Conservatives Want You To Look YOUR BEST. The Left DOESN'T. Here's Why.
Episode Stats
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Summary
Dressing well and looking presentable is not vain or superficial, it's smart. You only have one chance to make a first impression, and if you know how to dress and do your hair and makeup, you have a much better chance of letting someone get to know the best version of you.
Transcript
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Hello, Classic Crew, and welcome to today's video, where we're going to be talking about
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the speech I gave on Friday, all about how to dress like a lady.
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This past Friday, I gave a speech for the Claire Booth Luce Center for Conservative Women,
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and it was so wonderful getting to speak about why it's so important to present yourself well,
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how to present yourself well, and why this fits in with conservative values. Here on my channel,
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we talk about commentary, lifestyle, beauty, fashion, and opera, all from a conservative
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perspective, so make sure to subscribe if that's something that you'd be interested in. I know that
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some people might disagree with the idea that dressing well and presenting yourself well is
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a conservative concept, but it is, and I go into it in this speech quite a bit, and I really was
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excited to share it with you because, number one, it talks about why presenting yourself well means
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accepting reality, and number two, I actually give practical tips on how to present yourself well
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and to look your best. So I'm really excited to share some highlights from this speech with you
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today. If you're interested in hearing this speech in its entirety, feel free to reach out to my
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professional email. It's in the description box below, and I can come and speak at your college
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or through Zoom. Make sure to reach out if that's something that you'd be interested in.
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Now, let's get into today's video. The way you present yourself is so important for so many
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reasons, and as young conservative women, presenting yourself well goes hand in hand with the way we
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view the world. Dressing well and looking presentable is not vain or superficial. It's smart. You only have
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one chance to make a first impression, and if you know how to dress and do your hair and makeup, you have
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a much better chance of letting someone get to know the best version of you. When I was in my last year
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at my all-girls Jewish high school and in my first years of college at the University of Southern
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California and dressing at my most modest, I was still not the most modest girl in my Jewish community.
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I was somewhere in the middle. Essentially, more observant women will wear shirts that cover their
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elbows and shirts that cover their collarbones, as well as skirts that come far below their knees.
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I followed more basic modesty rules. I covered my shoulders, but I wore short sleeves. I covered my
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cleavage, but not my collarbones, and I wore skirts that came to the middle of my knees, not below.
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I remember going to a Jewish event and being confused as to why the men I was interested in
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didn't seem to be interested in me. They were more interested in my other friends who did,
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in fact, dress more modestly than I did. Here's the interesting thing. These friends that dressed more
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modestly were actually less observant in other areas of their lives. Religious Judaism has laws for
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behavior that cover every part of life. I was keeping other laws more stringently while they were not,
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but our clothing told a different story. So as you might imagine, the men that I was interested in were
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not expressing their interest in me because they were looking for more religiously observant women to date
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and marry, and I did not appear to fit the bill while those other girls did. My mistake at the time
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was not being deliberate with how I presented myself and making sure that how I appeared to others was
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consistent with who I actually was and what I valued. There are so many things that can be implied and
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inferred about who you are by the way that you dress. Is that always fair? No, and it can be frustrating
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to be on the wrong end of someone's misperception. But here's where being a conservative fits in with
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all of this. A core part of our worldview is that we accept reality for what it is and take responsibility
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for doing something about it. We understand that even though you may not like that you have to dress
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in a certain way to get a certain response, that doesn't change the facts. The way that you dress can and
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will affect the interactions that you have with people and can, if you work with that reality,
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raise the chances of getting you what you want. The left will decry that we judge people by the way
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that they look, dress, and carry themselves, as if they can stop people from doing it with enough complaints.
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But ultimately, the importance of appearance is inevitable and a very important part of being human.
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Having standards is natural, normal, and useful. But as with anything, there can be bad standards.
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There can be standards that we should try and change. If, for example, extremely underweight women
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were considered the ideal figure and young women were encouraged to engage in self-harming behaviors,
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that's a bad standard. Beauty shouldn't be an idol that comes at the direct expense of health
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and other vital things in life. Instead, it should be an expression of health and good, joyous living.
