Anyone who has met Josie knows that she has her own style. She knows what she likes and she lets no one tell her otherwise. After having three boys, I had no idea that a five-year-old could be so particular about clothing. The thing about Josie is she likes to accessorize. She must not leave the house until she has at least one piece of jewelry on, or a headband, or scarf…anything, just something to add a little extra flair. A purse is almost always included.
Last Friday I thought it was picture day at school. You know the day. The one where you must carefully choose what shirt will make you look outstanding up against that bland blueish-grayish background because it will be the photo that hangs on the wall all year (if you live in our house). It’s the photo that represents that year in your life forever and ever.
Josie and I talked about this the night before, as I carefully tried to coerce her into wearing something I wanted her to wear for her school photo. Much to my surprise, she didn’t put up much resistance. Cute green, flowered dress (they were supposed to wear something green in her class), with black leggings underneath, so as not to freeze, and a little white sweater, since the dress was sleeveless. Done. Easy enough.
The next morning, she put on the dress, leggings and sweater with no questions asked, but I should have known better. As we were all piling in the car, she yells out, “Wait! I’m not ready yet! I have to do one thing really quick.” Here we go. We wait. Then out she walks, trading her black leggings for fluorescent pink with white polka dots. The white sweater was replaced with a different shade of pink and cream striped sweater. The added accessory? A hot pink flower barrette in her hair with a black and white polka dot feather. There wasn’t one matching item on her body.
“There,” she said. “That’s much better.” I just had to smile. Of course she couldn’t walk out all matchy-matchy. It just wouldn’t be right.
Someone told me recently, after seeing Josie in one of her eclectic outfits, that wearing different patterns together is totally in right now. I didn’t believe them. They were just trying to make me feel more accepting of Josie’s style, I was sure.
Today, I found out that this person was not just feeding me some dumb fashion line. I saw this on the internet. And if the internet says it’s true, well, you’d better believe it.
I’m pretty sure this trend would not be so well-received if this were a middle-aged woman wearing teddy bear pajama pants and a polka-dot blouse. There must be some rule to this madness, one that I’ll never understand. But Josie does. It’s real, guys and Josie’s been rocking this look for over three years now. Here’s Josie’s own trend-setting ensemble…
