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How you ever glimpsed the essence of someone so fully that for a split second, you feel like you know exactly what they like to wear? But, with most people, that crystal ball clarity is cloudy. What is the mystery behind this? It’s something interesting to think about. The feeling that you understand the essence isn’t just limited to people; it can also apply to situations. I’ll share a few of mine with you, in that regard, to show how that intuition can be used when it comes to dressing in a way that reflects your essence.

In my early 20’s, I took a ballet class from a Russian premier danseur. Something about his style resonated with me-his description evoked feeling, and consequently, it was as if I had realized an ancient wisdom that no teacher could have relayed in words. This type of essence, I believe, is educational, like when pieces of a difficult problem or puzzle click together and everything makes sense. The second time occurred a decade later at a worship service. My life seemed to pause momentarily, and I recognized a highly personal sense of comfort. It wasn’t a theological revelation, although I refer to it as this a glimpse of a spiritual essence. The third occasion was recently, while I was washing dishes and suddenly had insight into someone with whom I’d had a falling out. For so long, I had been viewing her and her actions from my point of view in relation to myself, and for 5 seconds, I had a flash into what may be her interpretation of life. Things fell into place for that short pause, but dissolved as rapidly as they appeared. This could be an essence into people, where you think you know them. But since we’re all subject to change, how well can we really know anyone? By the time we’ve realized something, that trait or perception may be gone.

The parameters of these glimpses have several similarities, such as occurring when I least expected them, in addition to providing information for which I was not even searching. Plus, although all of these “glimpses” were less than 10 seconds each, this knowledge appeared powerful. But sadly, the strength of each realization has ebbed with time.

So how can such esotericism work for us on a more material level? Well, broadly speaking, we can choose just how much of our “essence” we want to hide or announce with our choices when it comes to clothes and overall presentation. Some women truly want to keep their allure under wraps for just the right man, perhaps to make an impact at an opportune time. They may opt for figure-hiding clothes, longer hems, or perhaps even wearing glasses to look more studious or businesslike. It’s not that they aren’t feminine or sexy; they’ve made the choice that their essence does not need to be shared with people at large. Other gals may feel that they don’t want to hide their sensuality, humor, or enthusiasm, and are known for clothes that represent their personality. Bright colors, revealing lines, attention getting details…all speak honestly of their owner. “What you see is what you get” is one way to describe such individuals.

Even elementary-aged girls admit to having their own style, such as sporty, girly, preppie, gothic, or “emo.” Like older females, their styles change through time, and, also like adult women, some girls don’t see fashion as reflecting themselves as much as announcing their mood for the day. It’s nice to know that no one is cemented into any kind of image or style sense forever, and as life changes, so can we.

Men, unfortunately, don’t have quite as many options, but there are variances into a guy’s essence, such as athlete, beach bum, power exec, tough guy, etc. In some ways, it’s good to determine the essence of someone by sight alone, as it provides an idea into the image the person wants to project, but it can’t be forgotten that clothes don’t always tell the whole story. That’s one of the things that make fashion fascinating-we all enjoy slipping into a different essence every now and then, hiding or flaunting ourselves at will.