Finding your own style
One of the most important things about fashion is knowing yourself. Taking your lifestyle into consideration when piecing an outfit together is essential for the construction of an authentic look; make your life aspirations an inspiration!
In the fashion world, stylists use the term avant-garde to describe a style of fashion that is treated as wearable art, thus technically speaking I would categorise my approach to fashion with that term. An avant-garde dresser considers everything when piecing an outfit, it is all embedded in the outfit, and the fun of it all is that there are no rules. I often like to mix and match colours, volumes and materials; the avant-garde movement is all about taking different worlds of fashion and combining them. The term is french for ‘forefront’… In other words: innovative, modern and futuristic. An avant-garde woman/man will always stand out from the crowd and so it takes a daring and bold individual to rock this style. As I’ve mentioned previously, Rihanna is a prime example of someone who is always innovative with their way of dressing (with an honourable mention to her stylist Mel Ottenberg). Some of her outfits may seem ‘weird’ at first but as the saying goes “first they laugh then they copy”, so never be afraid to dress ‘differently’ because you may end up inspiring and fuelling somebody’s fashion sense.
If you’re interested in improving and enhancing your fashion sense, you should first identify what kind of style you have so that you’re able to make the improvements you want. There are various quizzes that you can take online if you’re curious to find out! Another tip is to make a mood board; you’ll be surprised by how much they can inspire you and help you focus on YOUR own vibe. If you’re too lazy to cut out pictures from magazines like the old-fashioned way, use what’s most accessible to you – Instagram for example has a cool feature where you can save pictures and have them stored in a gallery that only you can see. I use this whenever a picture catches my eye, whatever it may be: a hairstyle, an outfit, a make-up look or even food! So whenever I need a spark of inspiration, I have a page full of it! When you’ve made your mood board, it also helps to pick out what the pictures all have in common. Is there a colour, an item of clothing or a certain material that repeats throughout? Those are the things you should look out for when shopping or trying to construct an outfit.
And finally, never stop experimenting! It’s very easy to get stuck in a style rut – sometimes without even noticing. What worked for you five years ago might not STILL work for you today, so it’s important to keep on trying new things, even it just means taking a few different items into the fitting room, and then discarding then. You don’t HAVE to change your style if you don’t want to: but don’t rule it out either!
Thank you all for reading,
Morena x