Seeing Red
A few weeks ago, I had one of those Nights That Should Have Never Happened: the kind that start innocently with wine—and end diabolically with tequila—and could never possibly have enough food in between. The next morning, in a state of emotional and physical disarray, I called my sister.
"Okay, this is what you need to do," she said. "You need to take a shower, drink a ton of coffee, and make sure you figure out a good outfit."
"But I'm already late for work!"
"It doesn't matter. If you feel like you look pretty, the whole day will be better. Just stop whining and pull it together."
So I did. I took an extra-long shower, I exfoliated, I moisturized. I found great earrings and tights, pulled my hair into an elaborately neat bun, and put on some black heels. Then I picked out what is for me the Holy Grail of confidence-building fashion: the red dress. I threw on a short-sleeved style with a dark gray cardigan and felt fresh as a daisy, like a woman with a secret past who was getting away with something. Surviving the day still required the aid of waffle fries and kindly coworkers, but things could have been so much worse. In case of emergency, you can also find some cute (and completely affordable) red dresses here, here, and here.
a shower and a nice outfit go a long, long way...