The search for enlightenment through fashion

I cannot believe it’s been over a year since I bought my first copy of i-D. I guess when you are in a happy relationship with anything, let it be a person or, in this case, a fashion magazine, the time flies by unnoticed.

Needless to say I picked the latest issue as soon as I decided on my choice of the cover, which wasn’t as easy as it might seem. Once the treasure was mine I got ready for an evening of reading. It was then when I can across a fabulous article offering 50 insights and tips from the fashion insiders that was so witty and brilliant I had to share some of it with you.

1. Being “on-trend” is a mediocre aspiration that will never make anyone remember you.

2. Words like “edgy” and “directional” should be used sparingly, otherwise you sound like the tacky fashion “expert” off breakfast telly.

3. Designers always admire their muse’s “attitude” more than what the muse wears. So, actions speak louder than clothes, ultimately.

4. Spending hours and hours getting ready and looking in the mirror is always a good use of time and well worth the effort, but only if the end result creates the illusion of thrown-together effortlessness.

5. If you are going to blog about fashion, make sure you can string a sentence together.

6. Buying an item of clothing which you know deep down isn’t really “you”, will always mean you feel like a tosser while wearing it.

7. It is better to buy one stomach-churningly expensive piece of clothing that you love – even if it means you can’t pay the rent next month – rather than an array of cheap things which you just, sort of, quite like.

8. The best designers are those who come up with something which you didn’t previously know you wanted until you saw it for the first time.

9. More fashion designers should “take a season out” if they feel like going so. Good ideas do not inherently happen every six months.

10. You have to look way beyond the territory of fashion in order to create a new style. And in relation to that, a “reference” or “homage” should not be a license to simply emulate someone else’s ideas from yesteryear.

11. If your parents like what you are wearing, you are clearly doing something wrong.

12. Fashion is one of the most effective forms of communication and self-expression, but it doesn’t compensate for having something interesting to say.

13. Don’t believe everything you read about fashion just because it’s been published somewhere reputable: process the information and always make your own mind.

The other 37 “rules” as well as several pages long interviews (including the one with Grace Coddington), inspirational stories and an absolutely gorgeous editorial featuring Laetitia and Lara can be found in the Wise Up issue that you can still get on-line.

Photo source: i-D