Matching and dressing modestly wasn’t all that easy for me, even though my love for clothes was unconditional. I was either lacking some color coordination or had too little/ too much layering going on. I just couldn’t find the balance! But one day it all magically came together. The day I began wearing the hijab, you could call it a blessing, really. I was forced to match my white hijab with a cute white short dress and my black pants, with my black blazer and black boots. Voila! There was an outfit.
I say “forced to match” because I DESPERATELY did not want to look like a clown, knowing that I was already putting on a “show and tell” for my fellow 9th graders. However, at the end of my school hours, I had never received so many wonderful, and supportive feedback from so many people in one day. From that moment, I took on a new fashion route. Living the Canadian fashion capitale…Montreal. In Montreal, one is surrounded by an explosion of so many different styles and cultures, I had finally established my own style!

Since that day and in the last 6 years, people ask me repeatedly how I pull it off – dressing modestly while balancing my diva style.

There’s always a simple answer to such a simple question.

This will sound cliché but really, “It all begins in the head”. First and foremost you have to believe you are a trendsetter. That you’re style, covering or revealing, is your style. You, out of your creative mind, make it. So, everyday when you walk towards your closet (a walk-in for some lucky people out there), your closet then becomes your chocolate factory. Depending on the mood, the occasion, the people, the time; you put together an outfit that yells out your feelings. Your clothes, in essence, are deeply rooted to the state of your heart, and vice versa. You are in fact capable of changing the state of your heart with an outfit, thus change your emotions. I’m sure all of you Ms. Scientist ( or Mister…) have experimented with fashion once or twice. You know those days when you’re all down because it’s raining outside, the sky is gray, you’re heartbroken, you stayed up all night studying, and maybe had 20 minutes worth of sleep? You magically pick a yellow or pink blouse out of your closet and put it on? Yes! That’s the feeling! It’s like you just hit the jackpot. It’s like regardless of what happens, at the end of day it’ll all be all right because you’re wearing yellow. It’s the negative feedback effect, you’re once again wearing what you are feeling.

If you haven’t experienced what I’m talking about right now, please stop right here, run to your closet ( or your bedroom floor) pick something out that makes you feel, um beautiful, and wear it.

NOW! Yeah now we’re talking.

The second essential component of pulling-an-outfit-off is to feel confident. Yes. Confident. Now picture a tom boy chick forced to walk in 6 inch heels and a tube top (Ms. Congeniality much?), What do you see? You see uncomfort and a hesitant level of confidence. Why? Her real personality and true self, are locked down behind the outfit. Hence, YOU should be wearing your clothes and not the other way around. When you put your time and effort into creating an outfit that reflects your personality and you’re empire state of mind and heart; your confidence will come as naturally as the ABC. At this moment, nada can go wrong with your ensemble.

Principally my point is, with the right mindset YOU can conquer any outfit. Because remember, you’re the trendsetter.

By Sarah Kalim