As a graduate from The London College of Fashion, you'd think fashion would be my thing - but it's really not. I put my classmates to shame in fact, because they can rattle off facts about every designer under the sun - and I can only identify a handful of designers by eye. Whilst I can admire beautiful clothes, my time at uni really pushed me more in a beauty/lifestyle kinda direction - oh the irony.
I should have realised I wasn't going to get a traditional University experience at LCF. I was expecting to roll up Monday mornings in my trackies with unwashed bed hair and no makeup and to fit right in. Oh how wrong I was. My university was like a 24/7 fashion show, if you weren't carrying the latest Chanel, you were toting a vintage Birkin, or wearing a set of tie dye dungarees you made yourself at the weekend. I saw 10inch platform creepers, a tartan short suit, unicorn dreadlocks, and a dress made out of condoms. What I didn't ever see, was a hoodie.
I actually found it quite strange, from the age of about 18 I was always most comfortable in jeans and a band tee, I was interested in fashion but not in wearing it myself. I just wanted to be comfortable, and - importantly - I was quite lazy. I wasn't interested in getting out of bed any earlier than I had to for my 9am lecture to get dressed up.
In fact, me and my casual style were so out of place at LCF, the one day I turned up after a Physio appointment in leggings and an oversized sweater, the security guard double checked my ID in the system - he honestly didn't quite believe I was a student. Yup. For real.
So for most of my time at uni I felt kinda uncomfortable with my wardrobe. I wasn't making my own clothes like the design kids, I couldn't afford a new Prada handbag like the fashion buying & merchandising students, and I definitely wasn't dressing like a lawyer like some of the people on my course - skirt suit and court shoes to boot.
Me being uncomfortable led to some definitely questionable clothing purchases - high waisted leather hotpants, fur gilets and Jeffery Campbells to name a few, but these purchases just weren't me, and inevitably languished in the back of my wardrobe.
It wasn't until the end of my third Uni when I wasn't in classes every day, that I really started to find my style groove. I could wear skinny jeans and oversized shirts every day with nobody to bat an eyelid. I stopped spending money on fast, trend based fashion, and instead started investing in classic cuts, pieces I knew I'd wear a hundred times. My Ash Boots, Whistles Sweaters, Micheal Kors Bag, Ralph Lauren Sunglasses, & Nike Free Runs are some of my most worn pieces, and I am so glad I invested in all of them.
I think what I'm trying to say (in a very long winded sort of way) is that you have to dress for you. I love every piece of clothing in my wardrobe now, and a lot of that comes from letting go of what other people think looks good. Who cares if I wear skinny jeans seven days of the week, or if my entire wardrobe is monochrome? What matters is that I feel good in every single piece.
Post a Comment