Are you a victim of fashion?
Nikhil Bhagat

FASHION is more than mere clothes. It is the sum total of a number of elements—awareness of latest trends, the need to look beautiful, the way you carry yourself, the feel-good factor, how you make a personal statement... After all, appearance is always an extension of the inner self.

And yet, we continually trip and fall while making choices. We are influenced by the reputation of designers, price tags, peer pressure, what we see on screen of course, the advice of so-called style gurus, little realising that fashion is ultimately about personal taste and comfort.

Here’s a checklist of some common pitfalls that can reduce you to be a victim of fashion .

Look: The most common ‘fashion mistake’ is being predictable. This applies to people who repeat the same cuts, colours and silhouettes as though nothing else matters. It betrays a pathetic indifference towards life in general. If you are not in love with yourself, you cannot be fashionable.

Take stock of yourself and check out what goes well with your figure. If you are on the slimmer side, perhaps you can afford to wear tights. Alternatively, should you be on the heavier side, you might like certain free-flowing silhouettes. At the same time, do not get trapped into what others might flatter you with a ‘signature style’. It does not work in this time and age.

Try out different options. There is never just ‘one cut’ that is ideal for you. Likewise, there is no ‘one colour’ that is appropriate for your complexion. For instance, you may be advised to keep off horizontal stripes. But you do not have to listen, until you have experimented with them. Learn to surprise yourself.

Coordination: A long plait with jeans is a no-no. Bindi goes very well with sarees, salwar-kameezes and ghagra, cholis but not with western wear. You cannot coordinate brown shoes with black trousers. Red lipstick does not match with pink nail polish...

These are bits of information everybody knows and yet gets confused about. The problem lies in matching what is in vogue with what best suits our personality. A particular shade of lipstick may be hottest thing happening in the world of fashion. But sadly, it might not just work on your face or personality.

Similarly, we tend to go wrong on hairstyles. You cannot possibly stick to a style that was popular in the sixties, even if it suits your face. At the same time, adopting something new could amount to reinventing yourself. So, strike a balance. Nobody can be a better judge for your look than your self.

Grace: The way you walk and carry yourself, speaks of elegance more than any outfit could do so. You must remember that you are wearing the outfit and not the other way around. How comfortable you are in it would show from the way you conduct yourself in it.

Madonna and Naomi Campbell have worn sarees in public. There was nothing wrong in how they draped it around, but the way they moved about in it was no different from what Madhuri Dixit would look like if she were to strut about in a kimono. Grace is the most important attribute to be associated with look.

Your outfit is much like your second skin. If you become self-conscious in dhotis (as many women are), keep off them, no matter how fashionable they might seem for a time. Catching up with trends is one thing, and being comfortable is quite another.

Compromise: You could be sporting the best design in town, in the most expensive fabric and, well, could even be feeling good in it but what happens if you end up wearing cheap accessories, which just do not complement the outfit?

Ill-fitting footwear is a total give-away. At times, we try to pass off cheap rexin as leather in the mistaken belief that nobody would notice the difference. If your perfectly tailored business suit demands a perfect pair of leather shoes, so be it. Do not compromise.

The same applies to belts, ties, scarves, jewellery, bindi... even handkerchiefs. The handbag is yet another neglected accessory and more often than not, is treated as an after-thought. Make sure, its colour and shape matches the dress you wear.

Adaptability: Peer pressure and the influence of role models (film stars, especially) often compel us into imagining ourselves to be a person we really are not. This hampers spontaneous growth and the ability to be our true selves at all times.

Remember taste can always be acquired, but style is inherent. You could probably be impressed by a certain dress design you see on screen, but how you adapt it to suit your personality speaks of your style. Otherwise, you could end up as a poor imitation or a clone of the film character.

Fashion is after all a celebration of our individual selves—the beauty of our bodies. The way we try to strike an impression, the signals we give away without even being aware and most important, what we would rather not wear, speaks volumes of the kind of persons we are (MF)