How Important Is Personal Style?

If you've known me for any given time, you've probably received a compliment from me. In fact, I've complimented so many people in a single day, the friends I was with accused me of being insincere. I guarantee this is not the case. I have two principals in my own fashion journey that I try to always live by:

(1). I never "tone it down" for other people. I wear whatever makes me happy, if someone doesn't like it, they probably wouldn't want to hang out with me anyway.

Though I stress that I wear whatever I want, I'm still mindful of the events and situations I'll be involved in. For instance, I wouldn't wear white to a wedding, or electric lime to a funeral, and if I'm wearing a mini dress (Which is likely) I don't move in ways which would be disrespectful to those around me.

(2) Because I appear confident in the way I dress, I'm also aware I can make others feel insecure. Due to this, I've made it a point to look for something I like in each person's style that I meet. It's not "insincere," it's intentional. It's a conscious effort, not only to broaden my own interpretation of personal style, but to put others at ease and hopefully convey the idea that no one has to dress like me or meet any kind of standard to look cool or feel confident.

Before I dive into expert takes and explain why anyone cares about this topic or why anyone should, I first want to clear up a common misconception. There's a distinct difference between "having personal style" and "developing personal style." I would venture to say (and I use this term broadly), everyone has some form of personal style.

I have a very dear friend who claims she has "absolutely no sense of style" and "really doesn't care what clothes she puts on in the morning." That may be true on surface level as she has a closet of clothes based not on accessories and flare but things that are comfortable to move in. However, in the ten years I've known her, I've only ever seen her in boot cut jeans. I know she likes tee shirts with a light jersey fabric and a signature style bag she's never without. In a crowd of people, I look for her handbag to find her.

Though my friend may not care if her shoes match her purse, and doesn't like to spend much time picking her clothes in the morning, her style is evident in the way I associate it with her.

Developing personal style is different because it takes conscious effort. The things we choose to wear almost always reflect our personalities in some way. However, to truly make our clothes express us and our feelings requires work. This work often leads to one discovering an aesthetic or creating one.

I feel that Edie Sedgwick captured the essence of discovering personal style best in regards to her own style and image in a quotation from Jean Stein's 1982 book entitled "Edie: American Girl."

" You have to put up with the risk of being misunderstood if you are going to try to communicate. You have to up with people projecting their own ideas, attitudes, misunderstanding you. But it's worth being a public fool if that's all you can be in order to communicate."

The reason I find this quotation so appropriate is even if your clothes reflect you in the truest form they're still pieces of cloth and as such are subject to interpretation, like a form of abstract art. A person could dress up, feel their best, and walk with their head held high. While another person may see them, take into account the clothes they're wearing, their good posture and come to the conclusion they're something of a snob.

So what is the value of personal style and how does it outweigh the risk of misinterpretation and judgement? Clothes are one of the most eye catching forms of self expression. In the article "The Value of Style" (Psychology Today, 2005), it's stated;

"Style is important, often undervalued because it is so widely misunderstood... It is a reflection of your unique complexity as a human being."

This backs up the statement made by Edie Sedgwick suggesting clothes are a form of communication. The article goes on to say;

"It always suggest that you are in control of your personal environment. (...) That's one of the reasons it is an invaluable tool in moving through the world."

In 2012, Hajo Adams and Adam D. Galinsky preformed a study on the psychological affects of wearing clothing associated with different types of work. The experiments involved giving students a laboratory task and a specific piece of clothing to wear, to test the systematic influence clothes have on the wearer's psychological process.

Three experiments were made; the first involving students who wore their everyday clothes with no further requirements of apparel. In the second, students were given a lab coat described as an "artist coat" and asked to wear it while they carried out their task. For the third experiment, students were given the same type of lab coat as in experiment number two, but this time it was described as a "doctor's coat."

Results showed increased selective attention on the task in experiment number three. Giving strong evidence to the idea that wearing specific clothing has a tangible effect on the wearer's psychological and physical performance. Researchers coined the term "enclothed cognition" to describe the affects clothing has on our subconscious.

Emma Feria expounded on this in a 2022 article for The Tartan (Opinion: The Psychological Benefits of Fashion) when she said;

"Personal style reflects how we want to be perceived. "Enclothed cognition" can be good or bad, depending on if it's associated with a positive or negative construct."

