After writing about finding fashion and styling inspiration last week, I have been paying a little more attention to my social media feed and the fashion icons that I follow. On the @vogueparis Instagram account alone I have seen everything from body suits adorned with multiple strands of chunky gold chains at the neck, wrists and waist, to bright, one coloured pant suits, to striped garments with giant flowers attached to them to white wedding inspired garments revealed at a parade on a vast white salt mine.
One outfit in particular that stands out to me from the salt mine show is what appears to be quite a casual looking pair of black trousers teamed with a loose fitting black shirt. In itself, not an extraordinary look and you can't see the finer details from the video, except that a great long mass of flowing white tulle has been stitched to the back of the shirt between the shoulder blades. this gives the simple outfit a very unexpected sense of drama and surprise.
I have to admit that my first impression was one of thinking that it was simply ridiculous, but as I keep thinking about it, I am challenged about how and why I came to that conclusion. I have been conditioned by society to think of certain fashion and styling to be acceptable, and others, not so much. Who am I to judge that garment, or any garment to be ridiculous. Yes, I will have an opinion, based on what I have learned over the years from my social surroundings, but as I am becoming more involved in my own styling journey, I am becoming interested and more open to the styling preferences and designs of others also.
In other fashion photos that I have seen lately splashed across social media I have noticed how many masculine looking models have been wearing what would be socially accepted at this point as feminine designs. The reverse has been apparent for many years already.
This has gotten me thinking more about the fact that in recent society somehow, we have accepted that a dress is a woman’s piece of clothing and men wear trousers. This has had many changes throughout history, but it always seems to be driven by social acceptance and a need to fit in or follow the crowd. I am not in for a debate here regarding gender diversity, or being socially acceptable or even to share my own opinions, but I always like to ask the questions around what “they” say is acceptable, and who are they? and do I need to follow them to be my best confident person?
I do feel that we could be on the verge of change regarding acceptable fashion styling?!?!
I have been using the term ‘best confident person/self’ for a while now, and to me this means the you that you like the most. The you who is least self-conscious and not overly worried by what others think because you know that you are living and loving well. The you who will get out there and get involved in the world in ways that are purely motivated by your desire to help others. Confident in who you are and what you want to do because you are not constantly second guessing all of your choices.
As a believer in God, the Creator of everything and his word in the bible being my guidelines on living, I must also add here that my faith in Him, my belief in salvation through Jesus Christ his Son and the guidance I receive from the Holy Spirit give me the greatest boost to my confidence. My faith is intertwined throughout everything else that I think and do.
Although confidence is something that I am still working on for myself, I have had a lot of thoughts about my mission, my calling and my purpose being around encouraging people, and probably more so women, because I am one, to also grow in confidence, to have the gumption and fortitude to keep moving forward towards becoming authentic people who live with dignity, purpose, and faith in themselves, and in God.
I am not famous, or recognised in the world of fashion, but I am one of the many thousands of people who have been working in some tiny way to clothe people in this world by sewing garments to suit their individual needs. From taking up hems to taking in and letting out and altering to fit, all the way to creating dream wedding gowns and the complimenting bridesmaid dresses. Now I design and make my styles to fit individual body measurements.
My hope is that by sharing what I have learned over the last 40 years about fashion and styling, I can encourage us to understand the what, and why of our own unique fashion choices whether that be straight from the catwalks of the worlds top designers or from the local second hand clothing shop. My desire is that the way we choose to dress will help us to step into being more of our best confident person. Who we are is not just about our clothes, but if they make us feel good about ourselves, that must help us become more confident in other areas also.
Do you think about your individual fashion styling?
Are you trying to fit in with latest trends or rebelling from them?
Do you look at the fashion week catwalk footage with interest or judgement?
Do we need to follow societies acceptable fashion 'guidelines'?
How do I fit into all of this?
Some fashion Instagram accounts that I follow are @vogueaustralia @chanelofficial @dior @parisfashionweek @voguemagazine @harpersbazaar @stylingyouthelabel @highteawithmrswoo @withlovebreelacey Some are iconic and some are local and all inspire my personal styling choices, why not go and check them out for yourself.
Just some of the thoughts going through my busy head today.
Thank you for taking the time to read,
Love Suzanne
P.S. I'd be more than happy to sew a flowing mass of white tulle onto any of your garments if you feel that it is the styling that you need in order to become more of your confident best!
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