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But the left conflates all standards with bad standards. To them, the existence of standards
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at all is bad, and we should get rid of them. The idea that someone is more attractive when they've put
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an effort into their appearance rather than when they haven't tried at all is a good standard. It
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encourages people to take care of themselves physically and mentally. It encourages people
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to respect others by bringing an elevated version of themselves to the table. Despite the importance
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of standards that encourage the best of people out of respect for themselves and for others,
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the left still rails against all standards. Leftists love the narrative of accepting who we are,
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where we are at, and not improving. They believe that you don't need to change to fit societal
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pressures because their entire narrative is that our current society is evil and its standards are
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terrible, and that's why they have a right to tear it down and start again. In their eyes,
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all societal pressures can do is oppress and harm people. The left says this because it wants the
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moral authority and mandate to take control of everything and remake it all in its own image.
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Just one small part of this philosophy is the attempt to say that standards for your appearance,
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just like standards for anything else, are created by society and oppressive. In reality,
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people are visual and will immediately judge you for your appearance. And that's not a bad thing.
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Judgment is natural and necessary. We do it all the time and for everything. Taking care of yourself,
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taking care of your looks, taking care to dress in a way that is flattering to your figure,
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isn't wrong, doesn't hurt anyone, doesn't hurt you, and will actually make you feel better.
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That's the big dirty secret. So how do you know what you want to portray through your appearance?
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Well, style isn't simply superficial. There's a huge difference between fashion and style. Fashion is
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following the trends, dressing the way others are dressing, or buying clothing because you think
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it should look good on you, regardless of whether or not it does. Style, though, is something that lets
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you express who you are and embrace your personality. And to have style, guess what? You actually have to
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know yourself. You have to know who you are. You have to know what you want to portray. You have to know what
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you want. And these aren't small things. These are great, big, important things. And in a way,
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figuring out your style is an awesome way to figure out the answers to these questions.
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All of this is to say that dressing well is incredibly important. And as young conservative
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women in 2021, we have all been disadvantaged by the media and movies we have imbibed throughout our
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formative years, which are brewed up by the same left that wants to tear down all standards, whether they
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be good or bad. The most direct way to influence young women is to put ideas into films and shows
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that we love. And when we do love them, we so often don't even realize the indoctrination that is
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happening to us. We haven't been taught how to dress appropriately. We have been told that we can dress
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however we want with no regard for others. And we haven't been given and we haven't been given the rules
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for how to improve our lives starting with and through our appearances. But that's where what
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we're doing today comes in. Today, I've got you covered. So let's start by talking about some basic
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tips. Number one, whiten your teeth. Having white teeth is so important to looking your best. If your
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teeth look stained, your smile, which should be something that makes you look even more beautiful,
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will be marred. And nobody wants that. Yellow teeth aren't a difficult fix, but they are something
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that require you to notice and take action. It's very difficult to talk to a friend about bodily issues,
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even if you're trying to help, like yellow teeth or body odor. So that's why I'm including it here.
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Make sure to check this for yourself. Don't rely on friends to tell you because they probably won't
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out of fear of offending you. If your teeth are looking a little yellow, there are a ton of
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healthy and safe options to make your teeth look great. I personally use a two-step toothpaste system
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by Crest that has a whitening agent and that keeps my teeth as white as I like them. I have pretty
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sensitive teeth, so using the Crest white strips is not the best option for me, but you can use those
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too because those are much easier and very fast. Number 10, figuring out what styles actually work for
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your body. Last but not least, figure out what looks good on you. So many women don't know what
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actually looks good on their bodies and try to follow those fashion trends I mentioned earlier.
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But wearing clothing that actually works with your body is the most classic thing a woman can do.
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And it means accepting the body you have and loving it for what it is. The hardest thing is trying to
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look like someone who is structurally built different than you are. Of course, nothing that looks good on
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that person will look good on you. But there are women who have body types just like yours that also
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look fantastic. There are a bunch of different articles on the internet about dressing for your body
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type, but one of the things I really recommend is finding a celebrity who has a similar body type to
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your own. Take a look at the outfits they choose that accentuate their figures and take a lesson from them.
