Clothes and What They Mean To Me. What is fashion? Is it the haute couture gown painstakingly made by hand that parade down the runways at London, Paris and New York Fashion week, or is it the top brands that can sell a simple t-shirt for two hundred euro? I believe that although those top fashion houses do influence the high street market they are unaffordable by the normal working person. I believe that fashion is very much personal. I dress for how I feel every day.
Everybody has those days when they feel lousy and would prefer to sit in a pair of sloppy tracksuit bottoms and a misshapen greying t-shit and not do anything other than lounge around. These days are acceptable but only if you are staying in the confines of your own home. My mother used to say ‘If you would be ashamed to meet someone in the street, you are not dressed well enough. ’ This however does not mean that you must be dressed up at all times, there is such a thing as dressing down but it is how you do it that is vital.
A simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt can look just as well as a dress if you are going into town or down to meet a friend but a tracksuit looks slovenly. Many people look to the French as a race of well-dressed and sophisticated people but many of their wardrobes consist of essentials that are able to be mixed together effortlessly. It would be a rare occurrence to see them in a tracksuit unless they were coming from a gym and even then it would be well co-ordinated.
So when I feel great it is reflected in my clothes and when I feel not so amazing that is also reflected. So who is to say I can’t use this information to my advantage and make everybody think that my life is going swimmingly even when i’m are stressed or tired. People use clothes as a front, sort of a protective barrier to the outside world. When you look great you automatically feel great too. So look at fashion as a friend and not as something that is stressful.
Most women in particular often find themselves stressed at the thought of coming to work or school with people who are well dressed every day and they feel that those people have little to worry about, maybe by changing your view to these people you can learn that they just control their wardrobe not to let it slip into unchartered territory. It gives people a sense of control or belonging and they enjoy fashion. It is very obvious to see the people who have fun with fashion as they are the ones that it appears fashion has completely left them behind.
Fashion actually has no boundaries the only boundaries being your self-confidence. Some people natuarally have that trait and others must work on that side of their personality. If you have the confidence in what your wearing you can make a regular outfit look a million dollars every time you put it on. This are the fall back outfits evrybody doesnt like wearing because people have seen it before but what is wrong with wearing the same outfit twice? Or if you really do have a problem with it change the shoes or the accessories and Voila new outfit that nobody has seen before.
Fashion is about thinking outside the box because unless the mannequins in shops are made from your figure it isn’t ever going to look as good on you. Instead of thinking this doesnt look good. Look for ways to make it better, a new belt or scarf can transform an outfit into something different and edgy. But the most important thing about buying clothes is always feel comfortable in it because if I dont feel comforable I automatically dont look comfortable. And that is a one way ticket to not feeling your best.
In the past, women wore long skirts and blouses or long dresses everyday as they were the only things acceptable back then. Now women have the freedom to wear what they choose but it seems it is a harder decision nowadays. Men are nearly more restricted because women can wear a tuxedo or trousers and it is perfectly normal, society has not yet opened their eyes fully to men wearing skirts and dresses. Maybe one day it will be commonly accepted but not just yet. There is also a perception of being too dressy at a formal event but I believe you can never cross a boundary unless you are uncomfortable in what you are wearing.
People often buy an outfit for that one special occasion and then put off wearing it because it isnt suitable. Individual style is about you! It is personal and unless you think wearing a tracksuit to work everyday is acceptable it is unlikely that an outfit you bought for an occaion is unsuitable. That being said not everybody trusts themselves to make the deciosion so I often bring a close friend shopping with me who I know will give me an honest opinon, that way I have an unbiased pair of eyes looking and judging the outfit too.
Teenagers, I find have the hardest job when choosing an outfit for an occasion because we have to strike the balance between looking respectable and not looking older than we actually are. We must strive to perfect the balance of wearing what is comfortable and what our parents approve of, after all they are usually the ones helping to fund the purchase. Also we tend to jump on the bandwagon with current trends and often dont wear what suits us but what is in style at that moment.
This all leads to our parents wanting to choose our outfits for us and nobody wants their parents opinion on clothes after all we aren’t children! So all in all, clothes to me are about feeling comfortable in my own skin and having the confidence to wear something off the beaten track of fashion because I like it and not because it is the new craze among teenagers. Fashion, to me, is an art form, the coming together of brilliant minds, beautiful fabrics, textures, thoughts, designs and colours to create beauty. And i love nothing more than to feel a million dollars everyday no matter where or what I am doing.
