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Fashion victims spend a considerable amount of money making sure that their wardrobe has each and every trend you can imagine

Trish Carmen Fashion
There is a fine line between being trendy and being a fashion victim. This was brought to my attention whilst sitting in my car in the city centre of Harare as I observed passers-by.

Zimbabweans have easy access to fashion brands and latest trends because almost everyone has a family in the diaspora who sends back home a whole suit case of clothes for their loved ones, and also we have a lot of boutique owners who travel to the Eastern and Western nations and fill up the Harare boutiques with the lasted fashionable trends, allowing people to be up to speed with trends. But then again what I realised is that this advantage was producing fashion victims.

A fashion victim is someone who changes their look based on every single trend, it’s a person who does not have a signature look, this person just wears anything and everything as long it’s been deemed a trend, as long as it’s in stores, as long as its clothing, and as long as they can afford to buy it.

Fashion victims do not pay attention to their body type or shape neither their lifestyle. A fashion victims outfit is unattractive, inappropriate and even both.

When a person alters their look from season to season, they become a fashion victim because they are not wearing what they like but just wearing the most fashionable thing at that particular moment.

Fashion victims spend a considerable amount of money making sure that their wardrobe has each and every trend you can imagine, I call this trend hopping which creates a lack of personal style, and because they buy everything that is called trendy they run the risk of attaching themselves to trends that have long done their trend cycle.

My advice on this would be to pick a few trendy items and mix and match them with your existing wardrobe, which is your foundational signature look so as to add that interest to your look.

Fashion victims wear brands head to toe, now there is nothing wrong with wearing your favourite fashion brand, but when you wear it from the head down to the bottom you appear a slave to that brand more than it would come across as a brand you love.

Wearing any clothing item just because it’s a designer brand without considering whether it fits you perfectly or not just makes you a casualty of fashion.

Labels are awesome but wear that fashion brands in moderation. Having an over the top look, overly dressed, overly made up, hair over done makes you a fashion victim turning a look from glamorous to ridiculous. The old adage still stands, less is more.

To avoid becoming a fashion victim develop a signature look so you don’t chase after every trend and lose yourself in it. When you have developed your signature look add on the season’s trend here and there.

Focus on the style and not the price regardless of the designer name or label this will help you avoid wearing expensive clothes that don’t flatter you at all.

And lastly do your research, or call up an image consultant to guide you through on what works well for you so you make informed decisions when you dress up, or go shopping.

 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]