“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
These words of inspiration were spoken by one of the first goddesses of fashion, Coco Chanel. Fashion is a creative outlet, a way to communicate your style, your personal brand.
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a French fashion designer and a businesswoman. She was the founder and namesake of the Chanel brand. An original, a feminist and always true to the persona she created which continues to give the brand it’s strength to this day.
So, what’s the point?
Fashion is so much more than the clothing we put on, the splurge on that pair of shoes we have been lusting for, or the latest Vogue telling us what we must have in our closets this season.
Fashion speaks without using words, how you dress communicates who you are and how you feel today. Do you feel Strong? Complicated? Frivolous? Cheeky? Creative? What you decide to wear is your personal self-expression and engages you with the world.
Fashion is very personal, it is the synchronicity of the external with the internal. Thinking and feeling what you want to feel and choosing what to put on to support and reinforce that.
Fashion is about what makes you feel good, beautiful, powerful and in control. It is a celebration of a woman’s beauty and strength.
Fashion tells a story, it creates memories. It influences pop-culture and is also influenced by the past. There is a deep sense of nostalgia with the memory of the special dress you wore as a six-year old, the first one you picked out for yourself. Or the cashmere sweater you could finally afford to buy yourself. (plus, it’s still in your closet, worn with joy and that same feeling of satisfaction every time you decide to pull it out.)
Is Fashion dead?
No one needs to buy a separate work wardrobe anymore. Casual Fridays has become casual every day, with office apparel now just as casual on Monday as on Friday for many work places.
Over the past five years, there is so little differentiation between what people wear to work and on the weekends. Neckties are disappearing, even in industries such as finance. Sneakers can be worn to any occasion, including weddings and religious services, while jeans are routinely worn in professional offices.
While the fitness boom is a terrific trend, the convenience of wearing your power mesh leggings is too easy an alternative when meeting a friend for lunch, with the added bonus that it is undeniably comfortable.
Social media influences in fashion are some of the unfortunate causes to the female population often tugging at too tight and too short dresses for hours at a party just to look like everyone else. Mimicking someone else’s style that does not suit them. Because there are now millions of tastemakers online—with a hodgepodge of aesthetics—it’s ill advised to follow someone else’s style. The Me Too movement has given women the awareness to reject the old paradigm and dress for ourselves as feminine fashionistas!
What’s the answer?
While the fashion industry may seem out of touch to many with “out there” fashions on the runway, there are designers (many of whom are women that have taken the helm at storied fashion houses) and are working at their craft to make women beautiful. A perfect example is Claire Waight Keller’s design for the Givenchy wedding gown for the Duchess of Sussex. So, there is another choice, look to fashion that attracts you and you “feel” for to create a formula to make your style effortless.
In reality, fashion is a much broader concept, encapsulating who we are on an everyday level, and how we project that through our clothes. What we wear is who we are—and it’s quite personal. Behind the word fashion is a world full of creativity, breakthroughs, and endless possibilities.
In essence we want to find who we are and what we want to communicate through our clothes. Align the external with the internal and you will be empowered, confident and beautiful. Be true to your style and establish your personal brand. How it feels is as important as how it looks, this is when what you wear represents who you are inside and out.
Fashion is evolutionary, and it is fun to play with trends that are appealing to you. My advice to you is explore influences, inspirations, likes and dislikes. Add and subtract to your personal style to enhance how you feel. If you feel good in it, you are empowered!
Yansi Fugel, Founder & Designer, Yansi Fugel & Tux Couture, embraced fashion at an early age, learning to sew from her mother and inheriting her sense of style. The joy of thinking and visualizing something and the emotional importance of craft, the making of it to bring it to life is her passion. Her entire career has been in the fashion industry, with a retail company, Paraphernalia for 9 years and then starting her own company and brand for 28 years. Dressing women in “confidence” has always been her calling, clothes that FIT, flatter and make you feel empowered. This was the basis of her namesake collection in dressing women for work and play, with the focus on the customer and her needs. Easy care, many items washable. Easy wear, fabrics that don’t wrinkle and travel well. The philosophy is simple, to make beautiful clothing that is both timely and timeless, using high quality materials and workmanship; clothing that is empowering and imbues confidence. When you feel beautiful you are powerful and this is a legacy to pass on to our daughters in the garments themselves as well as the perspective of how clothes should serve us.