Stealing Style...

[Elegance.Is.Refusal.]

i get inspired by other peoples style but would never steal out right because i have my own style and i'd rather be me than someone else.... i usually get inspired by the clothes when i see them in the shop rather than on a person!

but stealing someones whole outfit is completely wrong! we need more individuality not clones!

 

[*Sunrise_Serena*]

I've never stolen someone else's style and I doN't think I ever will cause to me style is about being individual and not trying to copy it frome someone else. Though I think Inspiration is a good way to find your own style. I get inspired by a lot of other people whether it's a celebrity, a friend or someone i see on the streets or i magazines, but I would never copy, i think that's really cheap.

A "friend" of mine, used to buy exactly the same clothes my best friend and I would wear. It was really annoying. She would copy everything. I never thought of it as a compliment really cause it was just too annoying to see exactly the same clothes on somebody else everytime: i didn't want to wear my own stuff anymore. I hated it and when we spoke to her about it she would always say "I didn't know you have it." or "I can wear what i want, I don't copy you." something like that and she wouldn't stop. She would copy everyone. Whatever we bought, she would buy the same stuff and it didn't even look good on her because she really doesn't know how to throw things together. I could never do something like that. If you don't have Individuality or copy someone, you really have no style.

 

[poshigirl]

I have never steal someone style but I have get inspired by someone. Like all the stars. I like NicoleR, LindsayL styles but that because they have Rachel for personal assistance.

 

[mighty_isis]

great topic!

Ive noticed quite a few women on another fashion board I frequent "steal" celebrities styles (Nicole Richie, Jessica Simpson to give example) meaning they find out who makes the outfit they like & they wear it exactly how the celeb did right down to the exact hair style.

I find it kind of annoying because, to me, fashion isnt about wearing something exactly the same way as the celeb. I have no problem with people being inspired but to copy the style the exact same way shows no inspiration and (to me) shows you arent very fashionable or stylish. Youre just a clone.

 

[thovety]

I've had my style stolen a couple of times. first they think my outfit is a bit strange but then a few weeks after they're all wearing it...
can be annoying sometimes.
I don't think I steal other peoples style, I just get inspired.

 

[maiden voyage]

my current style is pretty low key so i don't know if i'd notice if anyone 'copied' it!

but in high school/college i definately had people use my ideas... and it was a bummer because they kind of over-exposed things i was doing so that it wasn't fun for me anymore. and they copied in a really literal way so it didn't even work with their style, it looked 'copied'.

the funniest time was when i had done a very cute, specific hairstyle and bumped into a girl I knew - she was obviously studying me, and that night I saw her at a party and she'd tried to do the same exact thing - and it really didn't suit her, so I had to laugh!

but I think people learn a lot from each other, and that's cool, it's how styles evolve.

 

[AlexN]

When I get dressed in the morning, I'll usually look in my closet and see a piece I want to wear. Say it's a pair of Ann Demeulemeester boots. The thought or sight of those will automatically complete the overall feel and image of the outfit I want to wear that day in my head. Of course runway images come to mind, or maybe an ad campaign if it's a Dior item or something. So I guess what I'm saying is that my style is heavily influenced. And if influence is theft, I'm guilty. Perhaps there's a fine line. I may walk on both sides from time to time. But I've never looked at something and attempted a recreation.

 

[Fade to Black]

When I get dressed in the morning, I'll usually look in my closet and see a piece I want to wear. Say it's a pair of Ann Demeulemeester boots. The thought or sight of those will automatically complete the overall feel and image of the outfit I want to wear that day in my head. Of course runway images come to mind, or maybe an ad campaign if it's a Dior item or something. So I guess what I'm saying is that my style is heavily influenced. And if influence is theft, I'm guilty. Perhaps there's a fine line. I may walk on both sides from time to time. But I've never looked at something and attempted a recreation.

I'm the exact same way, Alex. I will have visual representations of a runway styling, photo shoot, candid picture, or movie character outfit that comes to mind immediately after seeing or thinking of a piece in my closet and immediately everything comes together in 2-3 seconds, and that ends up being my outfit of the day. I guess I don't steal exact outfits from said inspirations, since I don't have the actual clothes, but a lot of the outfits I wear are representations/interpretations of a look I have seen before and admired, so I'm guilty of influence as well. But then again I think everyone to a certain degree is...

 

[helena]

a girl at my office buys stuff like mine. SHe always asks me where I get the things I wear. It infuriates me more & More all the time.

