It was such a relief at first! Barely leaving the house under the requirements of the mandatory quarantine, I was left alone with my most innate self. Even if I did leave, the good-old glasses disguise of Superman had reincarnated into its new form - masks, making me almost unrecognizable outside.

There was no need to set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier to dress up, put makeup on. The solution to a bad hair day was as simple as a “Stop the Video” button on the left hand corner of the Zoom. My cozy, home-like portrait was squashed into a rectangular frame: A well-groomed body on the upper half and a pair of legs snuggled by a pyjamas on the bottom, referencing myself to a centaur was inevitable.

Soon the mist of comfiness cleared up, unveiling my extrinsic motivations to take care of myself, which disappeared as soon as my ties with the external drifted apart. 24-hours of leggings and t-shirts, messy buns, and especially a me, who stopped looking at the mirror, not caring what to see on it, were not the synonyms of comfort.

According to a research conducted by L’Oréal, involvement with makeup products rises as the interaction with other people increases. This research “found that some 34% of Chinese women wore makeup in February, during the peak of the lockdown - this figure has now increased to 68% in late June to early July,” when life turned back to its so-called normal state. The Youtube views of the fitness Youtuber Chloe Ting, who,as the movement of the quarantine, rose sharply in May, identified with the hopes of “glowing-up after quarantine” (Glowing to whom? Yes, the same question...), and slowly decreased to its pre-virus state as people realized that this situation is longer than a “21-day challenge.” A full circle, back to snack-fed bellies that we can hide under the frame of Zoom…

Even though I was relieved by learning I was not the only one who got motivated by her surroundings, this meant that there are even more people who perceive the process of “adornment” as something that is done for others.

How one looks is a representation of self. Our characters are not solid; They are fluids that change and adapt, depending on the situations and people we interact with. Reminded of something? Yes, just like our fits. My location was the indoors of my home. The person I interacted with the most was myself. Yet, the girl I checked out on the tall dressing mirror did not reflect the “me.” Once a friend told me, if clothes are our armors, the girl I saw was the most defenseless me I had ever experienced, when she had to be the strongest in the midst of a pandemic, alone.

As Margherita Cardelli of Giuliva Heritage said, “Dressing up is who we are. It is a way to stand up for our values that definitely are not going to be put aside because of the virus. Rather, they’re felt even stronger.” I was not going to be the one who put her zest to the shelf.

That day, I shuffled my most recent playlist and put on my “to wear at a very special event” fit. When I stood in front of the mirror, I realized that I longed to illustrate my appearance on a new day’s blank page. I dressed up. I wore my mask on top of my makeup. There was no one to see it. However, finally, after weeks of neglecting the need to look like myself, there I stood in my boots in the middle of the bedroom with my makeup smudged on my mask.

And I loved it.

WhatsApp Image 2020-11-01 at 21.26.03.jpeg — *(picture by Su Karaca)*

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When I was a little girl, I LOVED wearing dresses. I would wear them around the house, to the supermarket, and the the playground. To be honest, the thing my six-year-old self disliked the most about school was that I couldn’t wear a dress. That, and also the lack of strawberry milk.

In college, I’ve rediscovered my love of dresses. The only issue is that I want to wear dresses without looking “dressed up.” For much of high school I didn’t wear dresses because I felt that they were too “dressy” or “dressed up.” In fact, one time I did wear a dress and a family member jokingly asked why I was so dressed up for church.

But wearing a dress doesn’t always need to mean one is “dressed up;” there are many casual dresses out there. And even if wearing a dress is “dressed up,”,what’s so wrong with that?

I guess I speak from a place of bias because I’ve always been a bit of a girly-girl. I would play t-ball in the backyard wearing a Snow White dress, I liked putting on my grandmother’s makeup and jewelry, I loved trying on big, sparkly heels and purses at the store with my mom, and I always wore a cute bow or hair-tie when I played sports. I’ve always loved dressing up. I like getting ready to go out, doing my hair, putting on makeup, wearing heels, and, of course, putting on a dress. However, I would often find myself waiting in anticipation for these “special occasion” as an excuse to get all dolled up, but lately, in the age of getting dressed up to go to the supermarket, I’ve been thinking what if I, and others who felt the same way, didn’t wait to get dressed up anymore and instead just did it.

I guess I never really though about it before college. In high school, the trend was joggers, adidas sneakers, crop tops, and leggings. Of course, being in high school and not wishing to draw attention to myself, I dressed this way and I admit I still do sometimes when I want to be comfortable, but it never really felt like me. I wanted to wear dresses and skirts and heels and put on makeup and wear cute jewelry. When these special occasions came around and gave me excuse to dress up a bit, I would go for it.

That all changed at college, as many things do.

In my classes and on the quad, there was such variety in style. Some people wore leggings, since that’s what they wanted to wear, and some were what in high school I would have called “dressed up.” But they were just going to classes and then the Reg and Bartlett, how could this be?

It was because that was their style and they dressed for themselves, regardless of whether other people were dressed up or not.

So I began to experiment, as college students do, but in small steps.I began looking for inspiration on Pinterest and on the Instagram feeds of Italian models (I’m not sure what’s in the water, but they’re always dressed so stylishly and elegantly), and let me tell you, these models make it look effortless, but nevertheless I found myself inspired. I’d add a little jewelry here, a jeweled button sweater there, maybe a little heeled boot if it wasn’t a day I would have a lot of walking to do. I found a joy in it and even wore a dress one day with the little heeled boots, which felt amazing (not for my feet though since I had forgotten it was a Tuesday and I would be walking more).

So what I’m saying is that if you want to dress up on an “average” day, just do it if it makes you happy. What’s stopping you? Dressing up is great and if it makes you happy, why not do it?

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