Fashion. We’re surrounded by it. Billboard advertisements, glossy magazines, print advertising and advertising on television have always been for decades. Renowned conventions and shows bring the style savvy flocking to fashion capitals, such as London, Paris, Milan and New York every year for as long as we can remember. But nowadays, with most people active on social media, we have even more exposure to high end and commercial fashion. Instagram, a highly popular photo sharing app, can take partial credit for getting thousands of girls into beauty and fashion blogging or vlogging. The whole site is based on image. Models have portfolios on there. Brands collect followers. Here are a few ideas on how to take inspiration from high end fashion and apply the concepts and styles to your everyday life.
DIY
High fashion comes in two styles. First, we have the ready-to-wear looks. Things you could picture yourself wearing to work, lunch or on a night out. If you’d like an example of this kind of design, view it from Madison Los Angeles, a perfect example of high quality design that can go straight from the store shelf to your wardrobe. A second is conceptual fashion. Runways and high fashion photoshoots often see models wear items that you might not necessarily wear in real life. What’s the point of these clothes? Well, to inspire, of course. You can take certain aspects of the outfit and work with them in more subtle ways. Incorporate certain quirky colours, patterns and designs into your everyday wear.
With ready-to-wear looks, it’s worth investing in statement pieces in themselves. However, when it comes to the concept pieces, there’s little point forking out thousands of pounds for things that you’re never going to wear. With concept pieces, you can simply take up a do it yourself attitude. Found a colour palette that you particularly like on a catwalk? Get out and purchase some fabric in similar tones. Make your own skirts or shift dresses in it. Seen an outfit with cut out shoulders that you like? Take some scissors to a jumper or shirt that you already have lying about. You can recreate any look you like. All you need is to learn a little seamstress technique and textiles knowledge.
Blogging
Want to make a career out of beauty and fashion? Or perhaps you just want to share your personal style and passion with the world. Regardless of your motive, it’s never been easier to share your passion with the world. Blogging and vlogging are easy once you know your way about the web, so why wouldn’t you give it a go? This generation has seen the rise of the beauty and fashion bloggers and vloggers. Hundreds of thousands of people across the world have taken to sharing their style with strangers across the world at the touch of a button. So how do you go about starting up?
Create an Instagram account. Share pictures that reflect your interests, tastes and style. The much used #OOTD hashtag stands for “outfit of the day”. Check it out to see others’ outfits and what’s on trend this season. Join in by posting your own. Communicate with others. Ask where they get their inspiration. Where they bought certain pieces. Who their influences are. You’ll rapidly gain followers and become part of the fashion community in no time.
Blogs
Do you enjoy writing? Why not try out blogging? You can use a personal blog to share your interests and talk through what you’re thinking of current fashion trends and events. Review shows, collections and events. Share your own outfits. Talk through your inspirations and explain how you came to putting certain outfits or looks together. Add pictures to keep your page bright and cheerful.
Vlogs
Perhaps you’re more of a talker than a writer. Vlogging is the act of video blogging. Rather than writing, you create your own channel and create videos. This is a particularly popular medium when it comes to giving tutorials and demonstrations. The advantage is that your viewer can actually see what you’re doing and the outcomes. They can communicate with you in comments sections, so get interactive. Take suggestions on your videos. You’ll build a fanbase, so work out who you’re catering to and what they want.
Learn and Train
Why not study what you love? If you’re the academic type, you could take up courses that look into the social and cultural influences on fashion and the way that fashion influences society and culture in return. If you’re more business savvy, you can take design courses, event management courses for fashion events. If you’re hands on and creative, you can learn how to sew and create clothing of your own on course for seamstresses. When it comes to a career in the fashion industry, it’s both about who you know and what you know. You need to be skilled, but you also need contacts. When you study, you meet others who want to work in the same sector. You can collaborate. You’ll be in an environment where you can gain sage advice and solid, constructive criticism. You will have tutors who can advise you on your career path. You will be surrounded by people who have experience in the industry and know the best way to go about things.
Internships
Keep an eye out for fashion internships. They’ll usually come up in major cities and often they will be unpaid. Some firms will offer to pay your expenses though. These are great opportunities for those interested in high end fashion and can open all sorts of doors. You’ll gain brilliant experience, make new friends and professional acquaintances and learn a lot. You’ll be able to live high end fashion every day, so it should be an experience you really enjoy. If not, then you might want to consider trying out another area of fashion to the one you’ve just tried. It’s a good taster to know what you’re letting yourself in for in the long run.
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