Clothes make people? About fashion and identity
I have never been very well versed in fashion issues. Fashion and design played only a very minor role in my parents' home. Social contacts and shared experiences were more important to us, and still are. I like that too. Sometimes I think that a bit more style would have been good for me, but on the other hand I had and have my own head anyway ...
Applying clothes inhibits the style
Many children had to and have to apply the clothes of their older siblings. That's no problem up to a certain age. However, I faced a special challenge: my brother is not only 6 years older, but also headed for a size of over 2 meters. At the time, it was kind of cool to wear his clothes. So instead of plaited plaits and flower dresses, I wore baggy pants and skater hoodies that were way too wide. Man, I was cool. At least until the moment when I realized that I was not a skater at all and yet somehow not as much as my brother wanted to be.
And then I was helpless in the girls section of P & C, C & A, H & M and what they are called. Somehow, that did not suit me. With luck I found a few unisex parts, that did not exist at that time like today. Mostly I took a dark sweater and a loose fit jeans. For T-shirts, I often used male print patterns, size S. I was a teenager and somehow I did not really care. At the same time, I noticed that I did not fit into the stereotypical gender roles and had trouble finding my identity. Irritated looks and people who wanted to send me from the ladies to the men's room, unsettled me in addition.
Everyone has style? his own
Sometimes it annoyed me so much when I was thought to be a boy that I bought feminine clothes after all. But somehow the parts rarely fit together, let alone to me. It was also nonsense to dress me for others extra female. When I met very fashion-conscious people, sometimes I wished to dress myself in a more stylish way, but how? I asked stylish girlfriends and learned that people who dress themselves well may not be able to dress others. It was pretty frustrating to feel disguised.
Today I know that every person has his own style. If you can dress yourself well, you have understood your style and your fashion well. However, trying to impress one's taste or current fashion trends on someone (unreflectively) does not work, even if it's meant well.
I was fortunate enough to meet a person who recognized me and my style: I'm just not a flower girl with a pink hairband, no frilly blouse and you should not let me on high heels on the streets. I love my sweatpants and my sneakers. But it may also be a patent leather shoe, a long blouse with a great blazer or a black leather jacket. From loose fit were mostly skinny jeans and? I hardly believe it - sometimes I wear a tight knit sweater in salmon pink. My style is unique and changeable, by the way, too. In the past I did not care about fashion, today I like to try out what suits me.
Clothes make people? Quirks too.
With my sweatpants I give a statement: coziness and idleness. Once I even went from her couch to a dance bar? just because. I did not care what people thought. The most important person to me said: "You are the most beautiful woman here." It's true, clothes make people and I love to play with them. Much more important to me is to look behind the clothes. I'm interested in the stories that have drawn a person, not his outer shell.
