Fashion. “A popular trend, especially in clothes; the production and marketing of new styles of clothing and cosmetics; a way of doing something”. Fashion. Just one word to encapsulate so many things. Do we understand fashion? Do I understand fashion?
Well, to be honest, I feel like Anne Hathaway’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada” most of the time. Fashion feels mostly overwhelming. Especially with the new season and new onslaught of information before the previous season has truly settled. It can be pretty scary if you ask me. I mean, who is to say what is nice? astounding? boring? ugly? You can love brown but I absolutely hate it. Definitely NO brown for me, it doesn’t go with my skin tone and it just feels as though it dulls my aura. Brown bags and accessories are fine, brown leather jackets probably. So you see, there is no absolute rule in fashion. Sometimes you just look in the mirror and listen to what your heart tells you. Most times, you either adore or abhor it and you will know it.
Fashion is subjective and what I learn over the years is that as long as you feel comfortable and confident in it, nothing’s going to stop you from looking good. Feel awkward and you will be awkward.
Not all of us will be able to afford luxury labels head to toe. Ok, perhaps for that special occasion you may be able to splurge, but that’s definitely not going to be the case on an everyday basis. Not ALL of us for sure. What I really do is.. buy key pieces that I can wear even when the season is over. Key classic pieces that you can mix and match with what you already have in your own wardrobe. Looking good doesn’t mean you need to burn a hole in your pocket. Would you have guessed that the gold jacket I wore is something I bought over 10 years ago? You may not like gold but I do love it, and the best part is it really served its purpose in keeping me warm in the 7 degrees weather in Shanghai.
Why I think I got scared of fashion in the first place is how people judge you by what you wear and then grade you. But at the end of the day, who are those people to actually judge you and how much of fashion do they know? Or assume they know? They just type on their keyboard based on what they feel, or they go with the flow according to what others are saying, or they put it to a vote. How do you even allow fashion to be put to a vote? So is it your view or others? We can all be judges, and we should, but only for our own fashion purpose. Be your own judge, if you think you deserve an A+, stick with it. You could carry off quirky when others would fall flat on their faces. I mean, unless it’s Anna Wintour who commented and tore you down, you don’t have to really bother about what some “fashionistas” say about you.
One example for me is this bag. It was designed for the guys. They told me this is a bag for Men. Well, I loved it, and who’s to say that’s a hard and fast rule. So, I made it MY bag, and I received many compliments for it. Rules? There are no real rules in fashion. Conventions? Defy them if need be.
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