One of the things that always struck me, about the people I have an opportunity to observe, is how quick people are at apologising for being vain, or knowing a little bit more about fashion or make-up than is expected of them. As if a clear line has to be indicated between the smart, independent women - those who claim themselves to be non-fashion conscious, and those who wouldn’t think twice about plastic surgery, and are thus, less smart.
To each their own, has always been my motto. One (wo)man’s poison is another’s ‘meat’, as they say. Why force one’s values and opinions down others’ throats? Don’t we have enough of that going on around the world today? That, of course, doesn’t mean I can’t have an opinion though. So before anyone jumps at me about glorifying the current stick-thin culture, let me just say, I’m not glorifying that particular culture. I’m just saying, if that person can rationalise objectively whatever it is they want to do, then they’re responsible for their actions. This isn’t meant to be a serious social commentary.
I’m just struck with how quickly people start apologising for something as simple as say, knowing how to put on eye make-up, for instance. I mean, if one is smart, it’s going to reflect in the way you string words together. How you dress - how you choose to present yourself, is nobody’s business but your own. Being fashion conscious to me, is another level of looking after myself. Just as doing yoga or going to the gym is. Why apologise or feel ashame for wanting to look after yourself?
It irks me when people’s first notion is that if I dress up, I’m doing it for someone. It’s like juvenile deliquency, this tease that falls off people’s lips. Are we still so backward that we’d immediately assume when we dress up, it’s because we’re trying to catch someone’s attention? Or that just because we’ve achieved a certain level of education, we shouldn’t be caught dead in the latest Prada or this season’s colours? That things like these are for those of ‘lower intelligence’. How is that any different than those people we call fasion victims? In our desperate plight to differentiate ourselves from them, we’d do anything to subscribe to the alternative. In that essence, aren’t we doing the exact same thing they are? Caught up by fashion movements, be it mainstream or ‘cult’.
Me? I love my fashion magazines; I know the kinds of clothes that fit me and those that don’t. Why angst over how the fashion world is insensitive to people who are not size 6 or below? Not being ultra-thin doesn’t dictate that I can’t have my vices, or that I can’t have the latest trends in cosmetics, join the latest phase if I feel like it. Doesn’t mean I can’t browse the latest Marc Jacobs either!
