"The Gap" Affect

Have you ever gone to The Gap and looked at all those ads on the walls and in the windows and thought "Man, those people look comfortable." or "That woman looks confident" or "That man looks like he feels respected" - well, the whole idea here is Gap is selling you the feeling the clothes give you, because whether we admit it or not, thats why we buy clothes anyway (other than the obvious reason for being decent). This is what I call "The Gap Affect" 3 Days left here, for the most part. Today my main goal would be to gather all my clothes I'm wanting to take with me. Now, being 20 minutes away from my home, it won't be like I can't jump in the car and drive to get something if I need it, but I would prefer to be completely prepared. I've been putting this off, because you see, picking outfits and clothes is such a "science" to me that it takes me lengthy periods of time and thought to put one outfit together - I can't even imagine 2 or 3 weeks worth. I've been thinking about these outfits for about 3 days, so it shouldn't be so hard...just have the physical work of getting them and folding them and sticking them in a suitcase. (I'll update on how this goes). Another crucial fashion related decision I must make, is what to wear on my first few days of interaction. This is important. I don't care what you say - "ohh, give it a few months, then youll be trudging to class in your PJs" or "College kids don't care about how they look" - first of all, I would NEVER wear my PJs around in public unless 1.I was sick and on my way to the hospital and unable to change or 2. I had lost all of my clothes and had nothing left to choose from. PJs are wonderful...some of my favorite clothes...but they are made for the house, and should remain there. Now, the alternative would be sweats or sports pants - these can be used as PJs but are also cool to wear in public, so sweatpants: yes, PJs: NO. And also, it's not the obsession with how I look or what others perceive me to look like - it's the fun of it...the love of getting up and putting that perfect outfit on that makes you feel like you could take on the World. "Dress for Success" - it's truth. I don't believe it's right to judge others based on their outward appearance, even though we all know we do it to some extent, but I do think that the right pair skirt can make a woman feel sexy, or cute, or fit and the right suit jacket can make a man feel respected and handsome...or how a good pair of jeans and a basic T can invite leisure and fun into a day. Clothes are important - I think, sometimes, that it would be nice for us to all be able to pick our favorite outfit - the one that makes us feel beautiful, strong, handsome, able, or what have you, and just wear that because then we wouldn't have to choose among all these clothes, and we would know that when we put that on, we were going to feel good about the day. (don't get me wrong...we SHOULD NOT base our daily feelings on what we're wearing...I'm just saying that sometimes the outfit helps the feeling out)

TR