Push it

You've probably seen this photo of Pharrell Williams at this year's Grammy Awards. 

Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage.

Sometimes I enjoy pushing my look a bit by wearing shapes, patterns or colors that are a little exaggerated and unexpected. I do this intentionally because I like to think it gives people pleasure to see something that's more visually exciting than the norm. And it adds fun to my day. Especially since I work in a corporate office, it doesn't take much and it adds some spark to my day to play with that. Most of the time the reactions are positive and if they're not, that's fine too.

I love to see other people pushing the style envelope. Like Pharrell when he wore the Vivienne Westwood hat to the Grammy's. At first glance, it is a bit ludicrous. But when looking closer, one can see that the shape and proportions were created by an expert designer. And Pharrell wears it with such aplomb that he makes it work. It caused a huge social media reaction, crashing the grammy.com site. Isn't that funny, that today when we see so many images of celebrities wearing extreme Lady Gaga styles that a hat, just an artistic and sculptural hat, can cause such a flurry? I like that.

These Balenciaga shoes cause a reaction everytime I wear them. I fell in love with them when I saw them on the sale shelves at Barney's.  Nicolas Ghesquiére took a basic black pump and arted it up with a swath of textured leather and added a sculptural detail to the heel. When I wear them, someone usually asks if they can try them on. When I'm not wearing them, I like to keep them out on a shelf because I enjoy looking at them. And that's a big point. When wearing something extreme, it needs to be something that you sincerely love and that makes you feel good wearing it.

On a foggy San Francisco day, wearing this coat makes me happy and the smiles I see on people as I pass them on the street leads me to believe that it makes them happy too. When I first wore it to work, my UK-born boss, looked up from her desk and said, "My, that's a jolly jacket!" Which made me laugh and now that's its official name. Because the pattern is so bold and memorable, I don't wear it that often. But I have fun with when I do. And I always think, since we have to wear clothes everyday, we might as well have some fun with what we wear and give others a little fun too.