There are very few things in this world that increase my heart rate like great style. One of these things, however, is great music.

Like a perfect outfit, the right song can change your entire day. And the beautiful thing about music and fashion is that they play off of each other. Don’t believe me? Take a look at history.

During the punk rock movement, who didn’t own copious amounts of eyeliner and neglect to wash their hair for that “I really don’t care, like I don’t even wash my hair” look? No one.

We dress how we feel, and music definitely has the power to make us feel different ways. So it would be going against all those nonsensical probabilities that we learned in statistics to believe that what comes through our headphones isn’t carried through to our style.

For this reason, I decided to conduct a little experiment. (Who said journalism majors aren’t good at science?)

I had been lacking wardrobe inspiration. I had flipped through magazines. Yet I did not necessarily feel the need to go buy new clothes. No, I just wanted fun things to do with the ones I already had. I had already tucked in, zipped up and unbuttoned my pieces in so many different ways

What else was there to do? (Note: This is the hypothesis.)

One lovely Tuesday morning, nestled in a pile of clothes on my closet floor, with a cup of coffee in hand and a bad case of bed head, I was desperately searching for something exciting to wear. I had the “why isn’t it Friday yet?” blues and needed something to liven my spirits.

I was just about to give in to my exhausted closet options and go back to bed (I don’t wear outfits I don’t love, and apparently it’s in bad taste to go to class naked).

As I was standing up and about to cross to the other side of my room, my Spotify playlist jumped to “Because I’m Awesome” by The Dollyrots. For anyone who hasn’t heard it, it’s the kind of song girls dance around in their underwear to after their boyfriends say something dumb.

Anyway, as the song played and I unabashedly danced around my room, I began to get ideas. First came the fire hydrant red short shorts. Then my mom’s vintage, cream-and-black Ellen Tracy top, which is oversized and amusingly low cut.

As the girl group broke into the punk-y chorus, I knew they were speaking to my soul, and that my feet needed combat boots if I wanted to exude even _half_ the awesomeness that they were singing about.

After stepping into my army green laced boots, I tucked the front of my shirt into the shorts and put on a chunky gold chain necklace.

The brightness contrasted boldly against the neutrality of the top. However, their shortness paired with the sophistication of the top, and the ever-so-slight show of skin was crazy chic and creative.

The masculinity of the boots evened out the feminism of the outfit and, in that moment, I knew I could handle anything. Even my finance class. Maybe.

So for when you lack the ideas that fuel your most fabulous outfits, hit shuffle on your favorite playlist and see where the music takes you.

Music and fashion go hand in hand to paint our days so many beautiful shades. Embrace it.