EDITOR'S LETTER: October 2013

"Self-love is critical…it is the key to everything."

As this September has past, the 2014 Spring collections have got my mind moving a mile a minute as I envision who will be wearing what, and what looks will eventually represent 2014 in fashion history. Soon the holiday season will be upon us, and I can’t wait to see what combination of clothes the ‘It Girls’ of Vogue will put together, and I can’t wait to see what fashions will be prevalent on women in the streets, especially at upcoming holiday festivities and parties, with the one question always on my mind: What will clothes say about women this year? By far, some of my favorite collections included Chanel, Prabal Gurung, Albetta Feretti, Prada, Tom Ford and Rodarte. You can view #MY3BestLooks from each of these shows and other collections I review on my Instagram page (@inmyfashionblog). 

As we all know, I am fascinated with the fact that our appearance speaks volumes for the attitudes of the times. Every day, whether you like it or not, you are a part of fashion history each time you step out of bed and wear your clothes out into the world. Now, more than ever, with the aid of social media, fashion history is being documented on the Internet, and once you put something into the internet universe, it is out there forever as a testimony to what is going on in life, who we are, and why we are wearing what we are wearing. In my fashion, it’s important to make sure that what we put out there is what we want to be associated with ourselves. Since it is a requirement that we wear something when we leave our homes, in my fashion, we all should be excited to present ourselves with pride and creativity. Fashion is all about your imagination and what is going on in your mind, and about evolving as a person and changing yourself, playing a part in life that you want people to see. 

In case you weren’t aware, UK Vogue held The Vogue Fashion Festival for two days the last weekend in April. They had a multitude of interviews and panel discussions with some of fashion’s key players including Alber Elbaz, Steven Meisel, Donatella Versace, and Victoria Beckham. There were two panel discussions: one entitled, “The Secrets of a British Brand” which was very informational and motivational. The other panel discussion was entitled “Too Fat, Too Thin…Will We Ever Be Content” which was a discussion on how we deal with our body issues, and this topic inspires my theme for this month, ‘Social Identity Self Improvement’. I realized that what I essentially am trying to do in regards to learning about fashion and style is to help others feel good about themselves. I see my role on this planet as a person who just wants people to feel good about who they are, especially women. At 27 minutes into the discussion I heard an interesting comment from an audience member that happened to be a weight loss consultant from Jenny Craig who said this:

“I have realized that actually a lot of the people don’t need to lose weight, they need to look actually at what they dress in, and dress for their shape. How long do you think it will be before people realize that’s one way of going about it, and dieting in a sensible way, not quickly but for the foreseeable future?”

Hearing that observation from a weight loss consultant confirms for me that women could use my help in this regard. As I look at it, my job in life is to in some way help others make the most out of their “Social Identity”. I find it interesting how we have an intuitive sense of what clothes mean, and how we relate to people based on our appearance. I find that my mission in life coincides closely with what, Alber Elbaz, Creative Director for Lanvin, tries to do for women: make their lives easier. During his interview he tells us, "I want them to be able to get into a car, to be able to have dessert, to feel beautiful. Fashion should not be about having a second skin - it is about fantasy; about putting on a red, chiffon dress, looking in the mirror and feeling amazing.” It is my understanding that our happiness depends on our confidence levels, and I would hope to be a motivating force in people’s lives to help people not only find confidence, but keep it, and I have found that increasing our sense of style through our clothing choices is one large piece of the puzzle to projecting our confidence. As was said in “Too Fat, Too Thin”, “Self-love is critical…it is the key to everything.”

Fashion is aspiration, and it’s about manifesting what is in our minds into reality. As I have said from day one of #IMFblog, when you look good, you feel good, and dressing with an intention shows that you have an intention for where you are going with not just your day, but your life. Image Consulting and Wardrobe Styling is what I am working on making my profession, and in an effort to find out how I can be of greater service to people by sharing what I’ve learned about personal style, I will be creating a Facebook page that seeks to find out if there are any specific problems I can help with in regards to enhancing one’s style. Just like in the “Too Fat, Too Thin…Will We Ever Be Content” panel discussion, I want to find out what issues we have with our bodies and what sartorial dilemmas I can help with, whether it is shopping and finding unique items, organizing one’s closet space, seeing our image differently (or for what it is), or how one can better style oneself for our personal endeavors. If you have an outfit that you need approval of and you would like an impartial expert opinion, which is what my page will be for. If you don’t know if your look is appropriate for where you will be going, ask me! If you want an idea as to how to make your outfit pop, send me a message. Let me know what your needs are when it comes to dressing for your life; what are you trying to accomplish; what your goals are; what are your challenges when it comes to dressing. In my fashion, you get what you dress for, and life is all about the visual.