Writer: Hania Mostafa
Editor: Ahmed Ashry
What’s the first impression that comes to your mind when you think of fashion? I bet that not all these conceptions are great. I have a huge interest in fashion, so when I get really disappointed when I hear people talking about fashion as if it’s ‘unnecessary’ or ‘unimportant’. So I asked some people and did some research about the most common fashion misconceptions and here’s what I found:
1- People think that trends are rules, but fashion is not about trends, it’s about style. You don’t have to follow the latest, weirdest trends in the fashion industry to be ‘fashionable’ or ‘stylish’. It all starts with your own style. Just take all these new trends as inspiration to be able to create your own identity in fashion. You don’t have to wear crazy prints or neon colors to be ‘trendy’. If that’s not your style, don’t wear it.
2- The second huge misconception is that we have to own tons of expensive clothes to be ‘fashionable’. But first of all, you don’t need to own “tons” of clothes, and second of all, they don’t need to be expensive at all. A person wearing a coat from Zara can be equally stylish as a person wearing a Louis Vuitton coat. It just depends on how you’re styling it and how much confident you are while wearing it. Believe me, many people wear big brand names and still look unfashionable because they fail to incorporate nice accessories, or put the outfit all together.
3- The third, and one of the biggest, misconceptions is that working in the fashion industry is easy and full of luxury more than work. Let me tell you something about the fashion industry: IT’S NOT LIKE THE DEVIL’S WEARS PRADA. It’s definitely not about constant partying. The fashion industry is full of stress everyday mainly because you’re working in an environment that changes every second. So you have to magically adapt to these changes to be able to survive in the battlefield as known as ‘the fashion industry’.
4- The fourth and most common fashion misconception is that fashion is a burden among many teenagers, young adults and even adult women. This shouldn’t be a problem at all .That’s because fashion is supposed to boost your confidence and help you express your style. How many times have we heard the phrase “What should I wear?” when a girl is standing in front of a closet full of clothes? This really saddens me when this question cause girls to lose their self-confidence and decide to stay at home many times instead of going out just to save themselves from thinking about a complete outfit. Next time you look in your closet, instead of thinking too much, just pull the first clothing piece in front you and start from there. Add to this piece a belt, a boot, or sneakers if you want, and maybe some accessories. Let me tell you something:when fashion is incorporated well, I can’t even begin to explain the difference you’ll feel in your personality.
Don’t know what to wear? Open your closet, find old clothes, forget how you wore them before and recreate them. This is a small piece of advice that I always follow. Girls, believe me when I say that self-confidence is half your outfit. Fashion is not a burden, it’s a blessing. Allow me to end it with a quote that I love by Bill Cunningham, a great fashion photographer:
“Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life”
