What is fashion nowadays? Some would say a form of art, others would merely state that it is simply clothes. Is it micro trends? A capsule closet? Clean girl aesthetic? Heroin chic? I would say it is simply an ode to yourself. Feeling lazy and being in PJ’s all day is an ode to relaxing yourself. Getting all dolled up for a girl’s night out is an ode to making yourself feel pretty. Grabbing your favorite pair of denim jeans with the same old white t shirt and ballerina flats in a rush to work is an ode to your true style. 

With the constant urge for trends on social media, it’s easy to get the ick on what you wore last month. My mom always pushed me to have my own style and to stay away from trends and most of all to not be afraid to be different and my own self. Of course, as any 15 years old would do, I obviously never listened to my mom’s advice. My mom is the typical French Parisian woman, effortlessly cool and always a year ahead of trends. I so wish I listened to her back then, mom’s are always right. From full Abercrombie outfits to looking like an advertisement for Brandy Melville, thankfully my style has evolved since. However, I cannot lie and say I didn’t spend way too much time and money on micro trends in college due to my societal urge to be like everyone else and fitting into the mold of a sorority girl. It wasn’t truly until I moved to Paris for my studies in fashion did I really come to discover my real style. A mix between the leather jacket Parisian girl paired with a touch of the classic style wearing ballerina flats.

Inspired by the one and only Jane Birkin, Camille Charriere and the girls walking in the streets of Paris as I watch walk by sitting at a café. The everyday girls are usually the ones who inspire me the most. Whether it be on my commute to work dreading every minute of being on the metro, to people watching in cafes or the woman paying next to me at the grocery store, or my coworker walking into the office in the morning. It pushes me to be constantly thinking about my style as it is is everchanging by inspiration and yet everlastingly always the same. So, I end up often asking myself, what is style? What is the meaning behind it? Am I even stylish? Is my outfit boring? Or is my style just being simple? Will I ever achieve that level of cool girl? And then I wound up in a spiral sitting on my bed for 20 minutes every morning staring at my closet wide open looking at my options. And yet, I will 90% of the time end up wearing a pair of jeans, a black round neck sweater, a thin Zadig and Voltaire belt with the alternating shoe choices of my santiags, black loafers or ballerina flats paired with a leather jacket and scarf on a good day or a long black oversized coat on an unfortunately colder day. 

And it all seems quite ironic to be writing about style and fashion when I am currently wearing an old restaurant’s t shirt with my ex boyfriend’s high school PJ pants on the couch. But I guess no one needed to know that. Especially my ex boyfriend.