Artist at the Bank: Fashion Update

So this girl missed the Oscars! 

              

……..gasp of all gasps……….

 I know if you knew me you'd know this is a big deal, not just because after I had decided as a little girl that I didn't want to grow up ever- and then decided that that was just not going to happen- I decided that I was going to be an actress! The thrill of it was mostly due to the wild and outlandish imagination I had and the fun of playing pretend.

  Yet even in my ignorant youth I knew that it had some practical draw. I'd be able to play at a lot of jobs. The idea intrigued me about playing dress up as many different types of people. I love people and what better way to get to know the masses than to inhabit a role as one and tell their a story. I still toy with the idea of running away to hollywood every now and again. I know I can't sing. But I can act. Fox Films told me so once upon a time- but I chose a different life. I chose this life and I'm absolutely thrilled about it. Turns out that it isn't really a big deal after all. 

But I digress. As usual.

All of this to say I have an update on this artist in her bank and her fashion dilemma!

The question posed three weeks ago now was this: 

                How does one maintain a since of her artistic self 

in the corporate business world? 

Well one week of shopping, research and two weeks of on the job training and a dash of pneumonia- now fading fast, Praise God!- and I'm here for an update.

Lessons I've learned:

1. Keep it Comfy 

2. Be Brave, Not Boring

3. Life is Not a Movie

4. Playing is fun, Worry is Not

Expanded Lessons. #1 Keep it Comfy. This is pretty self-explanatory and yet it is something we as women forget all the time, especially I think when we put imaginary expectation on ourselves. You can want to live a certain way all your life and look a certain way, but at what cost? I won't sacrifice my legs any longer for my day job. I wish to run, frolic and play. At the end of the day being beautifully dressed is as much about comfort as it is about fashion. 

Even CoCo Chanel agrees…. see:

“Fashion has two purposes: comfort and love. Beauty comes when fashion succeeds.”

#2 Be Brave, Not Boring. It is so hard to stay away from black in the corporate world. Yes it is timeless and great if you are the stereotypical artist that people picture smoking in an art gallery- oh Dear Lord please make this image fade back into time where it belongs in the 70's! No offense to dearest Audrey Hepburn and Co Co Channel who taught women many great things besides wearing a little black dress goes a long way in classic fashion. Yet in real life, the world has such color- such vibrance, such verity! Be brave and give yourself a bit of color to play with, or a statement piece necklace. And don't forget to rock it.

#3 Life is Not a Movie. And in this case my bank job will not be a financial version of The Devil Wears Prada. Somewhere in that tremendous imagination of mine getting dressed up was going to be a bit of this. But don't worry I have learned this lesson on many of occasions in my life and so without to much shock. It doesn't register as such a surprise that I will not pick out my clothes with a somewhat strange fairy godfather in a closet filled with the best pieces. Then suddenly all my hard work will look fabulous as well as my duds. LOL
The dress code is written on my brain and as I tried to live up to it in the past two weeks I found myself one of only a few trying. I've set the bar higher for myself than my company cares to enforce  And yet I am not disappointed in this fact. I want to rock at my job for the glory of God who gave all to me. Part of that is to look presentable and professional-also live as he created this creative girl to be.  So I dress to impress.

#4 Playing is Fun, Worry is Not. All this to say that playing with my favorite pieces is so much fun, it is just another way to be an artist in the everyday. Its not posh. It won't sell a piece for lots of money. It won't end up in a museum. But it is a kind of art. Enough of one to satisfy me for a bit of my creative day. Worrying about what to wear is not fun. And however much I try to learn this lesson it all comes back to trusting the one and only true Artist : God. 

Oh how he takes care of us. 

Matthew 6:25-34

New King James Version (NKJV)

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clotheyou, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

For More Info: 

Kohl's and Christopher and Banks ~  clothes

Biblegateway.com ~ Bible verses

Youtube.com ~ Audrey Hepburn

Goodreads.com ~ Quote by Coco Chanel