10 ways to become a classy woman. The ultimate guide to modern elegance.

Hello darling! Welcome to The Gorgeous Life. If you are new here, my name is Victoria and I talk about all things related to elegance and personal development.

My obsession with Elegance started when I was young. I remember being very interested in Princess Diana (even though I was a child). Then when I was 11 years old, The Princess Diaries was released and I fell in love with the movie.

Mia’s transformation to a princess was a dream come true for me. I always imagined living life as an elegant princess. I wanted to learn etiquette, have tea, dress like a royal, and everything in between.

via GIPHY

A couple of years ago, I watched The Princess Diaries again and it suddenly gave me an extraordinary burst of inspiration.

I realized that with a little bit of studying, a wardrobe upgrade, and a change in my lifestyle, I could be an elegant woman too.

I spent an entire year studying etiquette and manners, fashion for elegant women, reading about my favorite elegant women, working on myself and editing my life until I realized that I had changed in a dramatic way. Focusing on elegance has given me the life that I wanted as a little girl.

Today’s post will cover these 4 topics. Get a drink or a snack and let’s talk.

• What elegance really is (it’s not what you think)
• 10 ways elegance will improve your life
• 6 signs that it’s time to become an elegant woman
• Elegance guide: 10 Steps to become a classy lady

What is elegance? Hint: It has nothing to do with money.

Elegance is defined as ‘the quality of being graceful and stylish in appearance or manner; style.’

When I was younger I thought that in order to be an elegant woman, I needed to have a lot of money. The way elegance is represented in movies and televisions is usually a princess or a woman who is wealthy.

I always associated elegance with women who spent their free time at country clubs and drove expensive cars.

As I got older, I began to realize that money does not equal class.

We see this every single day in celebrity culture. Some of the wealthiest women on the planet are the opposite of elegant.

Elegance is also about creating a lifestyle that is fun, beautiful, and supports your mental health as well as cultivating an environment where you are growing as a person.

None of those listed above have anything to do with being wealthy.

How will elegance change your life? 10 Benefits of becoming a classy woman

• More self esteem
• Better quality relationships
• Higher standards/better life experiences
• Improved appearance/style
• Increased happiness
• Healthy mindset & strong boundaries
• Better opportunities
• Better habits
• Increased intelligence
• Improved social skills
• …and many more!

Here are 6 signs that it’s time to level up.

How to be classy: 10 steps for beginners

1.Make a plan

What do successful women have in common? Vision boards. Vision boards are a visual plan for something that you want to achieve. 

When you let time pass without having any clear vision for your future, it becomes easier for you to remain in your comfort zone.

In order to become an elegant woman, you will have to transform all aspects of your life and become a completely new version of yourself. You can not do this without a vision.

2.Say Goodbye (this one is deep)

You must prepare to say goodbye to your old self. Once you commit to leveling up. Every aspect of your life will change.

You will have to let go of everything and everyone that isn’t serving you anymore in order to make room for new energy in your life.

There is no better way to speak on this than Brianna Wiest in The Mountain is You. I discovered this quote many years after my elegance journey, but this is exactly what I experienced.

3.Create a plan: Aligned action

Once your vision board is created, you will have to take aligned action in order to bring your vision board to life.

Aligned action is essentially taking steps that will move the needle towards achieving your goals.

You will have to spend your free time learning exactly how to make these things happen.

The key is to create a plan full of small steps that will create big results. If you bite off more than you can chew, you will become overwhelmed and see little progress.

The best way to make substantial changes in your life is to create a plan that fits well with your lifestyle.

5.Learn etiquette

There is someone that I will never go to a restaurant with ever again. The one and only time I went with them, they were extremely difficult with the wait staff.

They made everyone else at the table feel uncomfortable because of how rude they were. I regret ever going to dinner with them in the first place.

Lacking basic etiquette and manners is extremely distasteful and makes you look like a low class woman.

According to a survey, 70-80% of Americans believe that manners have been steadily declining over the years. People are becoming more rude and self centered.

Practicing good etiquette shows that you are considerate of other people. It also makes people think more highly of you. In a nation where manners are declining, practicing good etiquette will make you shine.

The best thing about it? It costs you nothing.

6.Clean up your social media

43% of companies have openly admitted to doing some social media research on a potential new hire.

78% of companies believe that you should maintain a work appropriate social media presence.

Every time I meet someone new, I look them up on social media to see if they are the type of person that I would want to become friends with.

Many people engage in what is called ‘internet stalking.’ It is when you are bored at night and you can’t sleep, so you look up friends from high school and see what they are doing these days.

Your social media profile can tell a LOT about the kind of person you are. When I open my social platforms each day, I am constantly noticing things that women are doing to cheapen themselves online.

Your social profiles are the identity that you are putting out into the world for everyone to see.

I don’t think people are taking this as seriously as it should be. Even for those who have their profiles set to private, you can tell a lot about a person simply by looking at their profile photo.

If you want to become an elegant woman, you must do a complete revamp of your social profiles. From your profile photo to the things you post every day.

7.Create an elegant lifestyle

Is your current lifestyle toxic? Is it stopping you from becoming the woman you want to be?

Mine was.

Before I changed my lifestyle, I was constantly stressed and sad. I had a poor diet, toxic friends, and did very little for myself.

You know where that got me?

Crying every weekend. Crying because I was so miserable with my life. I didn’t have time to cry on the weekdays because I was always at work and then coming home and managing the house.

I lived that lifestyle for a long time. Until I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. I had to make the decision to change. That is when I decided to level up and become a classy woman.

The truth is, life is what we make of it. You are in control of the life that you experience every single day. You have the power to make it elegant and beautiful.

Research shows that improving your lifestyle has many benefits including: Increased happiness, improved mental health, higher self esteem and a longer life expectancy, among many other things.

All of these are things that I experienced once I leveled up my life.

An elegant lifestyle is filled with activities that nourish your soul and make you deeply connected to your inner self and your power as a feminine woman.

8.Elevate the way you speak

In addition to being judged by others by our appearance, we are also being judged on the way we speak.

Your voice is your personality.

A woman came into my work the other day with two toddlers. She started cursing very loudly when she was on the phone while shopping.

Based on her behavior, I gathered that she lacks social etiquette knowledge and communication skills.

I’m sure that I have behaved this way in the past as well. I know that when I was younger I didn’t have the knowledge about communication that I do now.

Classy women are excellent communicators. They know how to use their voice to put good energy into the universe.

They know how to be sophisticated by the way they speak. It is a skill you must learn if you want to become elegant.