FASHION 101 : The Basics Of Fashion

Fashion is your yellow-brick road to expressing your personality through apparel. To some it’s an art form and to others it’s a religion. If you take a look around you you’ll realize that fashion controls everything from media to even how your cell-phone looks. It’s been around ever since man desired modesty, not to mention protection. The human characteristic of competition has fueled our species to come up with new designs to flaunt everything from our social status to personal taste. If you take a trip back into history you’ll be able to dissect a civilization’s whole history through what it’s people were wearing.

Designers have a major impact on what will be in vogue. Designer fashion shows are held five months ahead of season. Explaining why Spring/Summer collections are shown in Fall/Winter months and vice versa. The media including fashion editors and buyers view the designers’ collection and get to work immediately picking out what they think will seduce their readers and customers in the coming season. Celebrities and other glitterati are usually the first to sport the brand new looks by the designers. Hence, inspiring the more commercial market, simply speaking, the mall. In the end it’s you who decides if the trends are either in or if they’re out.

Fashion is nothing unless you make it your own, meaning dress your body in trends that flatter your figure and not falling for trends that make your body look less than perfect. The whole point of dressing well is to look slim and tall, no matter what your figure. So I decided to share some of my basic rules of dressing.

Have a color palette.
I can’t explain how important it is to have your own color palette. It’s basically sticking to a palette of 6 colors or less in one color family. This insures everything in your closet will match. Pick a color palette to match your skin tones. If you have cool undertones (blue, green, or a porcelain skin coloration) stick with cool colors like white, blue, purples, silvers. If you have warm undertones (red, yellow, or an olive skin coloration) stick with an earthy color palette , which includes greens, yellows, reds, browns. Remember everyone can wear black and white.

Get inspired.
Sift through magazines and websites monthly to stay abreast of the new tends. Fashion is always changing and you don’t want to be left behind. It’s important to invest in classics you can wear for seasons to come but it’s just as important to freshen up your basics with a fun trendy piece. Find one or two celebrities who share your style and follow their outfits. Celebrities spend thousands on professional stylists who stay on top of the latest offerings and depend on them to create unique and exciting outfits. Get inspired by your favorite celebrities’ outfits and emulate them!

Buy for quality not quantity.
Women in France look Fabulous all the time. Why, you ask? They’re wearing those oh so chic designer digs day in and day out. The next time you’re out shopping check the tags. Stay away from synthetic fabrics and look for luxurious fabrics like 100 percent cotton, silk, etc. Also every wardrobe needs at least one piece of cashmere it’s the greatest wardrobe indulgence.

Don’t be a slave to trends.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of piling on all the trends of the season at once. Trends are fun but they can get ugly if they don’t fit your style, personality or body. Instead pick one trendy item and pair it with a classic piece. For example take those huge Boho beaded necklaces and pair them with a basic Gap tee and keep your ears bare instead of pairing your gigantic beaded necklace with huge earrings along side a flashy club top. You get the picture.

Dress your body for what it is.
Bright colors like hot pink and yellow draw your eyes to them. Use this to your advantage by wearing these hues in areas that you’d like to flaunt. Wear high heels! Whether you’re vertically challenged or lucky and statuesque high heels will help you have fabulous posture and automatically look long and lean. I’ll devote a whole article on dressing each kind of body in another issue.)

All in all fashion is a wonderful thing. It’s one of the world’s leading industries and it’s defiantly here to stay. Have fun with fashion, play with it, be creative and most of all make it your own.

By Millissa Mathai

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