Fun in Fashion

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Dalhousie chapter.

The world of fashion is in a constant state of change and evolution, causing many individuals to stress over the variety of options when it comes to dressing ‘right’ in our current society. The series of fads that populate social media platforms from ‘clean girl’ to ‘y2k revival’,  can cause overwhelm to fit into one of the predefined style aesthetics. But what about thinking outside of the box when it comes to fashion? Creatively curating and styling different outfits can be a pleasurable experience. When I was in my second year of schooling at Dalhousie, I enrolled myself in a sociology course surrounding fashion. The course content and teachings helped to give me a new perspective regarding my views of clothing in relation to society. This course helped me look at fashion with a newly found perspective, causing me to fall in love with style even more! This article will delve into my takeaways from this course and how you too can put the fun back in fashion. 

Fashion as an Ideology 

When trying to understand society’s current views on fashion I believe one of the most important things to note is that fashion can be viewed as an ideology.  Meaning fashion is an idea that you can simply conform to, or not. At the end of the day, clothing simply is what covers our bodies. The color coordination, proportions and textures, the way we style the clothes is completely up to us and societal views. Understanding that fashion is simply an ideology can aid in knowing that there are no right or wrongs, there are no limits or boundaries when it comes to fashion. With digital platforms such as TikTok it creates an ability to constantly express one’s fashion ‘no’s’ to a wide array of audiences, and major influencers can easily discuss what one should and should not wear. These strong opinions infiltrating one’s social media timelines result in personal fashion choice hesitancy. However, it is not like you will actually combust if you decide to pair polk-a-dot and stripes together.

Just like with other ideologies, some people are going to take it very seriously and some people are not. How seriously you take up fashion is completely up to you. If you want to start rocking a specific aesthetic, go for it! But if you just want to wear the basics, you can also kill it! You do not have to just choose a ‘side’ or  specific style, one’s style can be fluid and change depending on setting, mood, or simply spicing it up! One of my favorite things about fashion is how diverse it is around the world. Trends on social media and society may try to push you to pursue a certain aesthetic based on your lifestyle, but again, that does not matter at the end of the day. If you think those boots are cute, wear them. 

Ultimately, the idea of fashion and how much of it you want to pursue it is up to you. What you wear is up to you, because there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to fashion.

Inspiration

Another way to have fun in fashion is to look at new inspiration. Not just what pops up on your For You Page, but really researching different fashion models, stylists, or fashion content creators to understand your fashion preferences. Pinterest is a great app to explore the endless possibilities. Pinterest allows you to search up specific words, and the app will display endless related photos. Creating fashion boards are a great way to get a feel for your personal preference, I create them all the time and will sort my boards according to different seasons or occasions such as, ‘summer’ or ‘winter outfits’ and ‘night out outfits’. Doing this can give you a more diverse range of options when styling yourself, changing up your typical day-to-day. 

In addition, the benefits of social media when it comes to fashion, is how connected everything is. When you see a post on Pinterest, the app may be link the photo to the model’s Instagram, allowing its users to find more related types of inspiration and content creators. You may then find a creator on Instagram whose style you really enjoy, ultimately they will collaborate with other creators who you may also really end up liking.. You can go on a little fashion journey, finding different inspiration through platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram. 

Another note is that it can be easy to convince yourself you like something just because you see it is trending or because certain people are wearing it. This down the line can be wasteful for the environment, but also hurtful to the bank account if we constantly fall victim to the various microtrends. Don’t get me wrong, I personally have fallen victim to the sweater vest and mom jeans combo back in 2020. But I have learned from my past mistakes. Personally in order to help combat falling victim (yet again), if I see something that is trending that I have convinced myself I like, I let myself pine over the item for a while. This helps me realize if I still do like it after a month or two, or if it was just something I wanted at the moment. 

Experiment, Create, Enjoy 

To me, the real fun comes with the whole process of shopping. Yes, I do enjoy watching Gossip Girl and building my fashion mood boards. However, creating the vision is always my favourite part. When it comes to finding places to shop, look at what vibe your inspiration is giving and find a store to match that. That is why thrifting or buying second hand clothing will always be my first recommendation because they have everything. Thrifting is also super fun whether you’re going with a group of friends, or you’re blasting music through your headphones and shopping alone. Not only is it also environmentally-friendly, but you are also able to find very cool unique pieces!