Style over Substance…Shopping For La Dolce Vita!

For men, sports and their hobbies like cars, motorcycles, golf are often what they think about all the time. For women, it’s simple, shopping is our big escape. (Women aren’t simple, it’s shopping that’s simple). Nothing wrong with shopping (thank goodness). But the real question becomes, when does shopping become too much!? And too shallow?

As with most things, there are two extremes and usually somewhere in the middle is the best balance. For me, I know that when I wear a top or pants that fits well or an outfit that is very stylish… or even better, a new outfit… I feel prettier about myself. It goes beyond the clothes. It’s like when you put a little bit of blush on, it just makes you feel prettier and more alive. Hey, my thoughts are this: if you can feel better about yourself without causing harm to others, then why not?

But when buying things and how you look become your only asset you rely on, that when it’s good to hold a mirror up to yourself. And I don’t mean to look at that blemish on your face. I mean to really look at yourself and see if the outer beauty is overriding the inner beauty. Man, that’s deep. But we all need our checks and balances. Thankfully we’re no longer living in a 70s society where women are only revered if they only have beauty over brains (and personality).

…Celebrities live in a dangerous situation where they can get out of reality real quick.

In our society, models on magazine covers and celebrities are what we want to look like and live like…and livin’ la vita loca (the crazy life) …most of which has very little substance. Don’t get me wrong, when I see a beautiful woman on a magazine my eye naturally gravitates towards that magazine because she’s meant to attract both men and women. Why do you think most women targeted magazines like Redbook and Glamour have a beautiful woman on the cover and not an attractive man?

We just see what we like and we take that to what we want to look like and what we want our lives to be like. We don’t see the ugly day to day things these “models” have to deal with, like papparazi constantly in their faces. We only see snapshots of their fa-bu-lous life…we don’t see the problems and pressures they have in their lives. And some like Kirstie Alley fight to keep their weight down because if not they know they’ll be judged by the millions of people who see their picture on a magazine.

So what’s the answer? Well, only you can really answer that. But here’s a thought: what about tryin’ to live la dolce vita (the good life)…where you can be stylin’, have a chic life and still be the girl next door?

Category: Brandy's Special "Dish"