Dressing for success

Fashion mishaps during post engagement are highly usual, especially if you have birthed a child, maintained a passionate romance, all while trying to lock down the designated date. Well, no one told me that the desire to look and feel sexy would be thrown out the window once you have spent more than 2, 880 days with the man you plan to spend every waking moment with.

Yes, Yes, I am prissy to some extent. I love dressing up or dressing down, as long as the outfit is cute.  Every morning, I spend about 30 minutes perfecting my hair and definitely my eyebrows and eye-shadow (because your eyes reveal truth). Then I spend another thirty minutes figuring out what outfit, shoes and earrings I should wear. After a full hour of glamour rituals, I rush out in a mad dash to work for eight hours with folks who probably care less about me and my outfit.

Outfits, shoes, etc… all of the prep-time to display these articles leads me to this question: Why do we dress for success professionally but not personally?

In lieu of searching for the answer, this is all I could decipher. We let down our guard to those closest to us, which brings about comfort, and amnesia. I remember the beginning phases of my relationship I felt butterflies fluttering continuously in my stomach at the thought of seeing the love of my life, pondering for hours on what I would wear when I saw him.  Now, I tie my scarf on my head before bedtime (‘cause that’s what most women of color throw on at night) and a t-shirt and socks.  The love of my life often poses the question, “what happened to that night gown I brought you for Christmas last year?”  I thought about his question the other night, as we were hanging around the house, feeling comfortable — and thought maybe I should re-assess my actions and make my relationship successful.

Ladies, let’s stop wasting that hour worrying about how we look for the professional world if we aren’t using an extra hour in the evening to beautify ourselves later for our men.  We need to be successful personally first, and then professionally.