Style Buzz: Style as Self Care + Styling a Watch & Bracelets

Eugene Stylist
May 1
3 min read

Three Ideas to Inspire Your Style This Week

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Style is a form of self-care that can be enacted daily. So many people view

*When in doubt, I grab a white button up.*

dressing as a chore, a bother, another irritating task that impedes the day's events. But dressing can be a love song to your fabulous figure! It can be fun

and expressive and exciting and bold and invigorating and creative. It can be a way to remind yourself that beauty and power live inside you and should be honored."

Sally McGraw "Already Pretty"

xxx rachel

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

I've often equated style to self-care, and I'm not making it out to be more important to our sense of well-being than it really is. So many studies prove it, as does personal experience. I love the quote above not just because it reminds us of this, but that it takes the position that it can also be fun! A lot of my clients are in some sort of renaissance - actively changing their life - and realize that their clothing needs to either catch up to where they are or help propel them toward where they want to be. They find that style becomes an outlet for their expanding creativity and self-awareness and approach it with a sense of play.

However, some of them admit to me that in the midst of all the change, they often wear the same things over and over, but aren't quite sure why - are they holding on to the past? Are they scared of moving forward? I tell them it's a form of comfort, that you cope better with things changing if some things stay the same. I find that when my life is in turmoil, I keep to a rotation of only a handful of outfits and jewelry. I don't want everything in my world changing, and turning to tried and true pieces allows me a modicum of control and reliability in an unstable time. Plus I don't have to use any more brainpower making decisions than I absolutely need to!

Clothing and accessories can be your armor to face your world, as well as a safety blanket. So if you're in a state of flux for whatever reason, use your clothing as a tool to help you get through it. Your mental health needs all the tools it can get, and if this one happens to come in pretty colors and soft textures, then what a power tool it is!

3 WAYS TO WEAR IT: Watch & Bracelets

My constant accessory is a Michele watch I bought back in 2012. I wear it almost every day (talk about a low Cost Per Wear!) because I love its classic look but it was the versatility that convinced me to invest in it. I can change out the bands easily, and now that I've got 7 or 8 of them, I've pretty much got one for any style or mood. I usually just wear it with the stainless steel strap and three bracelets that I never take off (see pic above), but sometimes I want more of either an arm party or a statement to add some interest to an outfit. I love pairing handmade pieces with mass-made ones, high end brands like Tiffany with a gift from Hiron's. If I like the piece, I'm going to wear it - the value is in the sentimentality, not its price tag.

It's also one of my favorite ways to wear mementos - each one of the pics below features a bracelet that either my husband, sister, or friend gave me. There are also souvenirs from trips, heirlooms, and memories in the mix, keeping lovely people and times close to me.

And yes, I totally mix metals.