I absolutely love dressing up! I'm keen on fashion and expressing myself, my femininity, through my outfits. Wearing beautiful clothes gives me far more confidence, and people are more willing to take me seriously and treat me respectfully when I dress well - I suppose because it makes me look more classy and rich. I'm very selective with the clothes I buy, since I rarely am able to afford clothes shopping. I pick quality, classy items that make me stand out and look well put-together, rather than cheap casual clothes in bulk.
Even at home I prefer looking nice because it boosts my mood throughout the day, although I can't really do that, I'd ruin my nice clothes doing chores and caring for animals, haha. I will if we have guests over, however.
As a young lady, I find the way I dress can have a great power over people, especially men. Now that makes me sound rather manipulative... but it's true - when I dress nice, people are kinder to me, more eager to please, it just makes life so much easier when you use your appearance to your advantage (especially as a woman). If I want to feel really powerful, I'll dress a little more sexy, though to feel truly sexy I do it for myself and not for others - countless men cannot resist that (again I sound manipulative, but I was always taught by the women in my family to own that power, because it makes such a tremendous difference, believe me).
For most of my life, I was sort of forced into wearing clothes I hated. Hand-me downs from my brothers mostly, with stiff T-shirts that were too big, and baggy sweatpants... oh how I despise sweatpants. I just cannot pull off that casual urban look. Nowadays you will never ever catch me in sweatpants and thick baggy tops, haha. Mind you, I'm not opposed to trying lots of different styles - I could happily go from refined and elegant, to punkish, or gothic, or chic-casual, or bright and youthful, or bohemian, all the way to wearing super lavish cocktail dresses for everyday occasions. For now, though, I can't afford any of that! So my wardrobe remains "budget-style" feminine and elegant. I especially love a more vintage aesthetic. Women in the 50s and such really knew how to dress to flatter their figures, it makes me wonder what happened, ahaha. You can't even find dresses like that anymore, outside of costume shops or tailors. It's such a shame. I think I'd look my best in 50s style swing dresses.
This became a bit of a tangent. I love the topic!
