Fashion: The Great Connector.

con·nec·tion

/kəˈnekSH(ə)n/

1. a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else.

How do you connect? To others; to yourself; to the whole? After a year of lockdowns, connecting to others in an authentic way can feel foreign and yet, necessary. Between working from home and the country wide mask and social distancing mandates, connecting through touch, i.e. hugs, cheek kisses and even small talk is all but a thing of the past.

When you think about it, those hallway and break room chats with co-workers were low key lit and the loving embrace of a loved one or sometimes even a stranger could lift even the darkest of spirits. But, with life being placed on pause, I believe we all have gotten used to short goodbyes and no hellos, an eye glance to acknowledge another without the greeting of the day and more than an arms length of distance in enclosed spaces or better yet, not leaving the house much at all.

Now that life is opening back up and people are gathering and connecting more, how do you plan to connect in a meaningful way? Have you thought about it? I have. Or I should say, I have reflected on it. You see, I noticed that connections happened very easily for me during quarantine and I found that fashion was the "great connector.'

Being that I was working from home and social gatherings were a thing of the past, the world quite literally became my runway. Now, before I get too far into this topic I will caveat this by saying, I definitely succumbed to quarantine outfits for a period of time. Meaning, leggings and sports bras or joggers and tees. But with that, I also fell into low moods for a bit and when I evaluated why I was in that space for so long, I realized that it was because I was not doing all the things that made me feel like me as much as normal. So, I began again with the habits of showing up as my best self in my best outfits, everyday. At home and for me. I needed to reconnect with "self".

After reconnecting with that part of me, I freely shared it with everyone else. I would dare to go to the hardware store, to the grocery store, to the park or just to the drive through in my Tom Ford glasses, and my Steve Madden sneakers. Or, my Lizzy jeans with the embellished chains on them (pic above) and accessories galore. I would daringly walk down the isles of Wegman's carefully selecting my produce in my 6 inch heels with my balloon sleeved crop top and high waisted pants.

I was unapologetically and unabashedly, me and I let my fashion sense speak for me. My fashion usually says "Hi. This is a safe space to engage" Why? Because it is #BoldSexyTimeless of course and it shines so brightly that others feel safe to shine alongside it. And, that is what connects me to others. One day, I was at the airport, headed to Mexico and getting coffee for the flight, when I noticed two flights attendants -one a caucasian middle aged woman and the other a twenty-something hispanic male- looking at me and then speaking with each other and smiling. I smiled back and after we all finished ordering our coffees, the male attendant came to me and asked "What airline are you flying?" I told him Delta and he begin to ask where I was headed. I told him Mexico and they both let out a disappointed sigh and told me that they were indeed talking about me, hoping I was on their flight because I looked so "fabulous" and they like to rate their fashionable passengers. They were so hoping to be able to "rate me." We shared a laugh and had more small talk as they complimented everything from my hair to my earrings to my attire, It was a great exchange between two people that I would have otherwise not connected with.

Another time, I decided to go to Home Depot to get items for my plants and I had on a simple camel brown trench with black skinny jeans, red platform sneakers, a black beanie, and a leopard print scarf with red trim around the edges. Upon check out, a white haired, caucasian, man who wore a hearing aid and looked to be in his late 70s, literally lit up when I came to his line. He turned to me and said , "Man you are a ray of sunshine. It is so refreshing to see someone care about their appearance these days." He went on to compliment my color pairing and then we began talking about plants, and traveling and we literally held up the line about 5 minutes because the conversation was so pleasant. The conversation got pretty deep pretty quickly and he began to tell me that he hadn't had this much conversation with anyone since his wife passed of COVID earlier that year. :( As I was leaving, he said to me that I made his day but little did he know, he actually made mine.

I have loads of stories like this that I won't bore you all with but, the theme is still the same. Fashion has connected me to people that I would have never spoken to before. My choice to stand out as myself has also helped me to feel interconnected with the world around me. Fashion really has been the great connector for me as I have met women, and men, from all walks of life, all ages and backgrounds and ethnic groups and they all have been drawn to me simple because of fashion.

I challenge each of you to express yourself in your most authentic way each time you leave the house and in whatever way feels good for you. Share below the ways in which you have authentically connected to others. We'd love to hear from you!

TY for reading and until next time, stay #BoldSexyTimeless.