Fashion changes every season and we are updated with the latest trends. But to have style you don’t have to follow trends. Style is something individual, a way for you to show the world who you are. Your style probably says more about you than you might think. Someone’s style is very individual and that means you can never have a bad or an ugly style because it is a reflection of who you are. Fashion is supposed to be fun. It should challenge us and perhaps make us discover new things about ourselves. If you say fashion is a way to express yourself, how far can you go? What can and can’t be generalized?
Wouldn’t it be better if everyone gave people a chance before judging, but the human being doesn’t work like that. Man is designed to decide with the first impression whether to fight or flight; could this person hurt me? But people’s first impressions aren’t that simple. Oftentimes we like people with styles similar to ours or a style we wish we had. Less common styles can make us uncomfortable because we can’t really predict the outcome of the situation. New situations are intimidating but that doesn’t mean we can’t accept new people and new fashion styles. If we never accept the atypical, change can never happen and we can never grow.
But how should we interpret all the signals an individual gives us? In many cases of rape, the attacker has claimed the victim wore a short skirt or other types of provocative clothing so the attacker interpreted the situation as the victim wanted sex. That’s not the truth! A short skirt doesn’t mean yes. A yes is a yes and a no is a no, regardless of taste in style or length of skirt. Women and girls have a right to show off their sexuality their clothing choices by wearing sexy and daring clothes without attackers having some kind of right to their bodies. No man ever has the right to own another’s body. It is wrong to ask what a woman was wearing when she was raped. It doesn’t matter what she wore because a rape is always wrong and cannot be justified. A woman, girl, boy or child never “ask” to be raped.
Short skirts or showing cleavage can be a question of style, but also a way for a woman to symbolize her sexuality. Women and girls have sexuality, that’s not going to go away no matter what Chanel’s Winter collection states about the season’s fashion. And again, style and clothes are individual just like sexuality. You have a right to follow fashion and all the trends and you have a right to wear your mother’s clothes from the ’80s. It doesn’t matter, it’s your style and your way to live. Wear the clothes you love and feel comfortable with. Have a style which shows the world who you are, because you are beautiful, unique and sexy.
Maria Brambeck for RealStars