The Outfit That Changed My Life (And Unlocked My Future)

There are certain outfits that live in your memory forever. On the surface, maybe it’s because they were trendy, or because they got compliments. But on a deeper level, it’s because they marked a shift. However small, something clicks—and you feel a little more you than you did the day before.

For me, that moment happened in 2018.

Newly married and raising a 5 year old, we had just moved for my husbands job and I was in the midst of figuring my career life out (as one does in your early 20s). I’d worked a handful of good, steady jobs—daycare aide, direct support staff, cleaning lady—but none of them really lit me up. I was craving something else, even if I didn’t know what that “something else” was yet.

Another day of aimless Indeed scrolling, I came across a job posting for a local boutique. I wasn’t totally sure what the role was. The title was vague, and I didn’t know what all it would entail. (And to be honest, it just all seemed a little too good to be true. Surround myself with clothes all day? Can’t be real. haha.) But I knew they specialized in secondhand fashion—which, deep down, I had always loved—and something about it pulled me in. So I inquired. Something inside me said: just try.If it turns out to be clickbait, at least I won’t spend the rest of my life wondering.

I remember the morning of the interview. I didn’t plan my outfit. At all. And strangely, I didn’t panic about it either. That in itself felt weird. I usually plan, prep, second-guess—I could win a medal in second-guessing. Seriously. But I digress, I think some part of me—maybe the wisest part(?) knew the universe was already lining things up.

I threw on a pair of black slacks I had DIY-ed into these… think bubble skirt meets bell bottoms and a thrifted, oversized blazer that definitely once belonged to someone’s grandpa. (Still have it to this day—thank you, Gramps. Long live!!) It wasn’t strategic. It wasn’t curated. It was just... what I reached for. What felt like me. What I wanted to wear.

Everyone always says: look this way, don’t wear that, don’t do this or that at an interview. But I decided to quiet those voices and trust my gut. I just wanted to show up as me.

Before that day, I used to keep my love of thrifting pretty quiet. I think I worried it made me look messy, or cheap, or less “professional”—whatever that even means? There was a weird shame around it that I couldn’t quite name. But that day, as something shifted, I chose to wear what I loved instead of what I thought I was supposed to love.

And you know what? I felt alive.I walked into that interview unapologetically myself.And I left with the job.

Every ounce of me showed through—my creativity, my confidence, my love for clothes that told a story. I felt clear. I felt calm. I felt like I belonged there.

Within a month, I was promoted to Creative Director.

That role ended up being the spark that ignited everything. That’s where I first realized styling could be more than a hobby. That I could do this. Not just for myself, but for other women. That I could help them feel what I had felt walking into that boutique: aligned, expressive, and—for the first time in a long time—completely sure of myself.

That outfit unlocked something for me.Not because it was flashy, or bold, or on trend.(and maybe it was all those thing) But really it was honest. I finally stopped filtering myself.

That’s what style has become for me over the years. Not just an aesthetic, but a language. A way of writing my story without words. And that blazer? It was the first sentence of a whole new chapter.

I still think about that outfit. About how different things might’ve been if I’d tried to be someone else that day. But I didn’t. I showed up in my favorite thrifted blazer and DIY bell bottoms—and in doing so, I came home to myself.

So maybe this is your reminder:

Wear the thing. Say yes to what tugs at you, even if you don’t fully understand why yet. Let the outfit be a beginning.

Because sometimes, the moment that changes everything…starts with what you decide to put on.

Yours in Style,

ERA

If you’ve made it this far, I feel like I owe it to you to show you the outfit.

Bear with me though—it was the age of Snapchat, and this is the only place I could dig the memory up from.

But behold...

The Outfit That Changed My Life (And Unlocked My Future)