By Chidi Eghelle
Every holiday season, my family gets together at my Mum’s and relive fond memories; oftentimes, we pull out her box of old pictures and go through the albums, laughing and giggling at past fashion trends.
During our last holiday, while browsing through old albums and reliving fond memories, we came across images of my mum with her friends in a 70s album, they looked all dressed up for a 70’s party, “feeling trendy of course” in peep-toes, baggy pants, funny skirt lines and the awful hairstyles. Boy… Did we rumble with laughter?
Amidst the cluster of block-heeled peep toes, big hair and baggy pants, however, someone stood out. She looked like she had just walked into the picture from the future, in her knee-length print skirt, chiffon shirt, stiletto heels and bonnie shades.
I had to ask mum, who she is and where she is right now. Why? You may ask; the woman in the picture looked so gorgeous and contemporary, and she would look stunning in any decade.
How did she do it? If you ask me, I’d say she looked Classy. And the others in the picture? That lot looked downright funny in clothes that must have been trendy at the time.
Fashion is a ‘lifetime statement’ Yes! That’s right it is; so you have to state it hard. That way twenty years on, you look right in time.
Here’s what I mean, in the context of fashion, classy is defined as stylish and sophisticated, while trendy is defined as very fashionable and up-to-date basically “en-vogue”.
“Classy” is timeless, and it makes you stand-out in any decade. It’s engraved in your attitude and like fine wine, it gets better with age; while “Trendy” is always seasonal, given to time and loses its beauty to the future.
What did the famous supermodel and style Icon Heidi Klum say about fashion trends? “In the world of fashion, one day you’re in and the next you’re out”, that’s trendy.
Now I’m not saying don’t do trends, far from it, I’m saying keep it classy and timeless. Before you throw something on, think about this, if someone got a picture of you in that outfit, how would it look ten years on? Yes! I use that as a guide too, I don’t want to be like the lovely storey building with bold balustrades which looks so trendy today, and like an ancient museum in a decade.
Also, going with fashion trends have you spending more money on time-bound items, and often puts you under pressure to keep up with new trends. Let’s face it, who wants to be seen wearing last season’s crop tops or last year’s suede knolls?
However, with Classy outfits; it’s usually your comfort zone, you own your style, keep it sophisticated and timeless; then you can be you and still look good. I bet that’s what the Famous Coco Chanel meant, when he said, “I don’t do fashion, I am Fashion”.
And before I leave, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s an illustration.
These are definitely dresses I can wear today, and ten years from now, you’ll still look stunning in them; I’d say keep it classy and live in the future.
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