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Stilettos, cork heels; boot legs, skinny pants; short shirts, long
shirts…life for the fashionable seems to be an endless cycle
of decision making and we always seem to be following one trend
or the other, falling prey to what style gurus term as becoming
a 'fashion victim'. But with the world coming together in a melting
pot of identities, originality is the only thing that can set you
apart from the rat race. It's the bright turban a Sikh wears, the
henna tattoos down a Lebanese woman's legs, an African girls braided
and dyed dreadlocks and even a Pakistani woman's kohlapuri chappal
that gets your attention. So the new mantra for fashion should be,
'be original'. Here's how:
Look
for your identity
You don't want to be wearing peasant blouses if you're busty, even
if they're the hottest things on the racks, no pun intended. Similarly,
you don't want to be caught dead in dhotis, cowls or patialas if
you're wide on the hips. Look into the kind of person you are, keeping
in mind your age, profession and lifestyle, and then chose a prototype
for yourself. This doesn't mean be averse to change, but change
should come when needed, not under some style obligation. As they
say: if it ain't broken, don't fix it.
Develop
a signature
Notice that the world's biggest style icons have signatures; Karl
Lagerfeld goes nowhere without his high collared white shirt and
hand fan and Galliano is famous for his nautical stripes and pencil
moustache (which is available in faux facial hair and even spray-on
tins now, thanks to him). Even in Pakistan, designers like Ammar
Belal, HSY and Kamiar Rokni have managed to develop iconic looks
for themselves. Where artistes, performers and entertainers world
over keep changing their looks, the style icons usually stay committed
to one. Look for that one style that can determine your signature.
It could be a pair of glasses, a certain type of jewelry or even
something as run-of-the mill as blue jeans and a t-shirt (think
Strings!). No matter what, you can always look stylish if you want
to.
Wear
an attitude
Being confident about how you look is the most important part of
looking fashionable. Nervousness isn't allowed, meaning that avoid
wearing a sari to your best friend's wedding if you won't be able
to walk in it (the same rule applies to high heels) and don't wear
a mini skirt if you're going to keep pulling it down when you sit.
You clothes should never be too tight or too revealing or even too
conventional for you, if you're the daring type. You need to have
an attitude that screams "THIS IS MY STYLE AND NO ONE DOES
IT BETTER!"
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