Confidence is always in style.

Via my Pinterest.

Seventeen-year-old me woke up a couples hours before school to fit in my morning routine, including spending way too long to straighten my hair, going through all layers of make up, and carefully choosing an outfit. Not only did I avoid the fashion faux pas we all know {white after Labor Day, sweats in public, black and brown, etc.}, but I also made an effort to come up with a new combination every day.

I didn’t realize it then, but that was a lot of work. It takes stamina to put that kind of creativity into a daily outfit, and I’m still not sure where I mustered that energy from.

My college days have been a different cup of tea altogether.

I packed my room into boxes and moved into a tiny apartment. I now had to motivate myself to spend hours in the library and a find a reason to go to 8am biology. My priorities changed, and so did my attitude about fashion. The morning routine shortened as I spread myself thin across a college schedule. My style became simpler, less fussy, and I found appreciation in dressing for comfort and confidence, instead of imitating the latest thing I saw in InStyle or Seventeen.

The lovely Audrey Hepburn said, “Happiest girls are the prettiest.” Everyday I decide what will make me the most comfortable and I feel the validity of her statement. I cannot be confident unless I am comfortable.

Last summer I studied abroad in Austria. After observing European fashion, I concluded that they, too, live Audrey’s words. Their clothes didn’t necessarily make an impression on me, but they radiated with calm self-assurance and fearlessness. Inspired by Audrey and the Europeans, this is my fashion declaration: we should wear what makes us each feel most comfortable -- or bold, or flirty, or secure -- because it’s not easy to feel confident in a getup that just isn’t you.

And confidence is always in style.

Written for YFashion.