Fashion changes as the seasons do. Spring into summer, fall into winter and the cycles continue. As the seasons interchange, what does this mean for the fashion conscious woman? Does it mean that you have to give up your white seersucker dress after Labor Day? Is there a set of conventional fashion rules that one must live by? Does race, ethnicity, culture or economic status play a part? Does a fashion conscience woman have the freedom to pick and choose what she believes is hot or trendy and what is necessary to exude confidence? These questions I pose to you as we join forces to sort through these convoluted issues of fashion.
As it seems, fashion is completely relative to the person, place or thing and can be molded and shaped by events, lifestyles and personal artistry. It can be expressed through color, black and white; it can be political by expressing itself through non-traditional fabrics and cruelty-free labor assembling stations and dyes. Fashion is soft and hard, bound and free, defensive and offensive, native and imported at the same time. While at times it can contradict itself, its true definition is expressed and is the embodiment of the person whose choices are constructed by their personal influences.
Women lets celebrate the differences we all possess. Should you have to dress according to the strength you hold or choose to only dress in the stereotypical feminine attire that has been showcased over the years? In times past, women were celebrated for the way she showed her “class”, at times it may have been how long her skirt or sleeve length that made her look dignified and regal. Must we continue to cling to the rules of the social classes and conform ourselves to societies images of what a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, or WOMEN in general should look like? So, when asked if you can wear your white seersucker dress after Labor Day, I say a resounding Yes. But, only with your thigh high boots, key for this fall season!
Are you not the owner and ruler of your closet? Of course! But with ruling also comes wisdom and why not look and live fabulously free as the season and climate runs its course. Free yourself from social stigmas and expectations while making a difference by supporting green designers and lines. Feel free to defend yourself rhetorically speaking, whether with a samurai sword cutting through the fashion enigmas or with a Grecian shield protecting your self-esteem, create your own trends and look beautiful while doing so.
Let’s travel back into time and celebrate the strength of being a woman, from a beautiful smile, to outrageous styling techniques, free yourself from the genetic phenomenon and celebrate your uniqueness with color and accessories. This fall, we focus on the freedom and femininity of the seasonal change as we explore this outlook through the eyes of Grecian influence, self-expression, nostalgia, and earth-friendly social consciousness.
You see, as much as I try to get away from the ordinary and the mundane, as much as I try to tell myself that the fashion industry does NOT run me and I am my own personal stylist, I realize that time, space, gender roles and seasons all have a say in my fashion choices. Whether I like it or not, fashion is constantly conceiving while already pregnant with promise, purpose and destiny. Practicality of the fall season forces me to wear a motorcycle jacket, thigh high boots, opaque stockings, one shoulder tops and ripped jeans. Falling leaves, bare branches and golden fields once green with grass allows me to focus on my natural surroundings as I’m always challenged with bringing my natural self into focus and looking towards the time ahead.