“I am always representing my own level of fashion authority.”
When I said that, more poking fun at myself than intending to be profound, several of you liked the quote so well you mentioned message t-shirts. *chuckle*
So now, in between wondering whether the inherent humor in that concept is worth putting aside my disdain for clothing with printed messages and scrambling to pick up the fumbled pieces of my personal makeover, I’ve been chewing on the question: What goes in to fashion authority?
The answer I like best? Congruence. That is, being true to your own idiom. I thoroughly enjoy seeing a woman dressed in a manner that reflects both her unique personality and God’s astounding creativity. Truly, being around a woman like that can encourage me to express my own style, though it be different from hers.
But there’s another form of fashion authority, a sort of counterfeit of genuine style, where the more a person looks like Barbie or Stacy or the fashion layout in the Sunday paper, the more fashion authority accrues to their account. Here, the pressure is to conform to popular style (or unpopular style, as in some micro-cultures with their own “what not to wear” code”).
What are your thoughts about what goes into fashion authority?
Congruence strikes me as a wonderful word to start with.
I’d supplement that with “sending the message you want to send.” While my basic personality is almost bullheadedly consistent over time, there are days when I want to play up the powerful facets, days when I want to play up the friendly facets, and days like today where basically, it’s sufficient that I be tidily clothed. But I’m big on control of self-presentation.
The third volume of restaurant critic Ruth Reichl’s biography — it’s called Garlic & Sapphires — has fascinating chapters on how she created disguises for herself and how that changed how she felt about her own personality.
Dr Wende is so right about congruence.
You will only look really fantastic when everything is aligned – so your clothing is representative of your personality, your values, your body shape, proportions, colouring etc.
We can pull off ‘the fashionable look’ but if it doesn’t suit who we are inherently, we’ll look a like a fraud and won’t have the same confidence that we have when we’re expressing ourselves.
Interestingly, I do a ‘values’ exercise when I do workshops, and you rate what is most to least important – what is fascinating, is that it’s usually the under 25 age group who consider that they need to dress in the current ‘fashions’ and this is reflected by their feeling that they must not veer from their peer groups values and way of dressing, even if it doesn’t suit. As people age the tend to become less interested in ‘fitting in’ in that way and more about expressing themselves.
I love the book “The Triumph of Individual Style” because it covers this so well – texture of hair and skin, size of frame, etc. There is so much in the book it is hard for me to absorb it all.
I also think we need to show a bit of our romance – something that makes us feel fabulous and mysterious, whether it’s some funky shoes, a swirling cape or a darling hat.
That was a good interview article with Stacy. She’s usually not on my list of fav fashion folks.
I pretty much agree with what the ladies have shared above. When I buy new (instead of sewing or secondhand), I only buy pieces that flatter, fit, etc AND speak of who I am. It happens. 😉 That said, I usually pass by a lot of stuff before I find something like that!
I know this is orbiting the same concepts, but the word I would use is intention. I choose to dress in a way that is congruent with my physique and personality; I choose the message I want my appearance to send (per Wende); I choose when to acknowledge the vagaries of fashion, and when to play the iconoclast card; I also choose to dress appropriately to my environment and the occasion. Being in control of that which is expressly within my purview is as authoritative as anything I know.
I agree about intention. Mella DP, in a million years, I couldn’t have said it as well as you did!
The hard part, I think, is that our messages are not always received as that which we intend to send. How can we ensure that we are communicating the message we intend?
I call the latter the “in Style” look and it’s boring, safe and in the end, unaware. I loved the book Style Statement by Danielle LaPorte and Carrie McCarthy. It’s WORK (but you can do it in chunks) and addresses not just clothing but relationships, community, philanthropy, YOu end up with a very succinct capsule statement that’s “you”, not a clone. And if you are already an authority in the congruent sense, you now know why… like reading the signposts on a road.
Now everyone is talking about the American economy and eclections, nice to read something different. Eugene