on the right path

May I start with a cliché? Well, hope you don’t  mind me saying London Fashion Week was like my dream coming true. Getting a press pass and invitations with my name on was enough. But then, using them while entering Somerset nearly left me fainted.

This dramatic swap from my hometown steadiness to this big hectic world where you casually approach Laura Whitmore or Brix Smith to find out they’re wearing Bora Aksu or Isabel Marant feels like I’m living in one of these slushy comedies about teenage girls making their lives incredible. For me, LFW was big fashion and life lesson, no matter how exaggerated it sounds.

And it’s all because first day was a shock. It felt a little bit like being thrown into a place you want to belong, but you keep convincing yourself will never be a part of. But I quickly learnt no one knows me there, no one know where I come from. If I wear some obtrusive colors another day, I can be as noticeable as any other fashionista entering Somerset with  an iphone in hand and sunglasses on her head even though the sky is grey.

Yeah, some people were snobbish, but some inspiring. It’s your choice whether you look for those who can share your fashion taste or keep your head down because you don’t feel good enough to make a statement with your outfit. That’s right, two clichés in one post may be too much as for an aspiring writer, but it is genuine true to say while I felt confident, I was most stylish.  As simple as that. Wish I knew that earlier.

But LFW was not just about ‘what to wear’ dilemma. It was also my final fashion test. Can I handle writing, watching, feeling, being it. Well, to be honest, I was just living fashion. Now, I don’t need any more assertion what shall I be doing, how to make it work. I’m eventually on the right path. Let’s keep going then. 

style is

Style is… I think every single fashion-lover would  finish this sentence in his own way.  Style can be about clothes or attitudes. I talk to two 20-year-old freshmen about how they see it without thousands of pounds to spend on designer’s pieces and too much in love with second-hands to give up their sweatshirts  for cashmere sweaters.

Doma studies international relations and wants to stand out at her uni. In a positive way of course. She does not necessarily associate style with Audrey Hepburn or Twiggy. She defines it as consciousness and lifestyle to be complete. It must be integral. Thus when she enters the tube she can discern this person right away.

She dubs her style as ‘casual hipster’, striving for a balance between comfort and being noticeable.  Her fashion major rule is ‘three-colours outfit’,as she thinks any more patterns or hues will destroy it. Her apparel base are socks which let her complete the rest of it. Well, no surprise then her collection includes all types of them with fox, deer or tigers prints.

Kuba may seem a nerdy type with enthusiasm for his biology studies, but his wardrobe is far from the dull one. He associates style with composition and Lana del Rey’s 50’s  inspired image and music videos. He admits he has been through a tough ‘fashion time’ recently, as his personal style was in a state of considerable change. It may be due to his weight-loss and resignation from wearing tees with tacky prints. Kuba opts for street -like and comfy clothes. Vans and ‘Fruit of the Loom’  raglan sweatshirts are his religion.

Why is fashion important for them? Doma does not hesitate to say, no matter how harsh it may sound, it allows her to select people she is sticking up with in the belief she may find like-minded friends. On the other side, there is also the sweet pleasure of creating an outfit people will think mean she’s living a cool life, despite it may be really badly screwed. It is just satisfying.  And what about Kuba? He just wants people to see him. They may like or hate the way he dresses but it is just about making people aware how much fun fashion can be. Especially at uni, where the majority of style-unaware students keeps going for winter polar hoodies and trekking shoes.

Doma wants her style to evolve into more girly with investing in purple colour garments, chiffon skirt and dyeing pale-pink highlights. Kuba claims he will be on the quest of more skate style as a fullcap is on the top of his must-have list. But no matter how it changes, the way they define style shouldn’t change. At least for now, when all they want is to have fun. With clothes and with life.

                                                                                                                                                                                        

new york/london/milan/paris

Fashion week season about to begin with New York on the top of the list. It is tough to predict trends and that is why we should leave it to people who perfectly grasped fashion history and craft. We’re just an audience to judge, bearing our influence and applauding.

 What Autumn/Winter 2013 will be like? I cannot envisage but can wish. So I want sheepskin jackets and lots of leather. Leather gloves and jackets, leather bags and vests. No more military motives.

 Then I want full-length coats with wide collars and belts complemented with silk scarves. They will be loose and huge and cosy. So nicely looking with wedges and boots. All black and dark brown.

Okay, I agree, there will also be a bit of colour. Cashmere sweaters in white, burgundy and nude. That’s the only concession I make.

The edgy element of my perfect AW 2013 season forecast will be a hat. Classy and simple, black with a huge brim, worn by long-haired models with a plait underneath.

I wish I could make this collection on my own, show it to the world. But all I can do now is follow the upcoming fashion weeks and see how many of my wishes come true.