Fashionista or Trendsetter? Create Your Own Style, Make Your Own Fashion

Are you a fashionista, or a trendsetter? Or do you march to the beat of your own drum when it comes to fashion as well as other things?

First of all, what exactly is a trendsetter?

A trendsetter is someone who influences fashion and introduces new fashion and fads.

Fashionista: A term used to define a woman with a penchant for shopping and a natural flair for combining both current and vintage fashionable trends, (Jimmee).

Personally, I like to wear clothes that are comfortable and that suit my lifestyle and my figure. So many times I have seen women bowing to the latest fashion who look sallow and sickly in the current season’s colors, or who look ridiculous, even pathetic, in the latest fashions.

Just my opinion, but I think women in their 50s and 60s, even when they are in great physical condition, look undignified and almost comical in micro mini skirts. Please ladies, dress your age. There is no need to look dowdy or frumpy just because you are a little older. At the same time, when choosing to wear the latest fashion, you also need to adapt that current fashion to your lifestyle and make it age appropriate. Wearing clothes that are too youthful only emphasizes the fact that you are getting on in age instead of making you look younger. Lots of older women dress fashionably and age appropriately, and look fabulous!

It is funny to me how many people try to determine a woman’s age by the way she dresses. Not everyone chooses to let other people dictate their style and fashion for them. There is nothing wrong with following fashion trends and dressing in the current fashion if it suits you, but be aware that not everyone cares about whatever the fashion world is promoting at any given time. Not everyone follows the latest fashion religiously.

As it happens, I love the large framed glasses that were popular in the 80s and that are still available though in fewer selections than back then. Lots of people do not seem to be aware that it is still possible to find the large spectacle frames, but they are still currently available, though in more limited options.

Because it is so hard for me to find frames for my glasses that I really like, and because my lenses are so expensive, I always try to buy at least 2 sets of frames when I get new lenses. That way if a frame breaks I do not have to try to find another frame that my expensive lenses will fit into, and that may not be to my liking. Or worse, throw my expensive lenses away and get new ones to fit easier to obtain frames. My glasses tend to cost in the area of $600 to $800 a pair mainly because of the lenses, so I really do not want to have to discard the lenses if I can help it.

Another advantage of extra frames with no lenses is that they make taking pictures a lot easier. When I know I am going to have my picture taken I switch my regular glasses that reflect light off the lenses and create glare, making the photographers job much more difficult, for the frames with no lenses, so that there is no reflection of light, and therefore no glare from the camera flash or the light source.

I have always been a person who buys in multiples when I find something I really like, and when I can afford to do that. I’m especially finicky about my shoes. Unlike Imelda Marcos who bought shoes by the dozens in every style and color known to man, I buy only a few pairs of shoes as necessary for various activities. When I find a pair of shoes that I really like, if I can afford it, I buy several pair exactly alike so that when one pair wears out I will still have several more pair. There is no telling when that particular shoe will be manufactured again in the future and making do with whatever happens to be the latest style until I can find a suitable replacement does not appeal to me.

Since my taste in clothes tends to run to the classic, when I find for example, some camp shirts that I really like, I buy them in as many colors as suit my skin, eye, and hair coloring. For a while I had more than 125 camp shirts in different colors and patterns. I do the same thing with sweaters and other items with classic styling that I know I will wear a lot and that will stand the test of time.

Everyone knows how difficult it is to find jeans that fit just right. When I do find the perfect jeans I buy as many pairs of them as I can reasonably afford. In the long run it saves tons of time searching for just the right fitting jeans every few months. Some people have oodles of time for shopping, but I really do not have a lot of time, so I like to stock up on things I know I will need and use for years to come, when I finally find just the right thing.

Something I have read many times over the years is that women do not dress for men, but that women dress for other women. Presumably to impress other women with how fashion conscious they are and how much money they have to dedicate to the pursuit of always wearing the latest fashion. I do neither. I dress to please myself. As previously stated, I like clothes that look good on me, and that are comfortable, and appropriate to the situation or activity.

I have never felt the need to wear extremely revealing clothes. Believe me, unless you are wearing a rain barrel on straps, men are very good at determining the shape and condition of your body, and their eyes usually miss very little. No need to bare all, and in fact that will usually get you the wrong kind of attention and remove any mystery. Men do love mystery, but that is a subject for another hub.

Dare to be yourself and develop your own fashion style. After all, the women I have listed below did not become famous because they were carbon copies of other people. They are originals.

“You have to be unique, and different, and shine in your own way.”

― Lady Gaga (Good Reads)

“I'm obsessively opposed to the typical.”

― Lady Gaga (Good Reads)

Yves Saint Laurent: 
Fashions fade, style is eternal. (Khurana)

Yves Saint Laurent:
 Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it. (Khurana)

Quentin Crisp:
 Fashion is what you adopt when you don't know who you are. (Khurana)

Just a few women who made/make their own fashion statements: Lady Gaga, Madonna, Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe.

_References:

_{Barnard, Christopher. “Cher’s One-of-a-Kind Fashion Legacy.” Vanity Fair 2 November 2010. Online. Internet 5 November 2011. Available http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/12/cher-chutzpah-slide-show-201012#slide=1}

_{Chernikoff, Leah. “Elizabeth Taylor’s Most Outrageous Fashion Statements.” Fashionista. 23 March 2011. Online. Internet 5 November 2011. Available http://fashionista.com/2011/03/elizabeth-taylors-most-outrageous-fashion-statements/}

_{Good Reads, Inc. 2011. “Lady Gaga Quotes.” Online. Internet 5 November 2011. Available http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2945649.Lady_Gaga}

_{Jimmee. “Fashionista.,” Urban Dictionary. 26 October 2006: Online. Internet 5 November 2011. Available http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fashionista}

_{Khurana, Simran. “Famous Fashion Quotes.” About.Com guide. Online. Internet 5 November 2011. Available http://quotations.about.com/od/famousquotes/a/FamousFashionQuotes.htm}