22 ways to break out of a rut

including letting your kid (or someone else's) dress you

Back when I worked at Rue La La, and my son was a kid (vs a 20 year old), we were launching Rue for kids (we called it Little Rue), and I had this idea for a launch blog: Rue associates from various teams should let their kids dress them for a day. So my son, Jack (I think he was about 6), got to dress me. I literally opened the door to my closet and let him have at it. The only thing I said no to was his suggestion that I go to work in a bathing suit.

An interesting thing happened. And while I’ve searched fruitlessly for the “look” Jack created, I remember it well: a black and white tee, belted, with a Tibi (LOL) floral print pencil skirt. At the time, I was like "OMG I can’t believe I have to wear this.” But it felt better than I thought. And in fact, it felt like a spark. It was print mixing and it was rule-breaking and it felt like something unlocked and stayed with me after the day in the funny outfit ended.

I thought about this moment again the night before last as I was picking out something to wear for dinner with Lisa Ing Marinelli, someone I follow on IG but hadn’t met IRL. I already have too many options here (currently still in New England), and I’m midway through a combination of culling and moving things around (some to stay at my parents’, some in this summer place, some to return to Miami). And on top of it, I honestly wanted to look cool my my friend! Jack was saying good night to me and I’m in a pile of clothes sharing this (extremely first world) problem, and he said: “want me to pick something for you?”

And he did. And it’s not something I’d have chosen (I’d probably have veered toward something new). But it’s great. And I was so relieved. Like my shoulders instantly dropped.

It’s Jack’s look! My mirror is so dirty. Sorry!

The talent of a gifted stylist, for me, is the ability to unlock “new.” To try that strange, wrong-at-first thing and then be able to understand that its freshness, even if it’s not mass digestible, is leading and is good. But even before that, you have to be willing to try this weird stuff! Think about the first person who said - yeah, I’m gonna put sneakers on with a suit, for example.

Letting your kid dress you is a way to get there. And the creation of other parameters can work too. These things force you out of your — I will not say comfort zone, I will not say comfort zone — routine. They jigger something. Whether right then, the next day or later. We non-stylist folks, we need a push to step outside our usuals. So - are you game?