Never Be Ashamed Of Looking Your Best.

Elegance is not standing out, but being remembered.

–Giorgio Armani-

(Note: With everything going on right now, I have chosen to hold off on making a post about the current situation. I want some time to better see how the events unfold before making an emotional reaction.)

For some strange reason, especially in this “Look at me” society, people are really self-conscious about actually making an effort to look good. You will find endless posts and articles openly mocking women who use make up or accuse men who follow fashion as being narcissists. Anyone who dares mention they do exercise to look better will have a lynch mob of online protesters lined up with chants of body “shaming.”

And then we complain how people don’t know how to properly dress for a news conference. Every single message they receive is about NOT caring for your image. And this goes as far as making it something bad to do so.

When did caring about how you look become a bad thing?

I have always been in awe of a woman empowered by their femininity, a woman proud of being a woman. The confidence she exudes proves that the greatest accessory is confidence. When I mentioned this to a fellow writer who helps women overcome their own self-conscious limitations, she mentioned how often women felt the same way about men.

Yes, men have that same power. And this should not have surprised me, but there is a constant message to men that a man shouldn’t want to look good, that this is an act of vanity or narcissism, or worse yet, that this is something only women should do. Since when did caring about yourself and how you present yourself to the world become un-manly?

It’s not. It’s about caring enough about yourself to want to look your best.

Yet I see men constantly avoiding this subconsciously. They have no problem with being loud, but actually calling attention to themselves for making an effort to look good? That’s when they get stage fright.

People have no problem showing off how smart they are. They have no issue with oversharing their skills. They feel pride over their artistic endeavors. So why should they be ashamed of making an effort to present themselves well? There is no shame to wanting to look good. There should be no shame looking at yourself in the mirror and liking what you see. Isn’t that an important part of self-confidence? It’s important to be comfortable in your own skin. It’s important to have enough confidence you don’t mind the extra attention.