If I ask you to think of someone who truly has a unique personal style, their trademark which they flaunt day in and day out; who do you tend to think of? Some examples may be style icons such as Anna Wintour with her signature Manolo Blahnik and sunglasses, Harry Styles with his bold colours, patterns and sparkle, or perhaps the late Jane Birkin who tended to exude a playful Anglo-French style with a bohemian twist, and of course, her iconic bag. It is ironic to think that the said bag originally stemmed from a chance encounter she had with Jean Louis Dumas of Hermes on an Air France flight when her ubiquitous straw basket which she seemed to carry solely for her own convenience, which was quite literally falling apart at the seams. Dumas decided there and then to design a bag specially for her, sketching out the now world famous design on an airline sick bag! The Hermes ‘Birkin’ is now globally sought after, gracing the arm of any celebrity worth their salt with a very hefty price tag and a long waiting list to boot.
“…personal style is and should always be fluid, as we are all constantly evolving, exploring and being inspired by new things.”
Yet what exactly is it about the seemingly modest Birkin bag that makes people spend such eye watering figures to own one? In my opinion, they probably don’t actually admire the seemingly plain bag much itself, nor might they even have admired Jane’s style that much…I think they admire in Jane what we all really essentially admire in all of these style icons; their fearlessness to express themselves exactly as they wish, knowing that they will be observed by the rest of the world, but ultimately dressing to please themselves. Yet someone really should burst these bonkers-Birkin-bag-buyers’ bubbles and inform them, that as my mum always says; you can’t buy style. As much as one can buy the extortionately priced handbag and feel luxurious, and as much as it may even look good, they’ll never quite wear it like Jane wore it because ultimately, it was and always will be her bag, her style.
So now you may be wondering, but if I can’t buy a personal style, then how do I possess one? Great question. In all honesty, I’m still figuring that one out myself. But then again, I would argue that no one ever fully figures it out, and therefore a personal style is and should always be fluid, as we are all constantly evolving, exploring and being inspired by new things. I have however found a good starting point for one’s fundamental preferences to be Pinterest (closely followed by Trinity’s arts block, but we’ll get onto that one in a minute.) I think one is best to begin by considering if they have certain preferences on everything from clothes’ silhouettes, to colour, pattern and materials. Pinterest, as many of you will already know, thereafter provides a useful platform which challenges you to visually and aesthetically consider and curate your preferences on everything from silhouettes and patterns to materials and colours, as it presents you with thousands of photos of different outfits which you can pin to create your own board of images comprised of your own curated style preferences.
“Just as one can’t buy style, it’s not about what one wears, but rather how one wears it.”
However, a debatable feature commonly found not only on Pinterest but in society at large, is the concept of confining and labelling outfits into certain categorised “style aesthetics”. Many of you may be familiar with some of these style aesthetics, such as the ‘clean girl aesthetic’, the ‘old money aesthetic’, the ‘coastal granddaughter aesthetic’, and so on and so forth. As much as searching up one of these aesthetics and using it as inspiration to source particular garments can be very useful, to work the other way round and to buy a garment just because one may deem it to fit one of these style aesthetics, is arguably a rather dangerous slippery slope, back into similar territory to that of the bonkers-Birkin-bag-buyers. Let’s say as a hypothetical example, I know that I don’t like the colour beige, and yet I find a beige jumper and impulsively decide to wear it because I deem it to fit the ‘old money aesthetic’, which I admire certain elements of. The key phrase here is certain elements. Just because I may really like the white shirts often worn in the old money aesthetic doesn’t mean they should go against my foundational preferences and attempt to embody the entire style aesthetic. It is a childish, pack mentality to try and copy exactly how others dress. Hence developing one’s own style is evidence of personal growth, out of such a child-like mentality. Yes, your personal style can be inspired by and have old money style aesthetic influences, in the same way you may say Jane Birkin’s style had bohemian influences; but ultimately your personal style is ultimately your own, personal to you and original, just like you. When you open your wardrobe, those are YOUR clothes, YOUR style; no one else can ever have quite the exact same clothes or style (unless you’re one of those two year old identical twins whose mother insists on dressing you both exactly the same way.) Just as one can’t buy style, it’s not about what one wears, but rather how one wears it.
“As a fresher walking into the arts block for the very first time, in many cases having just left a school with a strict uniform dress code only months before, one’s first glimpse of the arts block may seem like a dream… or perhaps a nightmare…”
Though saying that, there is however, one style aesthetic which I have found to not be confining like other style aesthetics; in fact, the more I see of it the more it is confirmed to me that it has no limits or boundaries. I am indeed referring to the infamous arts block style aesthetic. (I’m not trying to discriminate against all the other non-arts students on campus by not mentioning them, but being a mere English student, I wouldn’t know anything about those far and mysterious lands of science and numbers.) As a fresher walking into the arts block for the very first time, in many cases having just left a school with a strict uniform dress code only months before, one’s first glimpse of the arts block may seem like a dream… or perhaps a nightmare to some. Suddenly you are engulfed in an ocean of skinny scarves, oversized leather jackets, docs, loafers, trainers the size of bricks, knee high boots, strange hats, trench coats, often even several trench coats layered on top of each other, fur coats (best be faux fur or beware freshers, you WILL get floored) blazers, maxi skirts, baby tees, gilets, dungarees, and the list goes on. Yet that is exactly the point; the list does go on. And on. And on. And I haven’t found it to stop. People always joke that there is a designated and very specific ‘arts block style aesthetic’, but I would argue that this style aesthetic is only defined by being limitlessly free. You can dress in any way you please in the arts block (so long as you’re not in leggings and a hoodie, that is in fact an arts block crime and the arts block police will indeed arrest you).
Now, some may say that having a personal style has limits to only being able to wear certain garments, colours, silhouettes and so on… but I would argue on the contrary. The only person who can define and limit your style is you. No need to dress like the clean girl, the coastal granddaughter, the hippie… yes these are all style aesthetics that can be useful influences, but ultimately, you just dress as you. Your style is your own, it is original and it is limitless. The clothes you wear are more than just mere pieces of fabric; they are a powerful weapon for confidence and self-expression. You wake up every morning as a blank canvas and walk out the door as a beautiful work or art, which differs every day. Keep them guessing what you’re going to walk into the arts block wearing next.
WORDS: Eloïse Sherrard
