changes you've made to your "look"

so i started growing out my face. i have friends who change their facial hair w/ the weather so i realize that this isn't a big deal to most, but it is for me. i've lived in the same type of clothes and style since jr. high really, over 20 years. i've grown my hair out a couple times throughout the last 20 years and it got pretty long at those times, but that's the most i've ever done. besides that you can always find me in the same style of graphic t's, jeans or shorts, and sneakers. i've never pierced anything, got any tatoos, or dyed my hair. i don't wear jewelry or a watch.

i think i might get it from my dad. he still wears a lot of the same sweaters i remember from my childhood and he's still rocking a barbershop quartet pringles mustache that he grew out before i was born. i tease him about shaving it and he's adamant that he'll be buried with that thing on.

anyway, even though i find it superficial from the outside looking in, i'm a bit curious about the ripple effect changing one's look can have on your life. between your attitude when you're walking around, to how people treat you, to who flirts with you, it can be a powerful thing to implement i'm starting to think.

i don't have any outside motivation to get a wardrobe upgrade since i work in a mechanic shop and can wear anything i want. but that said, i'm feeling compelled about exploring some more age appropriate clothes than what i have. it's a daunting task though since i have no "eye" for it whatsoever.

what have been the biggest shifts in your personal appearance? how did those things affect your life? and what if anything are you planning to do to your look in the future? thoughts?

 

I've aged.

Fuck gravity, it messes up your face.

That and in the past ten years I went from slicked back sales dude helmet hair to a much more casual cut. Most of the time it just falls naturally wherever it falls. And I've quit wearing contacts, now 100% glasses. Just to much of a pain in the ass to continually grab reading glasses. So bifocals are it for the duration.

 

In the past two years I've cut my hair and lost 45 pounds. Both have dramatically improved my appearance.

 

I was using straight up 'Magnum' before realizing how debilitating it was to others around me.

I have since toned it down to "Cold Steel" on account of too many women throwing themselves at me.

Joking aside, I used to have a beard and looked more or less like a blond haired red-bearded unibomber.

 

Yeah, I've changed a lot over the last decade:

 

I had been meaning to do this in a similarly themed thread I don't know how long ago, but was too busy with work to do it. Now, I'm pretty tired, but at least I've got things semi-organized.

I was a tomboy as a child. Then I hit junior high and became one of the nerds, which lasted through sophomore year, when I hit my goth phase. I'm not sure if I'm glad virtually no pictures of this exist because, man, I was bad at it. Visually.

When I was 19, I got a desk job. That combined with an anti-anxiety drug I had been on since I was 13 caused quick and massive weight gain. I went from ~150ish to about ~180 in what was probably six months, maybe less. This is where the pictures start.



That's my natural hair color, by the way. I was probably 20 in this picture.

Then I hit 190 a month or three later:



And eventually hit 215 lbs around 21.



This picture (and many others) still terrifies me.

I didn't realize that I was gaining weight. I while never slender once I was on the anti-anxiety meds, I had always been curvy but in relative shape. I didn't pay attention to much to the clothing sizes I was buying, I mostly didn't think about it or figured it was the variance from brand to brand.

I don't remember what set me off, but I decided to start battling the pills and eating healthy when I was 23.



It was slow, but the pounds started dropping. (I also took up Urbex for a number of years, hence the abandoned crane.) I'm probably 24 in this picture.



When I was 25, I started feeling more attractive again (at~195 lbs) and started going out clubbing again like I did so much when I was 18-19. Because of that, I started doing make-up more, like I used to. Some girls, no matter how heavy they are, always look and dress their best. I was never one of those. I was, "Fuck, I'm fat. I'm just going to look pathetic if I even try to make myself appear desirable." There were a number of years where I was too embarrassed to fix my hair in a public restroom mirror because I was certain that the more attractive girls would internally mock me for trying to fix anything when I was already fucked.



I got my second tattoo at 26. I weighed about 170-175 pounds at the time. I was embarrassed about my belly, but I was so excited to be getting ink that was so much a part of who I am. This tattoo really did something for me-- the act of getting it, as well as the meaning behind it. I did it in one sitting-- spent eight hours in the chair with a 15 minute break for lunch thrown in. It took an hour per box and, at the end, I was in mild shock. I felt strong, conquering, and more like who I wanted to be than I had yet been.



Really appropriate pic. I finally dropped down to 160 through a lot of work and self-control. I was still 26. I started shopping, trying on more girly outfits, paying more attention to magazines and make-up, but it still wasn't me. I wasn't comfortable. Jeans and a t-shirt during the day, a mini-skirt and random breathable top for clubbing at night. The divide wasn't being crossed. It's still there, in a way.



I hit 153, a little below, when a dramatic family crisis hit. I was so stressed, I couldn't eat for weeks without someone there to distract me from the fact that I was eating. If they ever stopped, I'd get sick. My body just wouldn't keep food down. The above picture was after that, once I had recovered, probably about 155. I was 27. Still wearing jeans and a t-shirt all the time.



Then I got this job. They hired me into what's called a "make-up spot" because I fit the "attractive" view. My face was to appear in public, I was to engage with guests verbally, instead of wear a mask to scare. The process of getting ready was tight, and the only way I was able to keep on schedule was to have minimum clothes between myself and my costume. I started wearing dresses regularly-- it was just easier to get out of them.

The dresses stuck after the event was over.



Sweater dresses during winter.



Cotton dresses during summer.

I haven't been able to ditch the boots, though. They're too comfy. I know I need to move into wearing heels regularly, but I can't convince myself that it's a good thing to do to my body.

