Let’s Play Barbies!

Volume 2 Issue 11

12 March 2021

Here is a bit of exciting news for you and for me too. I am now posting from my website. What that means to you as a subscriber is that you can easily leave a comment on the article by clicking on “Comment” at the top of the page, or scroll to the bottom and just start typing. Your comments, coversation and suggestions are what make my world go round! For your convenience you can still access the pdf to download and print it or save it, as you choose. As I get better at this site builder tool, I will have a YWWJ vault with all the posts listed for your reference. Coming soon… but not quite yet.

LET’S PLAY BARBIES!

One thing about Barbie, you know she is always getting dressed to GO SOMEWHERE and DO something. Even if she is going to the beach, she has her outfit and it’s always eye catching and (pun alert) suitable. Isn’t that interesting? How often to you dress intentionally to call attention to yourself? Not talking about wearing a clown suit attention, or “hey, sailor” but positive attention and respect. I wrote a post about this some years back (Attention! Attention!) and the message still applies. Last week I talked about being looked at (noticed) vs. looked through (invisible). If you are experiencing “looked through” this is about working on upping your game. Looking sharp tells the world that you ARE sharp!

Clothing styles have gotten so casual it’s hard to tell whether someone is wearing pajamas, workout gear or just what was handy from the closet. Casual has degenerated to sloppy and don’t get me started on athleisure as work clothes. Barbie would be appalled.

Now for some good news. The clothing industry has been listening and whether it’s a wool suit, cotton slacks or skirt, or a tailored dress, the new fabrics have beautiful drape and stretch and don’t get baggy. What this means is that you can choose more tailored, dressed up, real clothes and they WILL be comfortable. This look goes a long way to commanding attention. What makes these new fabrics so appealing is that they are not stiff and masculine and can be found in various styles that will be flattering to different body types. Plus, the colors are not confined to navy, gray and black. There are indigo and the beautiful Yves Klein Blue, plum, many shades of tan and brown and, for the adventurous, red, lavender, periwinkle and citron.

As an example, our new Vice President is 5’3” and weighs in at 130 lbs. She dresses in a look I call Contemporary Conservative: Longer jacket, slim pants, pearls and her beloved Chucks (a wink and a nod to personal style and to comfort) or a sleek pump. This look is attractive but not about sex, it’s about movement and power.

The other big plus is pockets, real functioning pockets. With pockets like these, you don’t need a purse: Room for a phone with a case that carries your ID and 2 credit cards (who uses cash anymore?) in one; a mask, lipstick and keys go in the other pocket. A beautiful bag is a joy, having two hands free is powerful. I’m thinking we will see a resurgence of chic backpacks. One interesting option from Etsy below, there are more in the pdf. This brings me back to Barbie and going places and doing things. I wonder if Mattel has started designs for new Professional Barbies for Christmas 2021? Senator Barbie has a nice ring to it.

Read my post next Friday, The Third Layer, for more about power dressing for 2021 and beyond.