Style Buzz: Tolerable Unhappiness + Styling a Blue Floral Buttonup

Eugene Stylist
Oct 17, 2025
4 min read

Three Ideas to Inspire Your Style This Week

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I had such shame that I wanted to care about clothes and how I looked. But you turned that around for me!"

While I'm thrilled about my role in this client's style journey, it broke my heart that she held any kind of shame about wanting to be stylish. That her inner beauty should be enough to get her through the life she wanted. But as Nigel says in The Devil Wears Prada, "Yes, because that's really what this whole multibillion-dollar industry is all about, isn't it? Inner beauty." But when you realize that outer beauty contributes to inner beauty through confidence and self esteem, it's time to let that shame go and elevate yourself through style.

xxx rachel

*"Style" doesn't necessarily mean "fancy". There are a lot of options between sweatpants and a ballgown.*

WHAT DO YOU TOLERATE?

When it comes to clothing and what we end up wearing day in and day out, so many of us just put up with items that don't thrill us. There are myriad reasons for this:

You paid a lot for it
It's only kind of the wrong size
It's an old (and tired) friend and you can't bear to get rid of it
You get compliments every time you wear it but you don't really like it
Someone gave it to you and you feel obliged to wear it
You have it so why not wear it
You don't have the energy to go shopping and replace it

It's not making you feel good, yet you continue to pull it out and put it on. Nothing entirely wrong with that, but what it does is create a permanent state of tolerable unhappiness: where you accept ongoing dissatisfaction as a normal and permanent part of life because the unhappiness isn't severe enough to prompt drastic action even though it's persistent.

I'm pretty sure none of us is thinking, "Wow, this makes me rather unhappy!" when wearing an uninspired outfit, but often we need a catalyst to come along and prompt us to change.

Ask yourself: what are you tolerating but unhappy about? A closet you can't get into because it's too full? Being slightly uncomfortable all day? Frustration every morning because you don't know what to wear? Shopping out of necessity and panic? Or worse - not feeling like yourself when you're interacting with the world?

What would be possible if you gave yourself three hours, three weeks, or three months to take steps toward elevating your style? Would you have more time in your day? More confidence on dates or when out with your fashionable friends? A promotion? Success with business connections? An end to wasting money on clothes you don't wear? How would things change in your world? Anything is possible when you feel your best! You don't even need to do a huge overhaul of your wardrobe or throw everything out and start over from scratch. You could simply clear your closet of those pieces you're only tolerating so you can see the ones you actually like. Or learn how to put outfits together from what you keep. Or even try my self-guided course to go further. There are so many options!

Yes, it takes an investment of time, energy, and/or money to reach your goals, but if you reframe your style as self care, a way to make your days easier in the long run and shoot your confidence through the roof, you are worth it. Would your younger self be excited to be tolerating unhappiness? Unlikely! But imagine your future self being absolutely delighted that you took a moment to make some changes and put you as a priority.

Happily, there is no rule about the number or types of pieces you absolutely must have in your closet. But the ones that are in there absolutely must work for you. They're your no-so-secret weapon to feeling like yourself, giving you the courage to step into your life wholeheartedly and authentically, without any shame or unhappiness!

You will never have to forge your path to style alone.

Contact me to learn more about in-person services, or check out

my Finding Your Style course that you can do on your own time, at your own pace.

You can even try out the first module for free!

3 WAYS TO WEAR IT: Blue Floral Buttonup

This is another find from a client's recent shopping trip (On 34th from Macy's), and the colors and fit were just perfect for her. She wanted a multi-season shirt with some visual interest that she could polish up or down, wear with jeans or heels, and could work by itself or under a top layer. I think we nailed it with this one!