(Photo Credit: BET)
Let your fashion style come from within. Don’t look to others about how you should dress. You already have the answer inside of you. While it’s okay to draw inspiration from the way others dress, your fashion style should represent who you are; therefore, it’s going to have true originality. The fundamental way to destroy the originality of your fashion style is to copy others and/or idolize the fashion styles of others. You will end up looking like a cheap copy of others, and those folks you’re copying and/or idolizing could simply be cheap copies of others. Do you see how the chain of cheap copies begins and persists?
It’s important to understand that simply dressing “weird” and making a painstakingly ridiculous effort to be “different” from everyone else isn’t being original. Again, let your fashion style emerge naturally from within. For ladies who take Lady Gaga as your model for dressing “different,” Gaga’s radical fashion will have you looking like a person who attempts to dress like her; ultimately, you will have a foolish appearance. It’s okay to draw inspiration from Lady Gaga but don’t strive to dress just like her. For guys who take Andre 3000 as your model for dressing “different,” you’re going to look silly if you try to dress just like him. His fashion style represents what comes natural for him. What’s natural for him isn’t going to be natural for you—you’re two different people.
When it comes having a fashion style that represents you, less may be more. Pharrell Williams’ fashion style offers a great example of less is more. Yeah, he may choose a hat to wear that catches your attention, but no one said that less is more had to be boring.
People who truly feel they dress well don’t go around flaunting it either. They simply walk with confidence and grace about how they look. Never do they feel the need to disclose with you the large amount of money they paid for their clothing and accessories, and never do they launch attacks on others about the way they dress. People who have their own unique fashion styles don’t go around acting as if they’re God’s gifts to fashion or the fashion industry, and they don’t go around acting like they should be fashion teachers.
Stop fawning over the way other people dress and get more in tune with the fashion style that’s best for you. What you have on should never wear you; you should be wearing it. Unfortunately, many people who choose to dress in “innovative” ways have on things that are wearing them. These people often are seeking to draw attention to themselves, but they never seem to contemplate the truth behind the reactions they receive from people. While many people will give you praise in your face about what you have on, behind your back they’re exposing you for how foolish you’ve consciously decided to make yourself look.
You must understand the importance of being yourself when it comes to what you wear. What you wear should provide a true snapshot of the person you are.
Dr. Antonio Maurice Daniels
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Revolutionary Paideia 