I'm not tooting my own horn, literally I'm not, but the people in my life often tell me I'm very fashionable. In all seriousness, I don't see why they say this. I've never considered myself this way mainly because I've never really had a set "sense " of style or "taste" in clothing. To be honest, my whole life, I've just bought and worn clothes that I like at a certain point in time. And yes, that has meant some very bad choices in outfits, even for the time they happened at. And yes, some of them have caught on film. In my school yearbook. Forever.
I try not to dwell on it.
To this day, buying and wearing the clothes that I personally like is still my style philosophy. However, since I turned 15, I have been also slightly influenced by certain celebrities a.k.a my style icons. They have changed and evolved as I've grown up, which is to be expected, as I would not want to continue dressing the same as I did when I was 16 or some other age. Actually, I'm a little embarrassed about who my first "style icon" was. But then I see some of the others who followed and it makes sense.
Perhaps you're expecting me to say Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff), and trust me, I loved her clothes when I was but a wee one. But I never actually tried to emulate her style basically because I wasn't the one paying for my clothes. My Mum was. And she was much more practical about clothes shopping than I was. So if she was paying for it, not only did I have to like my clothes, but she also had to like them to a certain extent. I'm kind of thankful for that now, but boy, did I ever hate it back then!
About 3 or so years later however, I did find another style icon. When I was 15, a little known movie which I was absolutely obsessed with ( and don't tell anyone, I still sort of am) came out. You may of heard of it, it was called High School Musical 2. And no, I refuse to feel any shame for liking it. As you'll see, I pretty much have the taste of a girl who is eternally stuck in the hormonal teen years of her life. And I'm A-Okay with that. But back on track: I drew some fashion inspiration from a character in that movie. You're probably expected Gabrielle or Sharpay but no, it wasn't them. It was, in fact, Troy Bolton ( Zac Efron) himself.
And no, not his whole style. Just one small part. That ring he wore throughout the movie inspired me to start wearing rings. Yes, a ring. That probably has to be the weirdest choice for my first style inspiration. Judge me if you will. But that...that was it. Yup.
In all seriousness, I'm really happy that I was inspired by Troy/Zac because it was what got me into trying out not only different kinds of rings ( thin, chunky, knuckle rings. I LOVE knuckle rings at the moment) but also other types of jewelry, such as bracelets ( layering them on use to seem so stupid to me. But now that I've tried it, I rather like it! Guess the old adage "don't knock it 'til you try it" has definite merit!) So you could say that Troy Bolton started it all for me.
He also was my first real live person/celebrity crush. I say "real live person/celebrity crush" simply because up until that point it was just mainly cartoon show characters and Disney Princes. I lived a sheltered life.
But my style stealing tips from guys did not end with Troy/Zac. Oh no, no, no, no. A few years down the line, One Direction came into existence. And I, being the forever teenage girl that I am, fell in love with their whole being. Not in like a creepy way ( though others around me may differ on that point), but in a, I guess, sort of proud way? I was proud of what they stood for and of what they were like. I loved their persona: Normal Lads, cheery music, the faces that you just want to smoosh up because they're so stinking adorable. You know, that sort of stuff. *ahem* But aside from loving their faces and music, I also had to go and draw inspiration from their style. Their early days were very preppy and I was all over that! I had the red pants like Louis. I had multiple plaid shirts like Liam. I nearly bought a Varsity jacket like Zayn ( but I'm poor and decent ones were expensive, so...) and if I could pull off a polo like sweet little Niall could, you know I would've been all over it. Weirdly enough, Harry did not inspire me in the clothing department, but I chalked it up to that no one can pull off a blazer quite like him. NO ONE. Not even myself.
Shortly after I discovered 1D, I discovered another awesome nugget of UK talent, Little Mix. These ladies still inspire me to this day, but I went hardcore in their earlier fashion days. I bought collared shirts, bow ties and cute socks to emulate Jade's Preppy style. I got floral prints and headbands to be more Boho like Perrie. Anything with spikes or slashes I grabbed because of Jesy's rocky style. Bright patterns and cool shoes? Yes please, I'll look like Leigh-Anne's 90's style that way. I went way crazy for these ladies' over the top fashion choices and still do to this day for their more subtle choices.
Recently, I've started to buy some more grungy style clothing, which can be partially due to the fact that both of my above fashion icons have started to go more grunge, but also towards another new band I love: 5 Seconds of Summer. They are this grungy, punky, pop-rock group and not only do I love their music, accents, voices ( pretty much everything) but I also like their fashion. Really it's just skinny jeans (ripped or not ripped, whatever you fancy) and then some sort of t-shirt ( could be ripped, not ripped, plain, patterned or be a band shirt. Once again whatever you fancy). Simple but effective. So now I've found myself buying something and thinking "hmm, this is like the shirt Ashton was wearing" or " I could totally see Michael rocking something similar".
But, at the end of the day, I choose clothes I like. Just because I draw inspiration from these bands doesn't mean I agree with everything they wear. Just like they may not if the tables were reversed. Just because you like something, doesn't mean you are obligated to like everything they do just in order to keep liking them. Is that somewhat clear? Just like what you like, whether that's clothes or otherwise. Life it too short to not do what you want, so as Nike once told me, just do it. Even if it means being photographed in a turtleneck/t-shirt combo you thought would look good for the basketball photograph in Middle school but actually didn't. It's cool. I'm completely over it. Maybe. Ya. I still kick myself for that one. But at the same time, I understand that that moment, and many other ones like it, helped me to become who I am today, to wear the clothes I do today. Maybe now it seems bad, but at the time it was good ( maybe not). Maybe in the future the clothes I choose to wear now will seem hideous, but the point is, I liked them at the time. I liked them, so therefore I wore them. You should not wear clothes for anyone else but yourself. You've gotta be you. And hey, if you need a little inspiration from someone else, that's fine too. Just don't go overboard and do everything the exact same. Bring you to an outfit and you'll always look awesome.
Over and Meowt
Marli J