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So now that we have dealt with the basics of grooming, let's move on to the different scenarios that
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you will be dressing for. Professional setting versus casual and dating. It's obvious that what
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you would wear to the office is often something that you would never wear hanging out with friends.
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But I think the confusion has now become that people are wearing what they would wear to hang out
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with friends to the office. Of course, finding out your office's dress code is important and wearing
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something very dressy to a casual workplace would be its own faux pas. But many offices do require
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professional dressing. And in that situation, you should know what to wear to prevent yourself
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to present yourself well. Professional office attire is meant to accomplish a few different things.
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But one thing primarily, showing that you are capable and good at what you do. Dressing well and
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appropriately shows people that they can trust you and that you have it figured out. And that inspires
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confidence from your boss, who trusts you can get the job done, and your clients, if you have them,
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who you're working for. Dressing poorly, on the other hand, whether that be through slovenliness,
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ill-fitting clothing, or inappropriate and immodest outfits, shows the opposite.
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It implies you don't take care of yourself, which would make it difficult for you to take care of
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your job. You don't know how to dress your body, which shows a lack of self-awareness. Or you don't
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respect the work you're doing or the people around you, which shows a lackadaisical approach to your
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work. Now that we've discussed how to dress professionally, let's talk about how to dress
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casually and how to make the best first impression in your dating life. I think a lot of women in today's
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day and age get caught up in the idea of trying to attract a man's attention by showing a lot of
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skin. It's an easy way to have a man take an interest in you. But the fact of the matter is,
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it's the wrong kind of interest. If you are dressing ostentatiously to attract a man,
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it sends all the wrong signals and you won't end up getting the attention of the kind of man you are
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looking for. The way that you dress inherently reflects your values and your character. If you choose
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to wear something revealing, it will give off the impression that you are comfortable sharing your
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body with anyone and everyone. If, though, you respect your body enough to keep it for yourself
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and your future husband, recognizing that your worth as a woman has more to do with what you do
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than what your body looks like, men will be encouraged to respect you, too. If you dress modestly,
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classically, and attractively, men who share your values will be attracted to you. The kind of men
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you are looking for will subconsciously or consciously be attracted to you because they see someone with
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whom they are compatible. Now one thing I do want to get out of the way is that men are visual. This
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works for and against us. This is a disadvantage if you try and show off your body and he is entirely
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distracted by what you look like and doesn't try to get to know you. But there is also an advantage to this.
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You can dress in an attractive way that makes him interested but also lets him know that you are
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more than just your looks. It is incredibly important to dress well and put your best foot forward
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when meeting a man. I am not here to recommend that you wear a burlap sack so he doesn't look at you at
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all. The point is that you want a man to notice that you are attracted as the first step to getting to
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know you, not the entire activity of getting to know you. Who would have thought that taking care of
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your body, dressing well, and presenting yourself beautifully would be considered controversial in
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2021? I have constantly been surprised by how many people take offense to the idea that women should
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take care of their bodies, should dress well, should do anything. But there are things everyone should
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do and recognizing that simply lying in a heap on your sofa is unacceptable should not be breaking news.
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The thing is, at the end of the day, you can make taking care of your appearance fun. I absolutely love
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the process of getting dressed and ready for an evening out or even just for work. I like picking
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out clothing, doing my hair, doing my makeup, and picking out a fun pair of shoes at the last minute.
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These are beautiful parts of being a woman and they allow us to embrace our femininity. Honestly,
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they can bring you so much joy. In this way, women are natural artists and we can and should treat
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ourselves as art. I hope you enjoyed those highlights from my speech. This is something I care about a lot and
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it's something that I take a really strong interest in. So I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments
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about what I was talking about. Make sure to let me know what you think is a really important aspect
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of presenting yourself well. Thank you so much for watching today's video. Please subscribe to my
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channel if you haven't already. It makes a huge difference when you do. And make sure to hit that
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notification bell so you get notified of all my new videos. Head to the description box and sign up for
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my newsletter if you'd like to get a little dose of classic into your inbox just twice a month. Feel free to
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follow me on all social media at Classically Abbey. It's at Classically Abbey on Twitter, Instagram,
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Pinterest, Facebook, really absolutely everywhere. Thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see