Fashion on a Shoestring...

 *originally uploaded to foliomag.com

I've always been interested in clothing and accessories and how to put everything together to create a look.  When I was a child my innocence about the world actually enabled me to dress and to "create" that look without thinking about it.  If I thought it went well together then it did.  If I liked it, then it was great.  Think of yourself as a young child or any young child you know or have known.  Stripes and plaids?  Plaid and polka dots?  Part of a Halloween or dress up costume and a pair of jeans?  Rain boots with a skirt.  It worked because it felt good and there was no "standard" to reach or live up to.  No "fashion police" to say "halt, cease and desist with this foolery"...there was a freedom and that sweet innocence of saying "I love this."  Then the teen years roll around and we become aware of our bodies and our sense of colour combination and our "style".  We are aware of fashion magazines (even as young as we were with "Seventeen" magazine) and today's youth have MTV, television programmes and more to preach and dictate what is "cool".  We strive to "fit in".

Did you ever develop a style that you could call your own?  Did you follow the trends?  Were you a victim of wanting to be like everyone else or were you more the hide yourself at all costs behind baggy clothing and hope that no one would notice?

Programmes like "What Not to Wear" seem in some ways to ridicule the style choices of others and yet if you look closely they are sincere in offering options and choices that are flattering to the person (victim?) that has been chosen.  What I always come away with whenever I have watched this programme is the lack of self-confidence in the people who are being "helped".  And isn't that what our fashion sense and style is about?  Having the confidence to say "I like this" and "I look good".  That lack of confidence these people show is more a lack of care about themselves upon a closer look.  There is no sense of pride in how they appear...almost as if they don't like themselves or feel themselves worthy of attention.  I'm also including those who are outrageously over the top in skin tight clothing and inappropriate clothing for the occasion.

Last week my dearest friend sent me a copy of this article that had appeared in their local paper as one of these young women below is related to her by marriage.  I love reading these types of articles (as she knows!) and love to flip through fashion magazines while at the hair salon to see what is current, what works, who is creating what look.  I'm not a slave to any of these publications, but I do enjoy keeping abreast of what is going on.

*click on photo to enlarge for better viewing

The article is from the U.K. so some of the designers I'm not familiar with, nevertheless, it is the content that interested me.  Here are these quite young women who are being asked from where they derive their sense of style.  Twice Prada is mentioned and one young woman has a bag (a gift admittedly, but still...) that costs 350 pounds!!!  That translates to about $700 U.S./Canadian.  And she is 21 years of age.  Good grief.    Two young women have a monthly clothing budget of  approximately 200 pounds ($400) per month.  PER MONTH.  The other young woman favours Primark to Prada and has a budget of 50 pounds per month ($100).

They all have an incredible sense of style and excellent taste.  But do you notice what I notice in this photograph?  Do you see the self-confidence that Jenny exhibits?  Do you feel her sense of style and her joy in how she has dressed?  And on a most modest budget..which proves my own theory that fashion and great style can be created on a shoestring.  Obviously the newspaper agreed with me which is why she is featured so prominently.

♥

On a further note to this subject, I've been thinking about my own style over the last few weeks.  Time for a change...gone is the woman who was interested in dressing it up in a specific way.  Newly arrived is the woman who has developed a desire for lounge wear!!  I'm talking comfy lounge pants for winter time and a great sweater or fleece for warmth.  I'm talking about great pjs that can be worn all day if you like...that look lovely and feel comfy!  I'm talking about comfy footwear that says I am at home with myself and I love how I look.  This is for indoor wear only...I have not reached the stage of venturing out of doors in my night wear!  :) And boho -- oh yes, the freedom of boho style!  Or western...not cowboy boots and a holster with a cowboy hat...blue jeans and a great white shirt with a bolo tie necklace or a great pair of earrings.  And boots...any kind of boots...cowboy if you like but I'm talking boots instead of shoes...tall boots, short boots and no heels...I truly believe that this chica is DONE with heels.  I'm talking comfort and elegance.  It can be done.

When I was reading Gillian's fabulous post the other day, this one comment really stood out for me, like a beacon calling to me on a foggy night...

That you challenge yourself to something new...a language, a new road trip, a new "look" (some of us are still wearing the same old clothes we always did, distinguish yourself and redefine yourself, and DON'T care what others say about it....)