Tali Stolovy holds that not only do our clothes affect our behavior, our behavior also affects our choice of clothes. Examples could include someone who battles depression wanting to wear sweatpants everyday, or someone with lower self confidence intentionally styling themselves in clothes they see other people wear. According to "Styling the Self: Personality Traits and Body Image Among Israeli Women" (Frontiers in Psychology, Sep. 7th, 2021), women who are inclined to express confidence and individuality are less motivated by comfort when choosing their clothes.

"My main research hypothesis is that clothing practices are related to personality traits and can be predicted by body image."

It's important to note that Stolovy is referencing "body image" and not "body type." Suggesting women's personal styles are reflections not of how their bodies look, but how they feel about their bodies.

This research shows that not only is being confident tied to how comfortable we feel in our clothes, but that becoming confident will inevitably affect the way we wear clothes. It's not to say "everyone needs to develop their personal style." Rather that developing our personal style is a natural progression as we become more comfortable in our own skin.

In conclusion, we are subject to misinterpretations and judgement no matter what we wear. So why not wear what we want? However big a crowd wearing the same type of clothes, there will always be another crowd wearing something different and likely opposite. I encourage everyone to enjoy their clothes, whether that means wearing feathers and pumps or tee shirts and bootcut jeans. The idea behind personal style is to make it your own.

Hope you enjoyed my blog ! If you've made it this far consider leaving me a review!

-Coco Elouise Marie

State of the Brand Address

Looking back at April, I had plans of releasing my usual S/S collection in the form of several vintage inspired accessories. As most of you know the collection was delayed and ultimately canceled due to my grandmother's declining health and subsequent death. In the following few months I've hoped to get myself together enough to launch the collection sometime in the summer. However, the more time that passed the less confident I felt with the idea of a late release. I scrapped, I redesigned, and I altered my patterns until I had a completely different line of accessories. By then we were mid-way through June and as I took a step back to soak in my new creations I came to a realization:

All of my sales this year have come from custom orders and specialty designs. I haven't made a single sale from my available collections since the end of December.

From there I was forced to ask myself, how sustainable can my brand really be if it's not even paying for itself anymore? Though I stand by my brand's pledge to remain sustainable to the ecosystem everyway I can, the brand is no longer sustaining me. I've been careful to avoid creative burnout, but I'm discovering I can burn myself out in other ways too, financially, socially and even spiritually from devoting all of my time to the brand and feeling like I've gone nowhere.

Since this realization, I've made a pivot in my goals regarding the brand and in my own creative practice. I've started prioritizing my blog, my social media, and trying to build sales. Until my sales are up again I will be putting collection releases on hold. Hopefully this will be something that builds up quickly, as it is important to me to continue to create new clothes and bring new designs to the public.

If I haven't been creating new designs what have I been up to? I've been using this newfound free time to write, paint, check out some of my local coffee shops and do a lot of reading and studying to improve my designs in the future. Though to an outsider's perspective it may look like the brand has been set aside for different interests and ideas the reality is I'm using new mediums to further inspire and develop the brand in the future.

So what can be expected of TBB in the future? New releases are still on the horizon, just on hold. You will likely see increasingly creative content on The Belated Beatnik Instagram page, as well as regular monthly updates on the blog. I will continue to share new ideas, hobbies and opinions about fashion and vintage lifestyles. Looking forward to sharing this new chapter with each of you!

-Coco Elouise Marie

Baba, But Never a Black Sheep

I wrote a blog earlier this month and almost had it ready to publish when life took an unexpected turn. My grandmother, who had been battling dementia for the last three years, passed away last week. it didn't feel right to move on without acknowledging the impact she had on me, and the life she led. So, here are the stories of the woman who shaped my interest in the 1960's, and helped inspire this very brand...

I feel I should preface this story with a quick explanation of the title. My grandmother, for as long as I can remember, has been called “Baba.” I was the oldest grandchild and before I was old enough to explain why or speak in full sentences that was what I decided to call her. Why it stuck is beyond me, but 25 years and nine more grandchildren later we all still remember her as “Baba.” 

Her story starts in 1948 on Easter Sunday, in the middle of Missouri. Born Carol McWilliams to her parents Ray and Norma. She had one older sister, and a brother ten years her junior. She used to tell me how every Christmas she would ask her parents for a pet monkey, until finally, she got a little brother instead.

"Baba" at her home in the mid-1960's

Carol did well in school, but in early years struggled with a speech impediment and teachers would sometimes rely on her older sister to "translate." She quickly grew out of this and became very social. She made many friends and was given the nickname "Mac." She may not have known it then, but the nickname, as well as many of those friendships would last a lifetime. In highschool Carol joined the volleyball team and with her they never lost a game. Impressive when you consider she barely reached 5'.

