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Trish Carmen Fashion
Fashion is so fast that keeping up with it is next to impossible. Season after season, new fashion trends emerge. Before you’ve even accepted the recently deemed trendy fashion item, a new one pops up. The only way to keep up on this fashion fast line is to change your gear and create your own personal style. There is a fine line between fashion and style, and to master the difference is an art on its own.

Fashion is distracting, it takes our attention away from ourselves, leaving us concerned about what is out there on the runways, in the stores, on the streets, on the red carpets, even as far as which celebrity is wearing what. It all becomes an aping process of “is what I am wearing conforming to what’s out there and what is currently in vogue?”

On the other hand style is about ones sense of self, identity and perceptions of who you are. All these internals become a matching process reflected and expressed through your dressing, giving attention directly to you.

Creating a Personal style all begins with honouring your uniqueness and being creative enough to express your individuality in a dynamic way through your dressing. Developing your personal style is a journey and can never happen over night.

Most people start paying attention to what they wear pretty early in life. I remember caring a lot about what I wore as early as primary school and that’s when my journey began. It was all about experimenting, fashion disasters, you name it, until I finally got to that place where I truly became fully aware of my personal style.

The great thing about developing your personal style is that it is not something you need to be born with. It is a skill like any other that can be learned, and all it takes is practice, experimenting and having fun whilst you do it.

If you are a beginner and everyone around you seems to have a natural eye for their personal style just remember the reality is they’ve just being practicing longer than you have and all you have to do is catch up!

Observing is the first step
When developing a personal style it is important to observe and develop a good understanding of the different elements of an outfit, considering how they all work together and paying attention to the things you are personally drawn to. What kind of things do you like and why?

During my years of trying to figure out my personal style, I found myself on many occasions observing how other people dressed. I would pay close attention to how my co- workers, friends and relatives looked and at times I would sit in a café and just watch people passing by.

By doing that I trained my eyes to notice certain elements in the dressing such as colours, the different pieces in the outfit, the accessories and from that I started identifying what resonated with my inner self.

Being precise during this process helped me figure out what exactly I liked about an outfit.
The advantage of technology now just makes this journey easier. You can keep tabs on what inspires you by starting a Pintrest board or Tumblr or simply create a mood board. Through observing you train your eye to pay close attention to things that resonate with you and those which do not.

From this you will get more and more of a feel of what kind of clothes you like and how you like them to fit. From that information you can re-evaluate or upgrade your wardrobe.

Experimenting takes you a step closer
Developing our personal style is meant to be fun. When you’ve worked out what you like, do not be afraid to experiment on something that catches your attention. Step out of your comfort zone by trying out new silhouettes and colours. Go for items you have never imagined you would wear. I for one have gone through this phase and can share millions of stories about different outfits I wore before I settled on a style.

A simple way of experimenting is setting up little fashion challenges for yourself. You can go into a store, try on an outfit that you have seen being pulled off by other people that you like and see how it look on you and if you like it build something out of it.

What you wear most is a tell-tale sign
Ask yourself what you find most appealing about the clothing items you always wear. Is it the fabric, the detail, the colour, the print, or the silhouette? From this try and figure out what the exact features of the pieces make them comfortable and well fitting. Wear those pieces in a new way by adding a little something new that brings out your individuality.

Personal style is internal, it is something you create from within yourself. It comes from inside, connect with yourself and dare to express it through your clothing choices.

Trish Carmen is a Zimbabwean Fashion designer and hostess of The Front Page on Star FM. Her fashion Brand Trish Carmen has been showcased at SAFW, Durban Fashion Fair, Durban Designer show case, HIFA, Harare Jazz festival & KZN Fashion Council Fashion Showcase. Feedback: [email protected]