Fierce Style

Fierce Style

Christian Siriano

It seems to me that developing self esteem is one of those things that fails to come easy to many of us. And I think having good self esteem is an important part of being a well rounded individual. Being able to truly feel that the opinions of others doesn’t matter, or rather the opinions of only certain people matter can be one of the hardest lessons we have to learn. And I feel we have to learn that or we will continue to be stuck trying to please others and won’t go on to grown and fully develop into the fantastic person we are meant to be.

One area I think is important to having good self esteem, is having and being comfortable with one’ s own sense of style. When we feel good, we find it easier to face the world. And feeling good about our appearance is, in my opinion, one of the hardest lessons to learn.

We are bombarded with images and opinions. It is easy to pick up the idea that one must have a certain body style, certain hair style, certain clothes in order to look good. I think it is easy to look at magazines for example and come away depressed if we don’t feel we measure up to the models inside.

Christian Siriano was the winner, and, youngest to date, of the reality show, Project Runway a few years ago. I am not a fan of a lot of reality shows, but, some time back, my husband and I began watching, and enjoying Project Runway. It is a competion of aspiring fashion designers. After Christian won, Tim Gunn, one of the hosts of Project Runway, and a fashion industry executive, called Christian the next big American fashion designer. I think he is correct, in the time since the show, Christian has done great work and he is showing up all over, from Payless Shoes, to Speigal, to Victoria’s Secret, to department stores and online. I am happy about this, I think he deserves wonderful things to happen to him, and I think he will impact the fashion industry in a very positive way.

Fierce Style is a lovely book. I am glad I bought it in hardback, and not for my kindle. The photography makes it an awesome book to look. It is part memoir, part advice. Christian shares his experiences growing up marching to a different drummer. He shares how he developed self esteem, and developed his own sense of style. He offers tips and ideas for developing your own. He has great advice for developing your own image and also finding out what suits you in all facets of life. While this is a guide to developing your own fashion sense, it is also a guide to developing life sense.

There are excellent tips for overcoming obstacles. One of Christian’s fearless tips, that I just love, is “even if something seems out of your league or out of the ordinary, be bold and go for it.” He follows this up with ways to do this. Simple idea? Maybe but, one that is important to learn, and one I needed to be reminded of.

I sincerely wish I had had this guide when I was 18, or in my early 20’s. It would have made life much easier. It is absolutely top of my list of books I recommend for self actualization and development. It is a ideal gift for the teen or young adult you know that is struggling with finding their way in this scary world. And it is an ideal refresher for the rest of us.

Fiece Style is available at most booksellers and online at Amazon.com