Diane's Three Words
Name: Diane Lilly di Costanzo
Profession: Editor, Writer, Branded Content Strategist at Meredith Corporation
How I describe myself in Three Words: Feminist. Taurus. Bookish.
How I express my Three Words through my style: In my mind’s eye, I love wearing bright colors and bold accessories. Somehow, 90% of my photos are of me in black clothes. I’m trying! And I do like wearing one super-saturated hue—often red or pink or burgundy. I aspire to look modern, above all: I just bought a white jumpsuit (Urban Outfitters) and white clogs (Everlane); if I ever leave the house again, I’m stepping out in that. Oh and rings: I wear one on every finger, the bigger the better. I buy one in every interesting place I travel to, as a way to remember.
Words of advice on how to develop the confidence to be who you are: I admire people who can decouple “who I am” from “what I wear.”
I am not one of those people.
When I find a garment that “looks like me,” I wear it to death. Literally, I won’t stop wearing it until someone says: “um, you have a big hole in your pants.”
I’m also the kind of person that remembers what I wore. Someone will be describing an event, the venue, what happened, blah-blah-blah, and then I’ll recall: “Oh, I wore the black jumpsuit that ties in the back to that thing” and the whole evening will come back to me.
Where I go wrong is when I buy clothes I think will be useful. As in: “Oh I bet I could wear that button-down blouse with anything!” And then I wear it with nothing, nowhere and never because I look like a man in that kind of shirt. I wouldn’t say I have high standards, just hugely specific standards and I’m often foiled when I decide I want to buy a red dress—in a tomato hue with knife pleats, a swirly ankle-length skirt and spaghetti straps. My friend Linda laughs at me for this reason: Good luck with that! But joke’s on her, one steamy August night I was walking through Soho and I saw that very dress in a Banana Republic window (now on sale at Poshmark for $89).
Suffice to say, my clothing gives me confidence, but not because there’s a cost or status attached to the things I wear. The confidence comes from projecting who I am and, in some cases, defining who I am. Is that being “picky?” No, it’s rejecting clothes, even fabulous clothes, that don’t look like me. More practically speaking, and given this high degree of specificity, where do I find my clothes? I had my shopping Nirvana in Seoul, South Korea when an hour-long spree yielded at least 10 things. I was out of my mind and I still yearn for a patchwork-style, trench-coat dress that I left behind. Randomly, there’s a very good Marshall’s near me that often has C/MEO Collective. And I finally had to break up with Rent the Runway because I was renting garments and then buying them (you can do that in the Clearance section) because I am a Taurus and we hate to give up things we love. This tactic did yield my Osman Red Felix Ruffle Trousers, retailing for $590, purchased for $245. A bargain? Well, yes, when I tell you I have worn them 100 times!
Want to Hear More from Diane?
Diane is the editorial director of the recently launched personal finance magazine, Millie (owned by Meredith Corp.) In conversation with Elizabeth Danielle (founder and CEO of Brand, Style & Bloom), Diane shared her advice on what women can do now to narrow the pay gap. Join the Style Wellness™ community for free today to watch the replay and to receive tools, videos, sketched fashion collections and more to help you improve your mindset through style.
