INSTEP Magzine


instep analysis Why did Holly Golightly choose to have breakfast at Tiffany's and not at Bulgari? Fashion is more than clothes and accessories, it's a part of individual identity. Instep takes a look at what your style says about you. By Sahar Aman

I often remember Brunswick Square of Bloomsbury, where I used to live. Especially now that it is January. As it was cold we used to spend hours in our little Starbucks corner sipping Chai soya lattes, avoiding our work and the gym, flipping through weekly glossy magazines whilst checking out the Brunswick fashionistas - debuting the most inspiring outfits. Each would be sporting her own definitive and particular style almost like an extension of who she was or at least of her personality. It sent you running to the nearest Top Shop that happened to be the flag ship store on Oxford Street, about a twenty minute walk away to discover yourself. Which basically entailed maxing out our student overdrafts for new clothes and meant we would be living off balsamic vinegar, olive oil and baguettes for the rest of the month. I miss fashion - or at least I miss that sense of fashion. Last year in April my sister and I had a two week shopping frenzy in Karachi, leaving with suitcases brimming with all kinds of spoils and I promptly wrote an article telling everyone to come here and buy as much as they could. It amazes then, now that I live here, how uninspired the girls walking around and fashion here can leave you.

I believe that here there are many misconceptions as to what fashion truly is. No one actually truly understands what it is. It isn't just about having the most expensive designer items in your wardrobe. It isn't just about following a prevailing trend and it certainly isn't sitting in a café sipping cold coffee with your friends who just all happen to have straight hair, wearing jeans, a kurti, a badly matched hand bag and pink phone with an awful ring tone. It's about taking inspiration from fashion trends and making them your own. It's about expressing your self through style. The problem here is that 'style' or what is seen as style has a very high price tag. When I walk into the boutiques here I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The ready to wear day collections are dubbed 'couture' and charged at extortionate rates. In actual fact they are not couture - it's disgraceful what they call couture. Charles Frederick Worth, the Englishman who created the phenomena of couture in Paris back in the mid 19th century would be turning in his grave. The people that wear the expensive clothes see that a certain look is in and so they take it on. This isn't expressive of oneself. It is conforming to a way of life. There is no concept of style only this sense of those bad horror movies where everyone is the same.

Coming from Britain and having lived in London for the last five years there was always an opportunity to experiment and define oneself. Fashion there presents a way for us to do that and this is for a number of reasons. The main on being is that there are notions in place that allow for such dressing. Firstly Britain is an eclectic mix of different tastes and styles - classic, chic, bohemian, new age, punk rock and so much more. Because cultures and ethnicities are so diverse, fashion there draws on influences from all around the world mixing high-end expensive designers with high street fashion and rare finds or one offs from the famous markets like Portabello and Spittlefields along with trends from Africa, Asia and South America.

Fashion is much more affordable and not limited to having thousands in your bank account. Celebrities are fond of the high street as much as their couture. High fashion is not limited to catwalks and is available everywhere one goes. Designers have created ranges without compromising their quality and signature styles to enable fashionistas to look as good as the run way. Charity shopping has become a huge thing there due to mass celebrity following and the most successful model of affordable fashion recently has to be that of Primark, nicknamed Primarni (after the designer label Marni), which has become fierce competition for all high street shops. Here the celebrities are helpful in making me realise what not to wear.

Designers could to step forward and encourage a scope for this but their interest isn't in fashion or making a woman look beautiful, they are more concerned with money. What happens here is that people don't consider what cuts, necks and styles and colours could suit them. It amazes me what girls will leave the house wearing, a tip, head to toe pink only looks good when you are baby and at that a baby girl. Girls don't know the dos and don'ts. They don't dress for themselves they dress for everybody else or worse men. The main reason they can't carry it off? They aren't confident. While it is impossible to generalise, the discomfort girls have with their bodies and essentially themselves it not so much the same for British girl like me. We are brought up to love our bodies and not hate them. In England I would always be in four inch heels, these days I'm wearing the flattest of flats and plodding along like a penguin. I'm over it and you know most people think penguins are cute. I have the self-assurance to be a penguin - this stems from the self-belief I have in my body and who I am. The lack of confidence the women of Pakistan have in their bodies and themselves is mirrored in the way they dress, the way they walk and the woman they are. Even some of the models I have seen on the catwalk look awkward. I believe that this awkwardness is inherent in every aspect of them selves particularly when it comes to individuality.

No one here it seems wants to express their personalities, they are quite happy to blend into the crowd and not let clothes express who they are. It seems individuality here has to be stamped out. Of course when you aren't confident the natural desire is to blend in to the crowd, to look the same so no one notices you. I was most known for in our group was having my signature style. Being able to pull certain things off isn't always about having the right body it's about knowing what you can pull off and the confidence to do it. Clothes become who we are and they should always be that something that makes us a little bit more special. Believing in yourself and knowing what you want to show the world about you and what you don't. I don't think my arms are fantastic and the last thing I'll do is leave them exposed. That would be letting the world see something about me that I don't want them to. Everyone has insecurities but one shouldn't let those insecurities take over.

It occurs to me that this is a lot deeper than clothes and delves into the place of who we are. I'm sure there are many girls here who don't know they are. They are caught in between what they want to wear and what they shouldn't wear, what they can wear comfortably similar to being caught between what they want to do and what is expected of them. Similarly fashion reflects how we feel. Taking a fashion risk in England will only result in ridicule of some on lookers which is never life threatening. Here taking a fashion risk could literally out your life in danger. I'm not asking anyone to risk lives in the name of fashion, although quite sadly I'd happily. I'm merely asking that you consider who you are and try and inject a little of that into what you wear. Clothes have a story - a life of their own. Would Carrie Bradshaw be who she is if it wasn't for her wardrobe? Why did Holly Golightly choose to have breakfast at Tiffany's and not Bulgari and why does anyone care for Kate Moss' style? It's because of who they are and it's not something that you can't be.

For this you don't need to spend a fortune - you just need to work out a sense of style that expresses who you are. The main thing to remember is whether a wearable item costs a fortune or not, it's value isn't really in its price tag. Fashion really is priceless, what's expensive to one is not to another - its value is in what it means to the person it belongs to and how it makes them feel. After all, what is fashion if it is not a feeling?