I read this statement… a bold one… and thought to myself… I agree.
Fashion in the last few decades has become synonymous with brand to the point where style has often taken a second place.
Style should never take a second place. Style should be right up there with health and beauty. Style is personal, style is independent and style is not financially driven.
Fashion brands should guide and lead… not dictate…
Which is not to say that I haven’t fallen into the trap… forsaking personal style in order to be ‘current’… Guilty…
It’s difficult to defy the fashion world… they are powerful promoters… arbitrators of the who’s who… and the who wears what… Remember that wonderful scene “You Think This Has Nothing To Do with You” in The Devil Wears Prada … It made me think… Brands are promoted, encouraged by fashion leaders and brands can be annihilated as quickly as they triumphed…
Where does Brand v’s Style leave us?
I like to think that age has made me wary of falling under the spell of a brand for brand’s sake. I like to think that I buy a certain brand because it enhances my personal style… I am hopeful that I wear it and not the other way around.
This is not to say that I don’t wish to be fashionable… that I won’t adopt trends or colours… I will… but in my way.
Adaption is the key to style and the way to navigate brands… Knowing yourself, what works… and identifying the brands that work with you, not against you.
Confidence plays a huge roll… Having the confidence to forsake a brand, even if it is the word on everybody’s lips, in favour of the one that is more flattering.
This sounds all too obvious.. but I suspect that women fall under the ‘brand magic’ much more than we think… especially with shoes and handbags…
How influential is a brand on your way of dressing? Are you brave enough to let your style shine through? xv
