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Tuesday 26 January 2016

My Love Affair

I have a love affair with fashion. 

This statement I feel is probably quite common, but I'm telling you, it's true. The feeling is something I can hardly describe. The joy it brings to my every day, in it's simplicity or extravagancy, there is just something about it I cannot get enough of.

Whether it be wandering through chain stores in a mall just taking in the colours and styles of the range, running my fingertips along each rack of clothing. Or when I am at my workplace in a recycled boutique, just taking in the vast space filled with all sorts of different colours and textures, from high street fashion, to vintage pieces. At my job in a designers head office, in her online department, overseeing each garment before gently wrapping in tissue and packing it to be sent across the country to be worn and loved.

Fashion is something I have enjoyed and appreciated my whole life. Every aspect of it I see value and importance. From the thought process to create the design, to the production of the pattern, the toile, the first sample. Right up until it gets seen by a buyer in a showroom, on the runway or in a magazine. It is sometimes so hard to imagine that basic t-shirt you are wearing going through that process, but it does. I am about to start a three year journey exploring this incredible industry doing a Bachelor of Design, Fashion major. Studying fashion has been something I don't think I've ever not wanted to do. My future role within the industry is debatable, but the one thing I know is that it is where I want to be.

I could spend hours watching styling videos on YouTube, reading biographies about famous designers and have genuinely almost cried watching fashion documentaries like Dior and I (trailer), and Handmade With Love In France (trailer). To see the heart and soul that goes into this industry, which people think is so heartless and intense, just makes me want to be there more. In a sense I already am there. On a slightly lower scale that is. These days the industry is so broad. Fashion bloggers, instagrammers, fashion psychologists, journalists, even hair and makeup artists are considered valued members of the fashion world. With advances in social media, fashion has changed the way its viewed, but in a sense, has almost made it "un-extraordinary" to your average person. It is no longer just for the "elite" but for everyone. Trends are expressed and the high street is picking up on the couture and high fashion designers styles and incorporating those things into clothing you can purchase from the local mall. 

Choosing what to wear each day can set the mood and portray how you feel. It is a way of being able to express yourself, tell the world a little bit about you, before anyone has even spoken a word. I find getting dressed for work each day such a therapeutic process, from picking my outfit to how I'll style my hair or do my makeup. It's putting in an extra 5 minutes to create "a look" and not just "an outfit". The way fashion makes me feel is in every way positive. I could be in my comfiest pair of sweats or my most embellished top, but if I love what I wear I feel the most confident and pretty. Fashion is a thing often overlooked, in a broad sense. Of course we put on clothes everyday, but is it a chore, or is it something you can look forward to? Surrounding myself with anything and everything I can get my hands on in this area makes my life that little bit more enjoyable, so why wouldn't I engulf myself in it?




Elise xo