What is fashion?

What does fashion even mean? The legendary icon Alexander McQueen, CoCo Chanel, Hermès, Sex & the City, Vogue, Paris, Milan, celebrities, snobbish people…I can imagine the answers range from different categories: people, brands, locations, objects, movies, etc. However, while these answers appear to be so comprehensive, all I hear are high-end, expensive, snobbish, and materialistic.

Does fashion have to be so unapproachable and so unaffordable?

CoCo Chanel said, “Fashion does not only exist in dresses. Fashion is in the sky, in the streets. Fashion is about ideas, the way we live and what is going on at this moment.”

“Fashion is anything that is popular in a culture at any given time.” If so, then fashion really cannot be defined solely by one meaning. It is constantly changing and definitely varies across cultures.

Fashion is representation. The way a person dresses reflects his/her personality, lifestyle, income, culture and so on. It is a personal statement on who you are, what you want to be and how you live your life. It can be care-freed and it can be carefully managed.  

                                                                                    Photo by The Sartorialist

Fashion is the creation of creative ideas. Creative ideas are arts. Arts are subjective. So fashion really is subjective. 

                                                                                         Photo by The Sartorialist

Above is another photo by The Sartorialist. Although she is not wearing Christian Dior or CoCo Chanel and she matches a striped top with a floral skirt, she still dominates the clothes and develops her own definition of fashion with her confidence and happiness. Fashion is not mainstreamed and should not be. Fashion does not exist without confidence. It is the fundamental element in good representation. It cannot be bought; it cannot be faked. It can only be discovered, built and maintained.

Fashion is fun. And it should never be limited to intimidating brand names and absurd prices. Some people try to set a “fashion boundary” between themselves and the “others” to satisfy their ego. (They are the snobbish people I referred to earlier) But, fashion is not “owned” by anyone. It simple resides in each and everyone of us. Just be happy with who you are.