From Simple - To Chic

At work, I've been helping brainstorm these 'From - To' situations to help communicate some of the culture change we're making. And it made me think about a conversation I had with my group of friends recently.

Heading downtown on the L, one of our friends jumped on to meet us. After "Hey" one of the next comments was, "Cute outfit D. (note the names have been shortened to protect the innocent) Is that a dress or a skirt?" The conversation stayed focused on fashion for a while; and we had to ask - when did we become so fashion-savvy. Seriously. Because in high school, we were anything but.

First a quick background: In high school (actually starting in jr. high) I was fortunate to find a group of amazing friends who I still love today. We've been great friends for 10-12 years. Wow! (that still amazes me when I think about it).

Our group is a funny one. All so different. We became a close-knit group through a common activity - marching band. Yes, marching band.

From flute, clarinets, french horn, drumline, trombone, drum major and co-captains of the colorguard team (myself and Seibs) we created a lifelong friendship. To give you a perspective of how diverse of a group we were, outside of marching band, here's a list of activities we were involved in - these are just the girls:

• Myself: Orchesis (dance team), Orchestra (viola), Choir
• L: Wrestling student coach, Softball, Volleyball
• Seibs: Mixed Company (show choir), Soccer
• D: Track, Volleyball, Gymnastics
• Nashi: Golf (at least for a year or so)
• Laur: Bowling (rock star)
• C: Tennis, Track & Field, Basketball student coach

And funny to say, when we got to college almost each of us joined a sorority - as you can see we are involved people and have tended to stay that way.

But back to the original point of this post - when did we become stylish? That, I don't know. However, here are some before and after photos to illustrate the change 'From Simple - To Chic'

Okay, while we may be ready for bed in this picture, I would say our day to day fashion wasn't much different - jeans, tshirt, sweatshirt & often ponytail. Our most fashion forward friend at the time was Nashi (not pictured here).


And a few from today...

Point made.