10 Fashion Rules To Throw Out The Window
- Each
- And
- Every
- Single
- Fashion
- Rule
- That
- Has
- Ever
- Existed
Stripes will make you tall if they’re vertical but horizontal ones will make you look fat. Black is a slimming colour but white is absolutely not. Perhaps these are the rules you expected based off my headline. But the point is that short of the fact that we have to wear clothes (and thank god for that) there are no rules. With the exception, however, of those policies that we give ourselves.
Consider the contents of your wardrobe. They can typically be divided into generic categories of loungewear, workwear, dressy tops, random-jumpers-you-never-wear-yet-never-throw-out. But it is likely that you subconsciously divide them in other ways too. Clothes you only wear on holiday. Clothes for when you have a tan. Clothes for when you drop a dress size.
Forget the designer logos, these are the fashion labels your wardrobe needs to throw out.
Guides not guidelines
Glam up or dress down. Pair the most ridiculous colours together and overlay your most obnoxious patterns. If style is your forte then get creative. Your clothes are supposed to fit your body not the other way around. So size up if that’s what is needed or down if that is more appropriate. Instead of contorting yourself into jeans that don’t fit your body buy a pair of jeans that do. And let them be skinny or mom jeans regardless of your generation!
Style trends might have changed over the years but so too has the pace of them. From polka dot skirts in the 50s to platform boots in the 70s and flared trousers in the 90s. The concept of evolving trends is not new. What is new is the pace of these changes.
Previously magazines with allotted room for style spreads were released on a monthly basis in print form. Now digital articles are published at all hours of the day and night, every day and night. There is a seemingly endless collection of media outlets and Instagram accounts charting the trending changes.
Confidence of clothes
How are you (and your purse) supposed to keep up with what’s ‘in’? Quite simply you’re not.
I am far from a fashion expert and my current uniform tends to be a rotation of leggings and oversized jumpers (try not to be too influenced!). That’s okay. My wardrobe is not required to adapt to the latest trends. And if I want to that’s great too. All of it depends on what fashion is to you and why you wear it.
Consider how we dress up sometimes, all glammed up and ready to go out in an ensemble that makes us feel fab. It might seem a distant memory now but we definitely did this at some point! Think of how confident and amazing you felt wearing something ‘special’ or ‘flattering’. Contrast that with how you feel right now or during those periods of simply lounging around the house. It’s quite likely that there is less certainty or assurance.
Why? After all, it’s the same person. The same body, the same brain. Because melodramatic as it might sound, we have attached power to what we wear.
Like other elements of our lives that boost our mood we link positive emotions to certain styles. Let your clothes give you self-confidence. It’s not shallow to feel more poised in certain outfits. It does not mean that you cannot be confident and comfortable in your day-to-day attire. It simply represents an outlet of expression and one of the benefits of style.
Keeping up with the Kardashians (and their wardrobes)
In theory fashion is about clothes. In reality an increasing prominence is placing value on the person wearing the outfit instead of the outfit itself.
Double denim is a big no. Unless a slim and ‘relevant’ celebrity wears it, in which case fill your online basket and empty your bank account. Tracksuit bottoms worn out and about were lazy until the Kardashians deemed them worthy. Suddenly loungewear travelled from trashy to classy.
The media has always had a special place for fashion . Many of these spreads or columns are interesting pieces that offer style suggestions or trending tips. However, there is a difference between guides and guidelines. Society and social media have their own responsibility to consider. Every time we rank women by the clothes they wear. Or comment on the outfits that conceal or reveal them (and overdoing either option must be avoided at all costs). Perhaps the best part about the absence of awards shows in 2020 was the consequent deficiency of worst dressed lists.
We love learning what the celebs wear, recreating stunning outfits or even better beating them for price with our own high-street bargains! But the image of fashion is subjective and so too is the subject.
Fashion does not have a body. You do, so wear whatever the hell you like on it.
What fashion rules do you believe need to end?