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I, for a long time, thought fashion and style were two things I would be never be interested. In truth, it absolutely fascinates me.
The beauty of fashion is that it affects every single person. No matter how small, each of us is affected by the big power house, catwalk designers that flood our media like no other. They, the less affordable brands, carve our enthusiasm to shop and to spend money on trends they have set with their collections. We may be all for cheap and cheerful shopping when it comes to our fashion but perhaps we are unaware of how our fashion choices have actually been influenced by others above.
I was an awkward teenager. Growing up with thick, black eye make up. Plenty of leopard print. Backcombed hair. Piercings galore. I was fully in to my phase of not caring what people thought of how I looked. I made a lot of effort to look that scruffy. There truly is some skill to it. After moving on from that point of my life I started at college and my style seemed to change. Gone were the obscure clothes and hello was the new me. I refer to her as plain Hannah. Yes, on the odd occasion I would have these fleeting moments where I felt I needed to express myself with my clothes but, ultimately, I had resorted to jeans and whatever I could find to go on top. It was a boring era. The only excitement came from the costumes I wore on stage and even those weren't that elaborate.
As the years went by, after leaving college, I have finally arrived to where I am now. A confident, comfortable and collected young lady. It has only been in the recent months where I have started to make a full effort with the way I look again. Putting together pieces I think work, deciding on jewellery, if any. I make an effort with my hair and my make up which had disappeared off my priority list. There are many reasons for this but the main one being, I felt so out of it all. I felt so plain, boring, dull as the Hannah I once was, I felt I needed to revive some life in to the old girl!
I bought these boots back in the early Winter of last year. Today was the first time I had worn them. Simple, chunky, black ankle boots with laces and a side zip. Simple and understated with that added extra of grunge thrown in. I bought them. I looked at them. I put them away. I toyed with the idea of wearing them. I put them away again. Today, after what felt like an epiphany I planned my outfit around them, as opposed to wondering whether they'd go with something for hours on end. With my racer skirt, plum jumper and black tights I was good to go. It was quite exciting wearing them for the first time. It may sound a little silly but for me, shoes can make an outfit. With the right pair of shoes on us girls can feel powerful and strong. These boots did just that.
By teaming these with a delicate skirt it added a more feminine but 'don't mess with me attitude' to the whole look which works well when having to tackle a morning at the library!
After moving in to a friends I looked through all my clothes, trying to work out what to throw away and so far, I've found nothing. I have my old staples- things I've kept for years yet still seem to 'work' as the seasons change. I have my charity bargains that I can't seem to let go off. I have my more expensive items- mainly the dress I wore to my cousins wedding last year. All these clothes have seen me through happy times, sad times and all those in between. I have those pieces I love to wear often as they're so comfortable and just scream me. There are others I rarely wear but know I will in time.
I realised that I may not be the most fashionable of people. I may not necessarily jump on trends the minute they come out and I may not want to follow the crowd in how they should be worn. I know that what I may lack in fashion, I certainly make up for in style.
Having our own style makes us stand out. It allows us to express ourselves without having to say a word. We can play the characters that we want to with just our clothes. We can be as powerful, as dainty, as harsh as we could want just through the clothes we wear. There is no shame in having an individual style.
From now on, I am going to stop fearing my clothing choices. There have been times where I've felt I should be dressed a certain way, around certain people in order to keep them on side. Yet, it's those kinds of people (the ones who look you up and down and say 'what on Earth are you wearing?') that we shouldn't fear. Some of the people I admire most are those who are brave in every aspect of their lives, including their clothing choices. They dare to wear their personality right on their sleeves and so could you.
Hannah xox
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