I still have a clash between casual wear and date wear. I can do casual dresses, but when it comes to jeans and a stylish top-- it just feels weird. I don't know what I need to do to get over it. I look at magazines and try to copy styles I like, but when I look in the mirror... it's never me.

My hair has been its natural color, bleach blonde, brown, blue, various reds, short, middling, and long. It's black and to my lower back now, though I'm probably going to hack a few inches off of it in September.

I do get treated differently now, I think. At least in a work environment. And I have noted that the, pardon the expression, men I've been landing lately have gone up in quality, especially physically. Sometimes I find it surprising. Sometimes I just laugh about it.

I used to wear all black all the time. Did for years. My parents were despairing in a mocking, fatalistic way. Now I buy bright colors just to fuck with people who haven't seen me in a while. And it's odd to say --I supposed you'd have to know me--, but when I dress like a regular girl, I get treated like a regular girl. And that's an advantage. I take people off guard easier when they think I'm fluff.

My next step is Lasic. I need to get rid of these glasses.

It has been an interesting trip of going through different incarnations of myself.

 

*rimshot*

 

First shaved my head when I was 18 and since then it has been that way or close to it. To put it another way, the last time I paid a barber for a haircut was 10? years ago I think. I get lazy and let it grow to short fuzz length but always end up fixing it with my clippers and a razor.
The facial hair comes and goes as I see fit or circumstances such as being threatened with a beardnet when I was a cook dictate. Very rarely clean shaven though, three times in the past 16 years.

 

Lets see... enormous baggy clothes, shoes a couple sizes too big, and a huge beatles haircut shading into a mullet along with random target/kmart tshirts until I got to highschool. Then I started wearing slightly less baggy pants held up by a shoestring and bright solid color polos to school. After that the next big change was to start tightening up my clothes as best I could, ditch the unibrow, and get a really short haircut. Finally around the time I started college I started finding clothes that actually fit me and picked up some dress clothes, waistcoats, and thanks to a local salvation army some suits.

Most recently I've kinda given up on Jeans in favor of khaki colored pants for the instant respectability boost... and since these are twice as durable as any pair of jeans I've ever had, and got fitted for contacts so I can wear full-seal eye or ear protection without fighting my glasses frames if I'm out airsofting or at the range.

 

I'll write about changes to my look a bit later, but for now

And wow ... I couldn't resist searching for a link, and found this:
Baldness cure could be on shelves in two years - Telegraph

 

Poetry : that was a nice read... some parts i recognise in my personal life. Glad you feel good and you lost some weight... that's still on my to do list, maybe I shall start running tonight again
ps. try the high heels more... I'm sure you'll look adorable wearing these
ps2. love the tattoo, where and what is the other?

 

When I started working for IBM, I cut 2 feet off my hair, shaved the ZZ Top beard and went totally corporate. I'd pass on the beard these days; but I'd wear a grey ponytail in a heartbeat if I weren't follically challenged.

I've also gone from 280 in my late 30s to 170 now, though I can't recommend cancer for weight loss.

 

In March my world went pear shaped, I was a wife and mother, the ex had a viscous jealous streak and therefore I did not flaunt my body at all, he preferred me slightly overweight, he also repeatedly told me that 'I was lucky I had him as no other fucker would want me' I truly believed that. I was so anxious after we separated that I couldn't eat. I am still having appetite trouble, I have lost 23 lbs since March and it still keeps dropping off me without trying, and I have gone down two dress sizes, all of sudden I am buying girly stuff and for once enjoying it. The male attention I am receiving is staggering as I look at them stupid if they compliment me.
I am continuing the conversion of old to new and will post a pic of the final me ..............

 

Grew my hair out at 16, got it cut at 17, grew it out again 18, cut at 19 (and then later shaved bald), kept it mostly buzzed from then on. Started growing it out again just after my 21st birthday. The back is down past my shoulders, the sides and front are about two inches behind.

I look like I'm 12 years old when I'm clean shaven, so I have some sort of facial hair all the time. Used to be a Van Dyke style, now it's just a goatee. Also, sideburns.

In terms of style, I like graphic t-shirts, usually a size too big. Jeans and a zip-up hoodie (usually with a beanie) in the winter, khaki shorts with a bandana in the summer. Once my hair gets long enough, it'll probably be perpetually in a ponytail to keep my hair out of my face.

 

The older I got the more I liked business attire for my day to day at work. T-shirt and jeans were my go to for after hours, but sometimes I liked going to the bars dressed like I was going to a board meeting.

When I moved to Oregon I succumbed to the the more "natural" look. Just recently I noticed how much I don't like it. It's as if I don't care what I look like. I didn't get routine hair cuts. I stopped wearing makeup. I haven't been clothing shopping in almost 2 years. This may not be a result from Oregon as much as spending 4 months in jammies due to a MS relapse and losing and then gaining weight because of said relapse. Oregon supports the more relaxed clothing style though. I would wear khakis and a "nicer" tshirt to work. It's quite drab.

Last week I started wearing my nicer business attire to work on a regular basis. Monday my colleagues asked me if I was meeting with a donor as that seemed to be the only time I busted out the suits. I had no meetings that day. Tuesday they said I looked really nice. Wednesday they asked if I had been losing weight. Thursday they asked who the guy was. Friday....they didn't say anything.

My hair is still a hot mess and I haven't gone back to wearing makeup regularly. I'll get back to that possibly. My excuse for the hair is that I'm growing it out a bit and the makeup...well....it rains a lot here. Good excuse for the hair too.

Since going back to a more professional look, I feel much better about myself.

I'm still not in a place where I feel comfortable in heels.....but I have been experimenting.

 

To me you'll always be the rough and tumble gal that drinks PBR and smells faintly of an athletic supporter.

Don't ever change, babe... that's the real you.