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• Article of the week: How Dressing Up Helps Us Grow—Even on the Hard Days

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It’s Spring Break with the kids! Please enjoy this abridged newsletter this week.

Thank you for being a subscriber. I’m so glad you’re reading this timeless content and I hope you get a lot out of it whether you enjoy the free or paid version. I’m a busy mom of 4, full-time caregiver to a disabled family member, college instructor, and writer. Together with my husband, I try to keep up with all the responsibilities, while maintaining great relationships and happy vibes. I heart you!

How Dressing Up Helps Us Grow—Even on the Hard Days

By Tatyana Wilson, MA, EdS, SHRM-CP

Since we’re solidly in spring, the season of shedding extra layers, I’ve been feeling motivated to shed extra mental and psychological weight. In spring, we clean, open windows to let light in, and watch things that were dormant come to life again. It’s one of my favorite times of the year: a time of regeneration. Someone turns the lights back on up there in the great big sky, and the land is full of rays. It’s a glorious time. Light Loves Color is my tribute to color’s magnificent ability to harness light. It’s about the very real properties of colors that somehow seem too magical for life but are nonetheless real.

This is why I strategically love color: the fact that color changes light’s properties is based in science.

You see, most people think of fashion and color as topics that the fashion experts in Paris, Milan, New York, LA, or some other fashion mecca should tell us about, but that’s not the way I see things. It’s been a long time since I thought of the fashion industry as “the experts.” In fact, the only way I see the fashion industry is as marketers of clothing. So, I always take what they say with a grain of salt and treat them with an inherent mistrust.

And when it comes to the questions of what colors and styles we should wear during spring, I don’t want to know what the latest trends are because I know that the fashion industry hinges on exclusivity and making people feel like they have to be part of the “IN” club. But because I see colors and fashions strategically, I don’t care what the cool trends of Spring 2025 are. I want to invite you to see it differently, too. We don’t have to be subservient to the fashion masters.

As you know, colors have properties that either reflect/amplify the light around or mute/reduce it. Most of us have experienced how we look better in proper lighting and with proper colors. The truth is, the proper colors and proper lighting are very interrelated; they work together. Light really does love color!

Let Spring Be Your Mirror

As we shed the layers that we wore in the winter cold, we can embrace the beautiful light-reflecting properties of colors. We won’t do it for the trends or for Paris. We won’t do it for our friends who love seeing us in certain colors. We won’t do it for anyone but the person in the mirror.

And as we grow our independence from wearing colors that mute, dull, and cast a shadow on us, we will grow bold as people.

And if spring can be a rebirth for our independence, we can take this opportunity to also grow stronger as people. Because whether in easy times or trying times, showing up for ourselves—visibly, tangibly, unapologetically—still matters.

There will be mornings when you don’t feel like doing our hair.
Days when the idea of picking an outfit feels like too much.
Moments when we ask ourselves, “What’s the point?”

The point is who you are. It’s what you’re building.

We don’t show up looking polished because we need validation. We show up because we’re training ourselves—and the world—to take us seriously. We get dressed, brush our hair, swipe on a little makeup. Not because we’re afraid to be seen without it… but because we have too much purpose to be overlooked.

We are people who have more to give.
More to learn.
More to lead.
And we won’t let a rough morning or a shift in weather take that away from us.

So as the layers come off, here are a few gentle, strategic ways to refresh your spring wardrobe—and your commitment to standing tall.

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✨ Spring Strategy: Showing Up Layer by Layer

1. Transition with Light Layers
Don’t jump straight from sweaters to sleeveless—spring is about strategy. Add lightweight trenches, linen-blend blazers, and soft structured jackets in your power colors. They create polish without overheating.

2. Rebuild Your Outfit Anchors
This season, think in “mid-layers”: fitted tops that work under jackets, elevated basics like button-ups, light knits, or structured T-shirts in luminous hues.

3. Keep Your Power Color Up Top
Spring can wash people out. Use your biologically best colors near your face to maintain glow and energy—especially under cloudy skies or in transitional lighting.

4. Maintain Your Beauty Rituals
Even if it’s just 5 minutes—brush, smooth, highlight. A little bit of gloss or glow is like telling your brain, “I’m here. I matter. Let’s do this.” Not for others—for you.

5. Stand Tall—Every Day
Don’t shrink. Your presence, even in flats and light fabrics, should feel like leadership. Adjust your posture, breathe deep, and meet your reflection with the respect you deserve.

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Final Thought:
Spring is a metaphor. A comeback.
A quiet uprising from beneath what’s been cold and dormant.

So don’t wait to feel ready. Don’t wait for approval or for a good hair day.
Show up for yourself first—and let everything else bloom from there.

You’ve got this.

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Until next time, dress well, my friend!

Tatyana Wilson, MA, EdS, SHRM-CP
Founder, Light Loves Color