When I walk into a room, whether it be for an interview or a General Chemistry lecture, I want to feel confident. Confidence has always been a critical aspect of my personality and I attribute a significant amount of the confidence I possess to the way that I dress. Yes, dressing for success has worked for me, and not to sound like an overly enthusiastic saleswoman but, it can work for you too! Dressing for success doesn't mean wearing the most expensive items you own or replicating that outfit you saw in Vogue piece by piece. It means wearing what makes you feel most confident in yourself and what makes you feel like you can do anything life happens to throw your way.
Today, as a college student, my "look" has seriously evolved from my pre-teen and early high school years, but I have always worn what makes me feel best. I don't dress to please other people, I dress for myself. In second grade, I was really nervous about participating in the spelling bee against fifth graders. I knew what would make me feel confident, purple sweatpants! I had bought them at Rainforest Cafe and I truly believed those sweatpants were the luckiest things I ever owned. I really wanted to win and I felt an extreme surge of confidence when I wore them. Despite my mom's initial disapproval of me wearing sweatpants to school, I felt absolutely amazing. That day, I won the school spelling bee and I felt like I owed it all to my pants. Although in retrospect, I know that skill played a pretty significant role in my win that day, I also know that those purple sweatpants instilled a further sense of confidence in myself. That is what dressing for success is all about. Feeling confident.
I don't necessarily recommend wearing your favorite sweatpants to an interview, or to a college level class, but finding an outfit that makes you feel that you can do anything is the true key to success. As I have matured, I have found that over the knee boots and a blazer are my go to pieces when I need to feel a little more confident in myself and what I am capable of. What makes you feel confident is truly unique for each person and it is important to recognize that. If you feel confident in what you're in, success is essentially inevitable.
