Fashion vs. Style

Sometimes when something is so familiar to you, it becomes hard to verbalize what you visualize, so please bear with me while I try to perfect this breakdown. It’s a common and almost natural instinct to use fashion and style interchangeably because many people think they mean the same thing...Isn’t so much the case. Fashion is what you wear; style is how you execute it. An important accessory to style is confidence (I told you it’d all make sense). If you wear something others may find unusual with tons of confidence, there’s a great chance they’ll start to question themselves and ask why they didn’t think of it first. 

Take for example this outfit — so completely basic in entirety: basic H&M skirt (prior to the scandal), basic black leggings, basic and slightly dingy men’s Long John top, thigh-high cream socks, and floral print ankle booties. This is the simplest form of “I’m running out of time, don’t know what to wear, but I’m going to TRY to look cute” syndrome. I won’t lie to you, when I took these items out my closet, I had to ask myself if I was even trying to look decent at that point. But I’ve learned to trust myself and sometimes I even shock myself. Had I worn any piece differently or changed one out for another, my outfit would’ve been trash and my point would be null in void. 

As mentioned, fashion and style are not one in the same but instead interdependent. Style involves taking what you have and creating a masterpiece; telling a story if you will. You can be fashionable and lack style. Which brings me to my next point: my absolute LEAST favorite thing to see is when people overdo it with designer clothes, especially young black men (I’m not bashing y’all but you have to do better). They get money, spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on luxury brands, just to look like trash. Rocking a Louis Vuitton sweatsuit with Gucci socks and slides with an Hermès belt isn’t stylish. It’s an eye sore. It actually makes people want to throw up, especially me. So public service announcement: Flashy doesn’t equal stylish. Wear the clothes; don’t let the clothes wear you.
​
So how do you wear what you wear? Your style is personal to you. Everything ain’t for you, boo. Don’t try to be something you’re not; simultaneously, don’t let others dictate what may be stylish to you. I may judge you, but hey, that’s your personal style!

---