You are completely unique. There is no one else in this wide world exactly like you. You and I share similar traits -- we are both flesh and blood and bones -- but we are not the same. Maybe your mannerisms, your face, your voice are reminiscent of another, but the moment the surface of this coincidence is scratched it becomes apparent that you are unique. So why would you want to look like anyone else?
Arbiters of taste teach us a lot about fashion and beauty. A networked media combined with enthusiastically bullish branding techniques has given the average American consumer an unprecedented amount of access to image-makers, their ideas and their products. We are hungry for this type of input, it seems, as the popularity of "It" accessories and makeover television shows proliferate. But what are we really looking for when we look to our experts? Are we looking for their products to fix us? Sometimes, yes-- though the benefits of acquisition aren't the whole story. What I think we are searching for is help in finding the fulfillment of our own uniqueness. We are searching for our style.
Despite the wide variety of options at our fingertips, finding our style isn't easy these days. It's an ironic situation that our advancing interpersonal connectivity has led to both the opportunity for greater individual expression and an atmosphere of mass style ubiquity. "Style" hallmarks of today are often more about a pastiche of brand recognition than the exploration of integration between self and adornment. The idea of style has become interchangeable with product.
Accepting the definition of style as product is about as helpful to our well-being as accepting the integration of church and state. By placing an overblown importance on style images created by international corporate conglomerates intent on pushing products, we face disconnection from our true collective wellspring: our individuality. Looking at style through the lens of consumption teaches us how to be a hungry mass of voyeurs instead of individual, engaged, culturally relevant participants.
So what is style if it isn't a product? Quite simply, style is you. It is the depth and expansion of your innate interests and characteristics. There are no rules or dictums. If you really want to connect with your style, connect with yourself. I am all in favor of tips, services and products that encourage the expression of style, but it's important not to be led by them or to mistake them for style. Nothing about true style is superficial- it can be fun, light-hearted and humorous, yes, but the one and only thing your true style can never be is someone else's voice instead of your own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYj8jbFVY8
I've always been fascinated by the fact that many believe they have total freedom of choice, yet they actually choose from a carefully-crafted list of options handed to them, in many categories. Fashion is one of the best examples of this, as well as an arena where insecurities abound for those who desperately need to fit in or receive attention.
Own your own mind, no matter what the topic is. :)
I had my own epiphany when I was sixteen wearing a Neru jacket to school because it was supposed to be the 'in' thing to do, it went badly. And from then on I decided my own style and didn't follow the fashionisttas.
When the "trends" are ugly, nelegant, and silly, there is even less reason to follow them. In any case, we all have a style, color, type of clothing in which we feel comfortable and look best.
Humans are fickle. Ignore them.
then you can wear what you love....
and look cool.
If I don't love it, I don't wear it.
Just wear what you like, what's comfortable, and what's appropriate. Don't be a slave to fashion.
Couldn't it be said that everything about style (when referring to clothes/hair/etc) is superficial? The idea is to create a unique representation of yourself, through some variation of shirt-pants-shoes. I'd rather just wear a comfortable t-shirt and pants, and if anyone actually cares about my unique self, they can talk to me.
My body is nothing more than a vessel my brain uses to interact with the world.