One of her favorite stories to tell of her highschool days was one Christmas when she'd saved up her babysitting money to buy her then boyfriend a blue mohair sweater. He had already given her his class ring, and they were considered "quite serious" by their friends. When she gave him his Christmas gift she was disappointed to receive a comparatively cheap gift in return.

Shortly after this she received a call from another friend of hers telling her that her boyfriend was at the movies with another girl. Carol didn't waste any time but rushed to her best friend, Carol Jean's house and announced "Come on, we're going to a show!"

Before any protest could be made by their parents they were off to the movies. Carol remembered stepping in line for soda at the theater, but not allowing her friend to take the time to get popcorn. Carol Jean was still unsuspicious, as they often would share a soda and Carol hadn't explained why they were really there. Once inside Carol Jean recalled how Carol wouldn't share the soda, but started slowing dipping her boyfriend's ring in the sticky drink. Then Carol Jean started putting two and two together. A few rows ahead of them sat Carol's boyfriend, wearing a blue mohair sweater.

"Come on, it's time to go." Carol said, but she didn't walk towards the door. instead she walked right up to her boyfriend and said; "Here's your ring back" before dropping it on the floor of the darkened theater. As he bent down to search for the ring in the dark Carol poured the rest of the soda over his head! Not wasting any time she grabbed Carol Jean's arm and ran out of the theater!

After graduating highschool in 1966 Carol moved to Washington DC with a close friend, Charlene, after they both accepted secretarial jobs in the FBI building. They moved into a small furnished apartment and relied on dates and care packages from their parents as their source of meals before they received their first paychecks.

In an attempt to get free meals they also befriended the young men across the hall and offered to cook for everyone if they would buy the groceries. This arrangement didn't last, as it didn't take the guys long to realize neither of the girls knew how to cook.

Carol visiting the FBI building where she used to work over 20 years later

Employees at the FBI were required to adhere to a strict curfew, and risked their jobs if they we're caught out after 11pm. Carol recalled having background checks and even being shadowed a few times.

Aside from the controlling work conditions the girls enjoyed their time in Washington, going to iconic clubs such as the Washington location of the Whiskey-a Go-Go, (Carol kept the matchbook she got there among her souvenirs until she gave it to me last year.) and looking up celebrities in the FBI files for updated gossip.

In 1967 Baba moved back home with her family and worked a variety of office jobs over the following years. Her high school friends still got together regularly and would meet up to play volleyball whenever they could.  

Along with volleyball another hobby that stuck was dancing. Carol and Carol Jean would often drop in local hot spots to grab a drink and dance. It was at one of these hot spots in early 1970 that Carol met the man who she would spend the rest of her life with. 

My grandfather Harold was quite the beauty standard back in the day. When I was a teenager and working at a local grocers the older women in town would tell me how attractive they thought he was and all about the big crushes they had on him in high school. (And evidently still had.)

I wish i had a better photo of the dress, because it was truly fabulous!

Carol remembered first laying eyes on him and not thinking he would be interested in her. ( I’d like to mention here that she was drop dead gorgeous as well and the idea that any guy wouldn’t have been interested is just absurd.)  He asked her to dance and she was instantly smitten. After three dates he proposed, six months later they were married. Harold in a black tux and Carol in a pink mini dress. (I’m convinced she was the IT girl!)

They had four children together, my mother being one of them. Though the road could get rocky at times Carol stated she was most proud of being Harold’s wife. 

Carol and Harold in the early 70's

Though I’ve chosen to focus this story on her life in the 60’s, she certainly didn’t slow down after that, throughout my mother’s life and my own she continued to meet new friends, stay in touch with old ones, and absolutely destroy anyone who challenged her to a volleyball game. She was vibrant, mischievous, full of love, and maintained a bigger social circle than I could fathom.  And that’s exactly how I think she would want to be remembered. 

"Baba" and me in 2004

The story ends in just just about the same way it begins, on Easter Sunday. That’s when the funeral was held, in a tiny little church she had attended for the last 50 years. The church was full with just as many friends as family and the pastor was asked to give a memorial service that incorporated the message of the resurrection in honor of Easter. The message was kept short at her request and after the burial everyone stayed for lunch that was mostly comprised of doughnuts and popcorn. She would’ve loved it.