"wearing nothing new"

[Babeba]

Soooo... a friend of mine posted this video clip on Facebook of a Brooklyn designer talking at TED about her clothing philosophies and I personally LOVE it!

http://www.ted.com/talks/jessi_arrington_wearing_nothing_new.html

Quite a few of the things that she said in her talk reminded me an awful lot of some of the posts that have happened here recently talking about whether attempting to pass in public ought to be important or whether the whole 'guy in a dress' thing should be considered decent... most particularly, a part of her speech where she says,


Confidence is the key. If you think you look good in something, you probably do. If you don’t think you look good, you’re also probably right. I was lucky enough to grow up with a mom who taught me this, but it took me until I was 30 to internalize its meaning: if you truly believe you’re a beautiful person inside and out, there’s really no look you can’t pull off.

As genetic men who dress like women, how do you feel about this idea? Do you find a difference in how people react to you depending on your level of confidence? If you saw a guy in a dress who was completely a happy person and really rockin' the look, would you still think less of him for the outfit? What do you need to wear while in femme to own it like this chick does?

[Persephone]

That was a fun bit, Babeba, thank you!

I absolutely believe confidence is a major key. It is one of the three keys that I was taught by a gentleman named Dr. Leon Lessinger -- Competence, confidence, and caring.

Basically, he said that you can't be confident until you are competent, so, like the lady in the video, we have homework to do to get ourselves ready for the confidence stage. Find what works for us and make it our personal style, perfect our makeup techniques, and our body language so that we can be relaxed in how we look and move and, at that moment, we can become truly confident.

Caring is, of course, about how we see and treat others. If we aren't confident in ourselves, then we can't be comfortable in opening up to others and in actually being oriented towards them and towards the world beyond ourselves.

I very much enjoyed the video -- great find!

Hugs,
Persephone.

[Danni Renee]

This really is a great video - thank you for sharing!

I believe confidence is a very important aspect of your outward appearance - regardless of how you are dressed, drab or enfemme. When I feel confident in how I look either way I feel much more talkative and happy and fun in general. And people treat you differently depending on the confidence you display. So a guy wearing a dressing but very confident in doing so would probably not face nearly as many issues as a guy in a dress who is less confident and trying to hide.

[Taylor186]

Fun video: and a reminder that one of the most beautiful things a person can wear is a smile.

[Babeba]

When I feel confident in how I look either way I feel much more talkative and happy and fun in general. And people treat you differently depending on the confidence you display. So a guy wearing a dressing but very confident in doing so would probably not face nearly as many issues as a guy in a dress who is less confident and trying to hide.

That's really how I feel about things, as well! :-)