Overall, Suspend the Trend

Here’s the thing about trends – they come and they go.

You finally get your legs into Thakoon Addition’s amazing culottes when you realize you just have to have the new kimono trench straight off Tracy Reese’s runway. And then you dress in head-to-toe white before realizing yellow is all over Michael Kors’ and Christian Dior’s new collections. So you run to the boutique to pick up a military green romper like the one you saw at Marc Jacobs but then you spy the high-waisted shorts that Jill Stuart just put out.

It’s exhausting, really.

There’s no such thing as the latest “it” bag because as soon as everyone has one, there’s a new “it” thing to have.

When I was in college a zillion years ago, I spent two years volunteering as an International Assistant. It was kind of like being a resident assistant in a dorm, except we were there to help our international students adjust to life on campus and in the US. I was assigned students from Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, and even Canada. I taught them about public transportation in Boston, helped them open bank accounts, and showed them how the laundry machines worked. It was a lot of fun.

I learned pretty quickly that most international students have to be pretty well off to be able to study abroad. One friend from the Gulf was showing me photos from home when I asked if the guy he was with in one of the pictures was his father. He laughed and said, “No, that’s my driver.” Another kid spent $2K – EACH – on new rims for his sports car. $8K on accessories for his car! That was the cost of my tuition that semester!

The gorgeous girls from South America had the latest fashions each time they came back to school from break. I knew I couldn’t keep up. And I didn’t want to try. That’s when my true sense of style began to emerge. 

Style is personal. It represents your truest self – not what you see in magazines or on the runway, but how you see yourself. Through clothing, accessories, hair and makeup, style interprets your individuality, your creative expression, and your personal aesthetic.

Style is influenced by your upbringing, your environment, your culture, your family, your personal icons, and of course, what’s happening in the fashion world.

Maybe being trendy is your style, and that’s okay. Once in a while a fashion trend pops up that I like, that fits my style, and that reflects my aesthetic. But I like to take it, twist it, and make it my own.

For example, overalls have been making the trends-round lately. I wore overalls when I was in college, as they were popular in the early 90s. Since then, my stance on overalls has been firm and unwavering: Unless you are a house painter or a toddler, you should not own a pair of overalls. However, never say never…

Summer 1994

Today

OK, I’m getting off my shoebox now.