Don Quixote

16

In 6th and 7th grade I had a very comfortable sense of style. I wore very lose and dark colored clothing which showed nothing of my silhouette and very little of the pudge I had at the time.

The summer before 8th grade (I suppose something awoke in me, a kind of confidence perhaps) I decided a change had to be made. I tossed to the side all of my hoodies and wide jeans for blouses and mini skirts.

It made me feel good to dress up for school. Do my makeup and spray perfume onto myself. It was a boost of confidence knowing I looked good (at least better than jeans and a hoodie). Also, I was moving back from the stem school to my hometowns school district, so knowing I had a fresh start and a lot less struck dress code consoled my negative thoughts and worries.

Once 8th grade had started I took it upon myself to lose a bit of weight. I loved the mini skirt but I hated the thighs you could see when I wore it.

Something else had changed though. I decided on a healthy, more sustainable way to lose weight (not that it lasted long). I ate 1000 calories a day in this attempt.

To breakdown simply how I dressed the best words I could describe it being a coquette or old money aesthetic (which changed and adjusted over time to a more modern feel). I wore loafers and Mary janes, mini skirts and flowy blouses.

Something I noticed about what came along with my sense of style, was compliments.

I had never gotten so many compliments.

Being unused to them, when they were said I had no idea what to do or say. I would say thank you and smile. The style made me feel good and the compliments made me feel great.

I got more attention from my classmates. The girls in my class talked to me and quickly I had quite a few more friends than I had recently had. Boys as well. 8th grade was the first time I had had a REAL boyfriend (not one of those playground boyfriends you have in elementary school).

Of course not everyone liked it. Some girls thought I was doing it for the attention and thought I was weird for dressing up to go to school ( to this day I still don't understand why it's weird to want to look nice), calling me "grandma" and "girly" but, I quickly accepted that not everyone will like me and I should do as I please. Of course it hurt my feelings that girls, and even boys, didn't like me for simply how high class I dressed, but I would get over it.

Now that I think back I think it was very good of me to just keep dressing how I dressed and not letting other opinions bring down my self esteem.