Sharon Irvine believes a person is more ‘fashionable’ by following their own sense of style and not following current trends.

Our fashion expert, Sharon Irvine, believes a person is more ‘fashionable’ by following their own sense of style and not following current trends…

The Oxford English dictionary defines the term fashionable as a ‘characteristic of, influenced by, or representing a current popular trend or style’ or in describing a person ‘dressing or behaving according to the current trend’.

I, however don’t find this term to be entirely accurate as I believe a person can be more ‘fashionable’ by following their own sense of style and not rigidly following current trends.

When I am out and about chatting to people and we get talking about fashion many people would tell me that they consider themselves unfashionable, they don’t have a clue about fashion or in fact feel that they are exempt from fashion because they don’t care about it or don’t buy into it.

This however couldn’t be further from the truth as everyone has their part to play in fashion.

One of my favourite films ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ has a very interesting part where Fashion Editor Miranda Priestly chastises her unfashionable PA Andy for thinking fashion was just ‘stuff’ and that it had nothing to do with her however Miranda made a very good point that although Andy thinks she is above fashion and that because she doesn’t follow fashion it doesn’t involve her but she couldn’t be more wrong.

Miranda explained to Andy that she chose to purchase the lumpy blue jumper she was wearing and little did she know but that particular colour of blue featured highly on the catwalk seasons before and the colour trend then filtered down to the high street where it was purchased.

The point Miranda was trying to make was that although many people mindlessly purchase items of clothing thinking that their choice (or lack of choice) makes them exempt from the fashion industry the fact is that everything that ends up in shops has been chosen, designed and manufactured for them by the industry so they can never be exempt from fashion when without it they would have no clothes to wear.

Every day I see fashionable people either on the street in magazines or on the internet and the majority of those fashionable people are dressed in unique outfits not led by current trends. Usually when I admire someones choice of outfit and compliment them on it they are very humble and this is especially true of Fermanagh folk.

Firstly we don’t know how to take a compliment and secondly we don’t understand the true nature of being fashionable.

In my opinion it is very easy to copy a look from a magazine or wear something a shop assistant told you would look good together or what you have been told is ‘on trend’ and yes this may make you look fashionable and be fashionable but I feel the true essence of being fashionable is someone who is not afraid to mix it up, experiment and take risks.

In most cases the most fashionable people don’t even realise what they have done; they have just put together something they feel looks good on them, are not trying to impress anyone and are happy with their choice.

Coco Chanel once said that ‘fashion is not something that exists in dresses alone. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live and what is happening.”

We all make a choice of what we wear each day judging on the weather, where we are going, how we are feeling and what’s not on the ironing pile or wash basket. Although many of us may not realise, what we wear says a lot about us, whether that we like a particular colour, we like comfort, our occupation, our taste in music, our religion or culture.

You can never be exempt from fashion no matter how mindlessly you dress yourself in the morning we all make a choice whether we consider it with great thought or not.

You don’t have to be obsessed with fashion, follow trends, know every designer or go to countless fashion shows in order to be fashionable you just have to wear your choice with confidence, stand out from the crowd and stay true to your own image and shape.