Fixation with Fashion

Coco Chanel doing what she did best

Don't judge me. For some reason, today I have the urge to talk about fashion. How this relates to living here I am not sure, but knowing me I will find a way to it eventually.

I think first we should look up what "official" entities mean by fashion, how do they difine it.

According to Almighty Wikipedia, it states that Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing. has been a dominant source of fashion news and forecasts in steering fashion brands worldwide to be "inspired" by one another. It also says that To "take inspiration" from others' designs contributes to the fashion industry's ability to establish clothing trends. For the past few years, WGSN

I came across this article on ArticlesBase, a free online -can you guess it?- articles directory. It is written by Tania Machowska; the website describes her as a former model with experience in catwalk and catalogue modelling. In the article What is Fashion? she comments that fashion is used to describe a means of expression. The terms "fashionable" and "unfashionable" are used to describe something that does or does not tally with the current popular mode of expression. She also says The broad use of the term fashion when applied to clothes was used in the past as a means of people showing solidarity with other people by their choice of clothes. However, in more realistic terms, today Modern Westerners have a wide choice of clothes available to them, and wearing what is currently in fashion is unlikely to be exactly the same as someone else. Nowadays what a person wears is more likely to be a reflection of their personal tastes and character, than wanting to imitate somebody else. Then she goes on to talk about famous people and their influences on us mere mortals.

I see where she's coming from, but I'm not sure I agree with her. Initally, we think that we can express ourselves with fashion; which is true. You can make a statement. But we express ourselves with the tools that we are given; technically, if you go into a shop you have to conform to the items of clothing that are in the shop. There are different "styles", of course. You have the high street fashion, couture, goth, geek, grunge, posh, undefined, chavs, and the trends go on. Can you be untouched by fashion? Even though it is not an Oscar film, The Devil Wears Prada talks about this issue. For those who haven't seen the film, the main character asserts that she is not influenced at all by fashion when she sets foot in one of the major fashion magazines. However, her boss points out that the jumper she is wearing was created for people like her, that the colour she chose had already been chosen, that the style had already been chosen. Thefore, how can you really express who you truly are in fashion if the items of clothing have been created (almost certainly in mass) for you? Unless you know how to sew, or how to create patterns even, to create things from scratch, I don't think you can express who you truly are in fashion. You can transmit an essence of yourself, of course; but I am afraid we are doomed to conform to others people's criteria when clothing ourselves.

When I was a teenager I strived so hard to fit into the fashion industry, but I struggled to accept my body. I wasn't fat -I am not fat now either- but I wasn't slim. I was big for my age. Tall. And curvy. After coming to the conclusion that most of my friends were at least two dress sizes smaller than me I began to hate shopping, and I had this whole goth/punk attitude going on aswell. I rebelled against highstreet fashion finding asylum in goth/punk fashion. At the time, of course, I was convinced I was expressing myself... but now I realise that it was also due to my giving up with wanting to wear fashionable clothes and not finding my size or if they did have my size, the items didn't suit my body.

Then there's the whole sidenote of catwalks and women and if they truly represent the women of today, etc.  I guess fashion and I are at a point where we have recongised each other; I have learned to accept my body, and I know what suits it. I generally like highstreet fashion; it depends on the season, but I have learned to choose what I like and adapt to what flatters me best. But I think we can talk about that another time. What I would like to share with you, however, are the links to some fashion bloggers I follow nowadays and from whom I gather inspiration to not only find my own style but also to explore and be creative.

 Just Kiss My Cardi: http://justkissmycardi.wordpress.com/
I discovered Kathy on Youtube and have been following her for a while. I learned she had a couple of blogs and one of them was more fashion orientated. I think it was then that I realised that I wasn't so anti-fashion as I thought; that I actually enjoy searching for the pefect outfit and with time I have learned how to look good, or better.

A similar style blog is Katie's What Katie Wore: http://www.whatkatiewore.com/
I believe her boyfriend is the one who takes the picture and comments on the outfit.

New Dress A Day: http://www.newdressaday.com/
This girl was inspired by the film Julie & Julia and decided to rise to the challenge of creating 365 new outfits in 365 days for 365 dollars. Basically, she goes to yard sales, flea markets etc. and buys a dress that no one would wear and customises it to meet today's requirements. The only condition is that it has to cost $1. It's amazing the results she comes up.