Friday, January 25, 2013

Fashion Week - Stella Style

Fashionista, trendsetter or stylish have never been used to describe me.

I am not the world’s worst dresser, but on my good days, my style is attributed to whatever fashion-forward person I copied.

One of her favorite things to wear...and not on Halloween.
Sometimes I wish I could be that person who could throw on random clothes and accessories and look absolutely dashing. But I am not.

Stella appears to have been born with some generation-skipping gene that allows her to do just that. She has a certain style about her and knows what she wants. Some days her outfits are “crazy” as she likes to call them, but I can only appreciate the uncensored choices that she makes for herself.

This is all good until it is time to step outside. We (before parenthood mostly) have all looked at little kids with the crazy outfits on and thought to ourselves: “Their parents REALLY let them go out in public like that?”

Like many other situations since becoming a parent, those things are now being said about me.
I have chosen to not care. I have decided that my daughter’s (and one day my son’s) creativity and fashion freedom are more important to me than those judging stares that I get when she is in a tutu, leggings, her dad’s beanie and purple rain boots. Or, like a couple of days ago, the stares I got at Rite Aid when I took her in with her pants inside out (she happens to like the inside piping.)

Shouldn’t the strict dress codes come later on, like in her teenage years? Is it really hurting anybody that she often looks like a hobo (as my mom likes to say) or like some odd princess or garden fairy (depending on her dress up mood.)

Am I wrong here? Was my common sense more in line when I used to look at other children and wonder why their parents didn’t change their clothes? What are the fashion rules for a toddler and where can I find them?

Until I get ahold of the rule book, I am going to live vicariously through my daughter and enjoy watching her in her fashion glory with all the glitter that it holds.

In case you want to join me, just look for us around town. She is easy to spot.