by Saira Karim

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: June 15, 2008

Begone you "Fashionistas" and phoney mall rats I can't stomach anymore of this disingenous blithering ! Fashion is well and truly dead! Yes Yves Saint Laurent RIP was a true testament to style and grace which will always be en vogue but Fashion as we know it right here right now revolves around cheap wedges, sticky tight denim ( too much lyrca and not enough cotton)and oversized hair ! What is it with this current obsession for artifical hair why can't you hot chicks just grow it long if that's what you want? I mean gluing ones hair for "fashion", seems so unedifying and quite improper!

Fashion should be sartorial, elegant timeless and of course easy. Think Grace , Audrey and Quentin deliciously groomed and a dream on the eye. Understated glamour now means wearing your cargo pants with your kitten heels ( a look that will never work regardless of how taught your midriff is ).

Who decides what's fashionable and what's not ? Why it's us of course the droning consumer who dotes on the celebrity who is styled by an individual or sometimes three often. with delusory visions of what they do.

Those who succumb to the heavy laboured looks of fall spring and summer are doomed as docile , unimaginative goons . Those who stand up in bold alternative attire are targeted for their different styles.

Fashion is you Fashion is me. Fashion is all about self expression and creativity without pandering to something that can only possibly look good on an A list celbutante with lashings of air brushing and blended lighting.

But doesn't fashion establish your identity ? Preppies favour neutral coloured chinos and polo shirts while punk babes sport ripped tees and frayed skirts . In a way it's true if you succumb to a particular sense of dress you can feel like you belong to a bigger community but that's not exclusively about what you wear it's how you feel when you wear it . The subtext of adorning yourself in a Roberto Cavali evening gown may scream : money money money but could just as easily translate into dummy dummy dummy. Arty vintage second hand coats might want you to evoke the romanticism of Shakespere but without class shout : only chips and beer.

If you haven't got oodles of dosh to splurge on a "designer" item and even if you have I suggest one staple in every woman's wardrobe that will never date and always look fresh and fabulous : the ubiquitious crisp white shirt made of poplin . It's not fussy or loud but it creates the right kind of drama with some sexy stilettos and a pair of easy washed jeans or a short tight skirt. As for you gents I suggest a soft black tee in brushed cotton great with jeans or smarter trousers and with just enough understatement to show you're not fashionable you're stylish. That's what's ultimately cool being hip without even trying !

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