I quite often 'steal' particular outfits I see other people wearing...or from magazines. But I don't think i steal their 'style'.

 

[nr9dream]

I’m inspired all the time by things I see around but if you really know your likes/dislikes & what suits you I don’t think this qualifies as ‘stealing’ style…

Between friends it’s fine & fun I think to share new fashion finds/passions etc. as long as it goes both ways and one is not constantly copying the other…this has happened to me in the past, but lately no.

 

[northernsky]

i agree that there is a fine line between taking inspiration and stealing from someone and it's hard to tell where the one thing begins and the other one ends. but i think it's fine anyway, the only line i would see as not to be crossed is giving someone the feeling to be stolen from. that's just not polite.

 

[softgrey]

helping people find their style is sometimes part of the job for me...
and a lot of people ask me to heolp them with their personal wardrobes...
i have been on photo shoots where the photographer will ask the hair person to do the model's hair like mine (i was cutting my own hair at the time cause i could find anyone who understaood what i wanted it to look like), etc...

when you are styling a fashion story..you are essentially putting your personal style out there for everyone to see...
so the chances are pretty good that you will influence some people...
i actually think it is a great compliment if you do...

i think the obvious way to avoid appearing that you are stealing someone else's style...
is to acknowledge the source of your inspiration...
*give credit where credit is due...*

if you see someone wearing a lot of blue and it suddenly puts you in the mood to wear blue too...
then you have clearly been influenced...
which i think is fine...and even good sometimes...
but i think it's only fair to thank that person for inspiring you...
thank you helena......
as long as people do that, then i am fine with it...


**it was especially bad in HS...people would copy me left and right...
they would never acknowledge it...
of course, EVERYONE knew...people would come up to me and say 'amy so-and-so is wearing your pants'.......
the best was when someone would wear something like me and then come up to me and tell me that the reason they did it is cause they saw me doing it...and they usually looked really cute...so i thought it was a great compliment..it's a pretty good feeling to help someone look and feel better...

 

[QuirkyCool]

yeh I think it's impossible to have a wholly un-inspired style, whether you are inspired by a friend or by a celebrity or an artist, or even the fashion spot (that's what tfs is here for!), whatever. but that's quite different from copying... inspiration is only re-interpreting elements of something and making it entirely your own. for example, I am inspired by the new gothic thread... or I am inspired by a friend's vintage wardrobe... but never copy. copying is boring. I have too many ideas and clothing pieces that are my own and unique to rip someone else's style off.

Well said by Utopia,I think.Plus,"stealing style" is a rather self-defeating exercise,because you become a carbon copy,instead of what you would (presumably) like to be,which is a unique and expressive individual.

I don't think I've ever been a victim or a perpetrator

PS Softie I suppose that's an occupational hazard for you.

 

[Alejandro]

I don't even want to try to sound obnoxious by saying that people down here have stolen my style, but some have...

I just find it flattering in a way when I see Ale clones

 

[Fade to Black]

I don't even want to try to sound obnoxious by saying that people down here have stolen my style, but some have...

I just find it flattering in a way when I see Ale clones

heh i'd be flattered too if i had people come up to me saying they were inspired by my style...but then again my style isn't really distinct enough to extract a defined 'look' from unless you count the ideology of clean, slim lines as a unique look...it's definitely not in urban centers, although in a sea of Hollister sweatshirts and torn jeans it does feel kinda cool lookin a bit out of place...

 

[softgrey]

i guess it's really a very common thing...

...

there are even pages in magazine called-'steal her style'...
with a pic of a celeb and how to get the look for less...

 

[calexico]

i guess it's really a very common thing...

...

there are even pages in magazine called-'steal her style'...
with a pic of a celeb and how to get the look for less...

... might as well walk up to a mannequin and tell the store clerk you want "that entire outfit, just as it's shown"

 

[Baizilla]

I'm "stealing" from Hedi Slimane and Alexandre Plokhov... muhaha

No really.. i agree with you guys, Alex & FtB ..
.. I often have a runway look in my mind, which i try to duplicate, but not a 100% percent, because i also want to incorporate a little bit of my own style into it..

 

[softgrey]

... might as well walk up to a mannequin and tell the store clerk you want "that entire outfit, just as it's shown"

i think some people sort of do that...
of they have a pic from a magazine...

 

[calexico]

i think some people sort of do that...
of they have a pic from a magazine...

... yes, i was actually referring to an old shopping friend of mine who had the nastiest habit of requesting entire outfits from mannequins...

needless to say, we no longer shop together anymore...