Fashion; what it means to me.

Sometimes people forget that fashion is a form of art.

It is a way for a person to express themselves through the way they choose to dress. From Diane von Furstenberg to the checkout girl at your local supermarket, it doesn’t matter who you are or the type of statement you make. What you wear and how you wear it can say so much about a person. Now, I’m not going to sit here and try and pinpoint what type of person wears particular clothes; it is not that simple. I want to tell you what fashion means to me.

I’ve always taken an interest in what I’m wearing and what messages these items send out to my friends, family and strangers I meet. I think any fashion conscious person does. That’s what its all about right? What messages the clothes we wear sends to onlookers. It’s about personal expression. 
       I want to emphasise the use of the world 'personal' there. Something I firmly believe in when in comes to fashion is that it is completely individual. It's almost like wearing your personality on the outside and it's the little details we add to outfits which really highlight this (also gives the look that little extra bit of umpf). For example maybe a little necklace, a particular way of styling your hair, or even wearing a jacket in a certain manner.
  
Although, before I started to become more interested in high end fashion I used to wonder why these big designers, design such seemingly unwearable things. No one in their right mind would be seen in half of these clothes we see on the catwalk. I later realised that’s because the designers have stripped away the practical uses of clothing and just focus on the expressionist side of fashion. It’s amazing when you really look at these items, the imagination and creativity that goes into creating so many individual pieces, everything has its own individual story to its creation; what inspired the designer, how it was developed and so on.


This wonderful creation is taken from Karl Lagerfeld's most recent
show for Chanel. There are very few people who would dare venture
out in a dress such as this one, yet from an art and of course fashion point 
of view it is quite the spectacle. I think it is brilliant, in fact I thought the entire 
show was a complete stroke of genius; but I shall go into that more during
my next blog post (I'm already excited about that one. Oh, I do love a
 little bit of Chanel). 

As wonderful and inspirational these collections are, I feel something is often forgotten; the collaboration between the human body and the items of clothing.    
             To be a female model the measurements required are interesting: height is typically between 5’9″-6″, bust is between 32″-36″, waist is between 22″-26″, and hips should be between 33″-35″. For one, this is generally not healthy. (I'm going a little off track here but hey ho) I understand that there are some women who naturally have these sort of measurements, but the majority of us don't. In fact there are so many different shapes and sizes there is no 'normal' body type. Yet having just women of these measurements, which are physically unattainable for most of us, as role models is not good.  I want you to do something for me: find a measuring tape, or a piece of string and a ruler, and measure out 22" and hold it in a circle... That is the minimum size a models waist can be, keeping in mind her height too, it is crazy, right? Anyway, lets get back on track. A designer will want models such as these because this means the main focus is on the clothes as the models figure is fairly shapeless, as you can see from the measurements. This way the designer can manipulate the clothes to stand out and the person wearing them essentially becomes a walking hanger. This is the part that I don’t like!

I think fashion should be all about accentuating and appreciating the human body in all of its forms. For me it's about making a person look, and feel wonderful. The two should compliment each other, and work together to create a fantastic spectacle and most of all an even more fantastic person. 


Becca x


*disclaimer* the rights of these pictures go to the owners.





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