As the season slowly shifts into spring, Iβve been spending more time stood in front of my wardrobe thinking about what to wear. Or even worse, feeling stuck about what to wear. In the past, I might have taken this to mean that I need more clothes, but in a constant effort to curb my consumption I have redefined my relationship with the experience. What I feel does not come from the absence of clothes but rather from the absence of inspiration.
When I feel inspired, I am open to new ways of looking at my wardrobe. The plain black T-shirt I bought with a boyish look in mind can be a chic 90s minimalist look. The elegant Jamawar shawl I bought on holiday can be an Erykah Badu-style headscarf. In looking for inspiration as an offering of new fashion perspectives, we can keep our personal style fresh, interesting and up to date while bypassing the pressure to keep buying more clothes.
I find that I am most open to new ideas about fashion when Iβm scrolling on Pinterest and so I try to extend this mindset into my daily life. With that outlook as my guide, I have compiled three recent styling moments that have inspired me to reflect on my personal style, my wardrobe and how I want to present myself to the world in this new season.
1. clairoβs charm tour styling
The third studio album Charm reveals a new flirty, feminine side to Clairo. Ingenious stylists Nancy KotΓ© and Harper Slate have perfectly realised the bold, playful sensuality that runs throughout the album in the stying for her Charm Tour. Each outfit plays with silhouettes from the fifties to the eighties to the present day. While some looks are bolder than others, not one is predictable.
Clairoβs styling is always paired with light make-up (itβs rare to even see her in blush), her iconic tightly-curled baby fringe and lightly tousled hair, lending each look a casual grace.
Up until the release of Charm, Clairoβs fashion was associated with graphic baby tees, oversized jumpers, Mom Jeans and vintage loafers. So this move to wear glamorous vintage dresses with high heels is a bold one. Of course, we all don’t have the cushion of expert stylists to plan out our fashion rebrand, but anyone who has ever stepped outside of their comfort zone even for a night can attest to its vulnerability.
Whenever I wear heavy make-up I cringe at the thought that everyone can see that Iβm trying to look pretty. Yet this is what is captivating about her recent styling. We know that she’s trying to look pretty because she’s telling us. She sings on the lead single Sexy to Someone,
I want to be sexy to someone (Is it too much to ask?)/ I want to be sexy to someone (Then whatβs holding you back?)
Her vulnerability is alluring, hypnotic. Perhaps being seen trying is something that we can add to an outfit and wear like a charm.
2. lily rose-deppβs nosferatu press tour styling
Something that caught my attention in recent press is the sleek hairstyle Lily Rose-Depp has been committed to wearing on her Nosferatu press tour. Lily Rose-Deppβs pin-curls are the golden thread tying each unique piece she wears on her tour together. (Thank you Bryce Scarlett!)
Spencer Singer, her visionary stylist for the promotions, has previously mentioned that his styling is βcharacter basedβ, and it shows with this wave of looks. The pin curls lend each look an elegant 1950s femininity, no matter how revealing or eccentric. Itβs the tension between these elements makes each new look so captivating.
Admittedly, I have no plans to straighten my hair and wear them in pin curls but I am inspired by this idea of wearing using my hair as not only an accessory to accent an outfit but also as a tool to redefine it all together.
3. enya umanzorβs styling
Iβve been admiring Enyaβs laidback approach to fashion lately. Despite the pressure that comes with being elevated to fashion icon status for practically every girl with an interest in vintage Miu Miu, Enya is often seen wearing basics. Baggy ripped jeans, a worn leather jacket, an oversized knitted jumper.
Honestly, I could see any of her outfits on the street and not bat an eyelid until she wears it. And Enyaβs commitment to wearing the most casual, low-effort outfits across all her content tells me that she knows it too.
I started buying secondhand clothes when I was a teenager because I believed they would imbue me with a βcoolnessβ that I thought I didnβt have. The idea that it could have been the other way around, that I was making those (ugly) secondhand jumpers cool by wearing them, had never occurred to me.
Now, looking at the people that inspire my fashion, I find it is exactly that. And so I take that with me into spring. The knowledge that I am someoneβs inspiration not the clothes on my back.
whippet! 