This week for the Thursday Blog Project group, Sara presented us a challenge: Do something you've never done before. Something new and/or different. Tell us about your experience.
Originally when she gave us this challenge, I figured my "something new" would be having a glass of champagne while I got a pedicure. Though I had planned on doing this LONG before this assignment came up, it was in fact something I had never done before. However, I decided to do something different instead.
For over a year I've worked in an environment where I can wear jean to work. No formal or business casual attire required for this gal. This fact has caused me to slack a bit in my appearance. Sure, I dressed nicely when were interviewing candidates, but aside from that I've kept it pretty casual. So to mix things up, the other day I wore a nice top and skirt. Oh, I even put on a pair of heels too!
It was interesting to see the reaction of others. I noticed I got looks from people who see me on a daily basis in jeans. I could even tell the folks at the train station were wondering what was up. In the morning, getting on the train was interesting. The skirt I was wearing was fitted and limited my range of motion so when the train engineer once again over-shot the platform and I had to jump up a bit to get to the first step I had a bit of trouble. I worried this would be a problem, but hoped it wouldn't be. Maybe I should have lifted up my skirt a bit to help with this situation, but I do have a sense of modesty for goodness sake. At work my coworker asked me why I was dressed up and if I had something special going on, but that was the only really comment I got. I think there were some who wanted to ask, but didn't.
In some ways this was an adjustment for me. As I said above "dressing up" for work is a novelty. As such, it makes me feel different. When I dress up nice I believe I carry myself differently. Even when I'm wearing a nice top and pair of jeans there surely is a more relaxed way about me. I don't care as much about my appearance. Also, when I slip on a pair of heel... I truly do carry myself differently then.
It was an interesting little experiment and I'm glad Sarah "tasked" us with this challenge.
Now that I've talked about what I did diffierent this week, see what my fellow bloggers did different:
• Merryland Girl (Melissa)
• Momarock (Sara)
• Mom of Many (Susanna)
Isn't it interesting? You change up one little thing and you get such a reaction out of people! Great post!
ReplyDeleteReally cool. I loved reading about the reactions people had since they were so used to seeing you in one way. Sounds like a nice confidence booster too. I sometimes would wear nice shirts and skirts in college and I felt somewhat more important and noticeable as a result.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's a great post!