One Person, Many Styles

People always talk about each other style; “so-and-so dresses edgy”, “she dresses elegantly”, and “he’s preppy”. Of course people have style preferences- I for one have never been a fan of wearing anything bright or sparkly unless it’s something red or it’s New Years Eve- but this labeling of individual style kind of forces them into a position in which they feel like they have to always dress in that style. And if fashion is about expressing oneself and wearing what they like, why is this happening? We’re all multi-dimensional individuals, so shouldn't our style be the same? Of course some people might like dressing preppy or girly or sporty all the time, but even within those categories, can’t you have variety?

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I first starting thinking of this when I was thinking of times I’ve seen clothing items that I’ve liked at a store but then not bought it because it wasn’t my usual style and I thought it would be weird for me to wear it. Then I was thinking about different outfits that I’ve re-pinned on Pinterest or what I would wear for different days or occasions; I typically love preppy, classic outfits, but I love a good edgy outfit every now and then (my freshman year edgy phase never really ended) and I like wearing something extra or girly as well. Whenever I wear these other outfits, I feel like I get more comments on my outfits than usual, since people aren’t used to seeing me wear these styles as often and I always feel a little strange or out of place when wearing these outfits, since a small part of me worries that I’m either trying to look like something I’m not or that I’m wearing a costume, since it’s not a style I wear every day.

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But why should I, or anyone else for that matter, feel this way? Everyone has different sides to them, and different days will determine what side will be more on display, so why shouldn’t your clothing reflect that? I’m obviously not going to act and conduct myself the same way at a job interview as I act at a party with my friends, and I would not dress the same way either. This does not make me an imposter, or two-faced, this is me being human and acting differently in different situations. I’m not going to wear a polo shirt and ballet flats to a Fall Out Boy concert , not only because I would look out of place, but because I wouldn’t want to wear that to a Fall Out Boy concert- I’d want to wear my black skinny jeans and my Converse.

Because what you wear a lot of times is consciously or subconsciously reflecting you, whether it be your personality, your likes, or something else, but there are different aspects of these things that you might want reflected on a given day. We are humans and multi-dimensional, so naturally we will have different style preferences on different days, just as we’ll have different interests or different aspects of our personalities. Dressing in different styles is normal and as long as it makes you happy, that is all that matters, since at the end of the day, what you’re wearing should be about what you want to wear and display.

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