Style Over Fashion

As a Style Coach™ it has become clear to me that many people do not distinguish the difference between style and fashion. In my mind they are two very different things and I’d go for style every time. Here’s why:

1) In many cases the current fashion will not suit you

Chose the wrong colour and you can look years older; wear something too tight and you can look several dress sizes larger; choose an item which doesn’t suit your body shape and you can simply look unbalanced and odd!!! Faced with a choice of wearing the latest fashion but looking average, or worse(!), or wearing something that suits you and makes the most of your physical assets I know which one I’d go for!

2) Constantly staying in fashion is very expensive

Most people would agree that, especially as you get older, it’s really important to wear well made, quality clothing which doesn’t come cheap! It’s usually manageable if you carefully choose classic garments which fit your style personality that you wear year after year, but if you have the added pressure of having to update your look every season this can become not only difficult but in some cases impossible!

3) Fashion can destroy individuality

If you blindly follow fashion then you’ll never really establish your own style personality. By the time you hit thirty you should have begun to understand what works well for you, what feels most comfortable and what gives you the most confidence. By sticking to this you create your own style personality and refine your individual look which tells everyone that you know who you are!

4) Fashion is rarely age appropriate

Let’s face it young people, especially young art students (!), can usually get away with wearing pretty much anything as most things looks good on the young. Take the extreme of a two year old girl who can look fabulous in a green dress, pink tights and red shoes! However as we get older it’s so important to dress to suit your shape, colouring and age as the wrong choices can make us look dreadful!!

I could go on but you get the idea. My advice is to keep it simple - work out what suits you best and if the latest fashion happens to meet these criteria then great but otherwise ignore it! Fashion is creative, exciting and lots of fun but when it comes to the serious business of looking good I’d go for style over fashion any day.

Alice Treanor © 2010