Fashion Week had me thinking.  What is style?  Does it have to be avant-garde?  Different?  Creative?  Or can someone who dresses classically and conservatively still be considered stylish?  I saw many different types all through last week.  There were those who dressed “up” and others who dressed “down” (especially photographers).  There were also those who wore very unusual-looking outfits, ones that some would call “creative” or “fashion-forward,” but other than the few who looked “grubby,” I wouldn’t say that everyone else at Fashion Week wasn’t “stylish.”

What bothers me, however, is how some people are quick to dismiss anyone who doesn’t “dress creatively” as a person who isn’t “stylish.”  If that’s the case, would these same people call Michelle Obama “unstylish”?  Or is Mrs. Obama only “stylish” for a First Lady, because her clothes come from stores that one doesn’t think moms shop at (one of the dresses she wore during her husband’s campaign is from H&M).  What about historic style icons like Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn?  People have often joked that many women in Manhattan, for example, have a closet full of black, despite their living/working in one of the largest fashion markets in the world.  Does that mean that these women, who mostly work in legal and/or financial organizations, aren’t “stylish”?  Not even in their own way?   If that’s the case, then it’s incredibly unfair.  In fact, I’d venture out to say that these ladies probably have a closet of clothes which will last them years, rather than throw-aways.  With the “slow fashion” movement becoming more and more of “the norm,” I’d think that people would be more interested in clothing which can last for several seasons rather than experimental pieces which do not.

Of course, to many, my beliefs are considered “conservative,” and “typically Angl0-Canadian.”  In other words, people like me are boring and unwilling to experiment.  Again, I find that sad and maybe borderline insulting.  There shouldn’t be anything wrong with dressing a certain way.  It’s a style, and a recognized one.  It may not be creative, but it shouldn’t be condemned, especially if it’s something which can last for years.  It’s also something which, depending on your career path, is considered more “acceptable” by your peers.  Even people in cities who’re fairly experimental when it comes to fashion (e.g. Tokyo) are conservative when it comes to career dressing.  And there shouldn’t be anything wrong with that.