Turns out everything you need to know about being a lady can be found on Twitter. 

A couple weeks ago, I ventured out onto King Street with all of the tourists for a little retail therapy at Anthropologie. In order to avoid doing my laundry and picking up my dorm, I looked through every book in the store. A couple of them caught my eye, all for different reasons. One, in particular, weighed about 10 pounds and was priced at $98. For that price, you would think the secrets of the world were behind the bright blue binding, but no… just photographs. Seriously, it was an overpriced, sophisticated picture book. No thank you, Anthro. Anyway, the book that most tickled my fancy was,"How to Live Like a Lady." Anthropologie, are you telling me that all secrets to being a “woman of superior social position” are in this 128-page, paperback book? More importantly, can these secrets really be purchased for the low price of $16.95? If so, why isn’t this book flying off the shelf? 

Since I joined Twitter in 2011, I’ve noticed that people -- at least, the people I follow -- put such value on being classy, ladylike and southern. Even though I pride myself in my Southern heritage and I love sweet tea, seeing tips about how to be a southern belle on Twitter can grow exceedingly obnoxious. My timeline consists of endless retweets from anonymous accounts telling me how to be a lady, what brands I need to wear to be classy and how wonderful it is to be southern and sassy.

It's all fine and dandy that all you tweeters have so much interest in being classy, but I’m feeling like the intent is all wrong. Luckily, I had my mother and my grandmother to teach me how to act in public, how to speak to those my senior and, most importantly, how to be respectful. If only I had grown up with these anonymous Twitter accounts to teach me that class doesn’t actually come from behavior, it comes from your clothes and your put together façade that you are to wear every day. It irks me no end that people think being classy consists of wearing Lilly Pulitzer every chance you get. Don’t get me wrong. I love Lilly, but I don’t think that her patterns cover you in enough “class” to make up for a poor attitude and lack of manners (chew with your mouth closed!).

My main point is you can be a lady (or a gentleman) in sweatpants and a t-shirt, although I wouldn’t recommend wearing that particular ensemble to church or a dinner date. It is important to present yourself well, but class goes deeper than just wearing your favorite Vineyard Vines pullover all the time. Class is in your attitude and the way you carry yourself, not your Twitter timeline, a how-to book at Anthropologie or your closet.