Fashion Vs. Style

While giving a talk to the Professional Women's Association at UCSB last week, I mentioned that I was more of a clothing person than a fashion person. In other words, I love clothing, but I am not always comfortable with what is considered fashionable. Many spreads in magazines leave me scratching my head, and the trends that come out each season rarely hold much appeal.

I just came across a thoughtful article on this topic, written by Lisa Mirza Grotts. She offers advice on what to wear when confronted with different dress codes such as black tie. I especially liked the sections "Rules that Matter" and "General Rules of Dress."

What resonated with me, and what I try to convey to my clients, was stated beautifully by Joy Venturini Bianchi of San Francisco's Helpers House of Couture, which benefits the developmentally disabled: "The fashion industry promises to help you find an 'instant' identity that you can display to the world. This is fashion as image. Style is a different thing altogether. To develop it, you have to give up the idea that you will find yourself in images of other people. You have to engage in the process of finding out who you really are--from the inside out. When you do this, you begin to discover that certain fashions allow 'the best of you' to be seen, while expressing your own taste, not that of others. The more you discover your own real self, the more you will find the fashions that suit you, and the more you will develop your own style."