This quote has always been stuck with me ever since I came across it, not only in what or how I dress, but also translated into every part of my life.
See if you can think of two people that fit in the following categories:
1) A person who impresses you with their expensive clothes, but only because you can see the designer logos all over their belongings.
2) A person who impresses you with their amazing outfits, but you keep wondering how expensive they are because you can’t tell their brand.
Who’s the better dresser in your opinion?
Brand logos have definitely played a crucial role in telling us where something is from and how rich one could be. You don’t need to be a fashionista or keep up with the latest trends to know this. When you see LV, you know it’s Louis Vuitton. The two bold interlocking Cs is Chanel. Double F? Easily, Fendi. Only a few thousand dollars.
The pandemic is like that, except that it treats us all equally regardless of our financial standing or social status. You can’t see it, but you can have it. It’s not reserved for the rich or the poor, the good or the bad. You can be broke, middle class, the leader of a country, the Royal, or a convicted sex offender sitting in prison. It doesn’t discriminate against anyone, but it sure has made its 'brand recognition' worldly known just like the top high-end fashion brand logos.
Fashion is given, and so are pandemic and quarantine. But how we want to wear it is not given. Style is not given. One could own a closet full of designer suits, but it doesn’t mean their outfits would turn heads. It’s not about what’s given, it’s about how you mix the given with other pieces that you also have to complement your face, your body, and your personality.
Fashion tells people what you have. Style shows people who you are.
Let’s say you’re participating in a styling contest in which everyone has to style their model with a given shirt, and whoever impresses the judge the most becomes the winner. However, you happened to receive the wrong size for the shirt! Will you go out to tell the judge that you can’t do it, or will you take this as an opportunity to wow them with your outstanding creativity? If the shirt is too big for your model, will you leave it hanging on her just like that, or try to come up with ways to make the fit look right, like adding a belt around the model’s waist? On the other hand, if the shirt is too small, will you blame it on your model and tell her to go lose some weight and then come back, or will you think of how to turn that shirt into a cute crop top?
Social distancing is the shirt. It’s given to us, but we have the option to choose what we are going to do with it while still respecting the contest rules.
So could you dress your quarantine life with style?
And would you let your style be defined by the shirt, or your ability to put together amazing outfits?
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