My (Failed?) Rendezvous With Fashion That Taught Me Something Unexpected About Myself

I am not a very ‘fashionable’ person, so when my friends pushed me to it I attempted a rendezvous with fashion that had unexpected results.

Fashion to me, like several hundreds of women, has always meant to look nice. Additions to my wardrobe happen only during off season discounts. Anything that I buy for myself has to meet the two important criterions – one, it has to be on discount; two – nothing else matters.  Picking up clothes with the tag “prices further reduced” has given me pleasure indescribable since time immemorial. I naturally get attracted and instantly start liking the colours which may not have been my first choice, barring the price differential.

I have seldom attempted to fill my wardrobe with ‘in’ things or ‘must haves’. To brutally admit my surreal observation disability, I do not even realize what is ‘in’ and what is ‘out of trend’. It is only when I read the interviews of celebrities that I get to know of ‘must haves’ in a bag, in a wardrobe, in the make up kit etc etc. I have been unfailingly proud of my super simplistic wardrobe as it never goes out of fashion.

At the crucial juncture of life where my confused state of mind dwindles daily between the youth like excitement and maturity of middle age, the fashionista in me had woken up. Much to the amusement of everyone in my family, specially my tweeny critic, I was fully determined to replace my current wardrobe with what was in the vogue. I bought magazines to fully understand the fashion for Fall 2017, Autumn Winter 2017, Summer 2018. I started appreciating the designer trends. All of it made so much sense. I discovered the trend in colours, material, style, shoes, bags and everything else. I felt so deprived.

Having acquired the necessary knowledge, I embarked on my journey to become trendy and in vogue. After spending a few weekends hopping and shopping and a bomb, I was the proud owner of a trendy wardrobe which would now adorn me at the first opportunity, which luckily wasn’t far away, and was an opportunity to die for, a kitty get together of all the school mums.

I was beaming with joy and child like excitement with the forethought. But hey, I suddenly felt silly. This isn’t me. In the whole parody, what was I trying to achieve? With my 30s hurriedly passing, I have been striving to achieve a minimalistic life by constantly trying to bridge the gap between needs and wants. I have a style of my own, which defines me and which I will carry on forever. Trend, my friend is what gives you confidence. Fashion is what suits you and not what others do. I reminded myself of Mahatma Gandhi’s following quote:

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any”.

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Here I was, back again, in peace, with no stress of Summer Autumn Collection and waiting for the next offseason deals. My tweeny was glad.

Image source: pixabay

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