I just returned from a wonderful week away with family on our annual vacation ‘down the Shore’, as they say back East. We settled in to a huge (9 bedroom) home in Cape May, NJ for the week, and our days were mostly spent in swimsuits down at the ocean’s edge. It’s pretty sweet!

That being said, we do go out for a few dinners while we’re there, and it was especially fun to look at the littlest ones in our family and how very cute they were styled by their moms. I unfortunately didn’t get pictures of all the outfits (I was truly on vacation), but it did start me thinking about how we do start to learn early in life about style. Our biggest influencers are usually our mothers, but our grandmothers and aunts often enter into the picture too. And when I say early, we’re talking from birth, as evidenced by our little 3-month old great niece who had just the cutest shoes, as did her 2-year-old sister. Sure wish I had gotten a picture of the 2-year-old’s suede fringed sandals – adorable! (Do I actually have shoe-envy of my great nieces?)

As we ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over them, they are getting positive reinforcement about themselves.  And as these little ones see us in our fashion choices, you can be sure they are paying attention and absorbing it all, as they do with everything in life. They play dress-up in our shoes, and try on our bracelets and necklaces and, more importantly, listen to how we talk about ourselves and our appearance. If we bemoan ourselves – too this or not enough that – that sends a message too. As anyone who’s been around young children knows, it’s rather startling to hear words you’ve casually said in passing, coming out of a toddler’s mouth. This vacation was a real reminder for me about how we’re always under observation and what a responsibility that is. But what fun it is too, to see them learning what they like and don’t like, and expressing themselves.

I was personally influenced by my mother, aunts and grandmother – all in different ways. My grandmother taught me how to sew and what quality construction was. My mother always had great necklaces and earrings to finish her outfits (and which I loved to play in.) My aunts showed me the dressier and more flamboyant styles of dressing. And from all of them I learned about taking care with how you look when going out in public. I was taller than most girls my age and a bit uncomfortable with that, but (now) can really appreciate all the words of encouragement I got along the way to help me through those uncomfortable times, helping me to embrace who I was.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how these little ones grow and develop their own styles, and will be one of the ones whispering positive words of encouragement along the way.  Who were your style influencers when you were growing up? I’d love to hear about them.

Thanks for reading,

Adena