aypittman If you are a fashion designer and you haven’t seen Disney’s Cruella, you are missing out! I watched it and was in awe of the sheer talent of the costume designers and the plot. (I love hearing the villain’s story…because most “villains” really aren’t…they’re misunderstood). And in terms of inspiration for my own life, this did not disappoint! I’ve been sharing lessons about life and fashion that I’ve learned from Cruella de Vil. I’ve already shared lesson 1 and lesson 2. So here is lesson 3…
Build and bless your team! (***SPOILER ALERT***)
In the movie, the baroness built a (mostly) capable team, but she didn’t bless them. She abused, terrorized and then discarded them the minute they did something she didn’t like. In the end, this behavior landed her in jail because her butler decided to help her arch rival put her there. Prior to this, she fired her lawyer for not agreeing to play detective. She used a taser on her maid and one of her guards. She nicked Estella (one of her designers) on the forearm with a razor and then showed no concern. Instead, she asked someone else on the team if they could find fabric for her design in the color of her blood. Yes, her team stayed and put up with the abuse. But it doesn’t excuse her behavior as wrong.
As Estella fully embraces Cruella, she becomes the same way. She begins talking to her friends as though they are worthless slaves who work for her. She begins to rival the baroness in cruelty towards others…except the baroness shows herself to be a psychopath who will kill anyone who gets in her way, while Cruella does have lines she won’t cross. One of my favorite parts in the movie is after she’s rescued and her friend helps her balance out. Meaning, he helps her embrace herself as Cruella fully without being the psychopath her birth mother was. He helps her to build and bless her team. He helps her to remember the love and kindness she had imparted to her by the mother who raised her. Although it sounds a bit bipolar, she comes to embrace the chilly parts of Cruella and the warmth of Estella and still shine as brillant and genius. Most importantly, she comes down from the arrogance of believing it’s okay to treat her friends and team as beneath her. Because honestly, you can’t get very far in life without a team of people who help, love and support you.
How do you feel about your team? If you don’t have one, what steps can you take to build one?
