Fashion is Attitude

People are discouraged by fashion because they think they have to conform to it. They think it is all looks, and that you must alter yourself to fit in. I believe fashion is attitude.

Exhibit A: When designers are asked who is their brand's "woman", they respond with her personality and vibes, or what type of culture and intellectual food they partake in. Angela  Missoni describes her Fall 2011 collection, "This collection is all about a very, very feminine girl, very romantic, but very tough at the same time. She has a complex personality. She has her feet on the ground."She doesn't describe it as a fashion victim who is sample size, and therefore is alright. Ask any designer what their woman is like, or what kind of woman inspires their collections, and odds are they will respond with the woman's attitude or intellect.

Exhibit B: While designers make minuscule sample sizes, and present their clothes on very thin models, they still must make all sorts of sizes to accommodate their customers, who are the people who will actually wear the clothes. "The dress must follow the body of a woman, not the body following the shape of the dress," said Hubert de Givenchy. Coming from such a fashion heavyweight, this quote is potent.

Kate Moss and Johnny Depp, 1995.
Photo by Francois-Marie Banier

Exhibit C: The only reason anti-fashion works is the way the wearer carries it. What makes Kate Moss have style and have an aura of fashion in a sweater and jeans over the person sitting next to you? Her attitude. Her "I don't give a crap, I'm just gonna be young and fun and confident. I like who I am, I am not ashamed of myself" attitude.

Exhibit D: How many fashion people have you heard say that sexiness comes from within? That sexiness is being confident and liking who you are, and not being afraid of other people seeing it. In W March 2011, Haider Ackermann says "It's the gesture and the attitude of the person that makes them seductive. The clothes are on second-term."

Exhibit E: Mood boards. Everything done in fashion is based on a mood, the way it makes you feel. Collections and fashion stories have sad, controlled, severe, fun, frivolous, etc. moods.

Exhibit F: The people who stand out in the industry or who are its leaders are the ones who conform the least to it. They can pull off wacky clothes because of their attitude while wearing them. If they look self conscious about their attire, or it wears them, you think they look dumb, if you notice them at all. If they wear it like they wear pajamas, they look wonderful. The people who push fashion forwards are the ones who have different views and attitudes about what has been done, and then do fashion their way. They are the ones who don't conform to fashion. People who truly know, appreciate, and make fashion say it's purpose is self expression, so if you conform to it you defeat the purpose.