By Sarah Williams

My tall thick heels clicked on the hall floor of Junior High School as my brown curly hair bounced up and down with each step. I looked older, almost an adult, with my fitted suit dress and FBI badge pinned to my outside breast pocket. To add to my character as an FBI Agent for the Halloween Dress Up Day, I pulled out my fake flip phone to “answer” an important call from HQ.

Flashback to three years previous and my hair wasn’t down with attractive curls but pulled back into a wispy ponytail. I wore big dorky glasses that were not stylish, but I was a carefree school girl who was raised in a household of boys with no sisters and a mom who didn’t follow fashion trends.

Everything changed when I hit Junior High School. It was the first time I discovered the diffuser to help accentuate my curly hair. It was the first time I began wearing perfume. 7th grade was my red-carpet entrance to fashion.

Throughout the years, fashion has evolved. Trends come and go. Personalities change. People change. Junior High sparked my first fashion frenzy and how I could make my body, my looks and fashion fit for me.

Flash forward 20 years and I am still doing that. I am a fashion trend follower, but I also twist that trend to reflect my personality and how I want to appear to others. I like to accentuate my bold fashion finds, whether they are big earrings, a dress, a hairstyle, heels or makeup. I might have been the wallflower in grade school, but over the years I have slowly stepped away from the wall. And the result has been well received. People notice my fashion finds and I like to stand out and be unique.

Everyone is different. There isn’t just one style of fashion that fits everyone’s personality. That’s why there are stores like Abercrombie and Fitch, Hot Topic and Express. You can be a fashionable whether you are athletic, musical, a cheerleader, in the drama club etc. The question is, what fashion styles should you wear to fit your personality?

Ask yourself these questions:
1. What is your favorite active activity?
2. What kind of music do you listen to?
3. What celebrities (old or new) do you admire?

If you like active sports, pop music and love singers like Pink you would probably be drawn into stores with graphic tees, sandals, and ripped jeans. If you like less active sports, classical music and are drawn to older celebrities like Beethoven and Jane Austen, you would be drawn into stores with flowing skirts, comfortable flats, and cardigans.

My answers:
1. Leisure bike rides, walking, tennis
2. Norah Jones, Broadway, Big Band Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald
3. Audrey Hepburn, Kate Middleton

I almost always wear a dress or a skirt with flats or heels. I wear big statement jewelry, do different dramatic hairstyles and my nails are always painted. These questions can help you decide what’s important to you and how you want to portray yourself through fashion.

People have said that I am “classy” and “vintage.” I want people to look at how I present myself and see confidence, poise and happiness with who I am. You should do the same. Find what you love and incorporate it into your style. You will be amazed at what you find. Don’t be a flop, but your own style of fashionista.