civilized society and it’s just plain polite.

So this is my plea. If you have a few more weddings left on your summer schedule, dress up!

Think about your ladies dresses or suits! Pick an appropriate shoe to match, style your hair! Wear perfume! I assure you, you will not only feel amazing, but I bet you’ll have a great new Facebook profile pick!

Similar posts: