Stealing Style...

[fashionista-ta]

I *thought* that sounded awfully realistic How mortifying

 

[jenmkat]

when I think about what I want my personal style to be, I think back on the people in my life that I admired (the brunette girl in my high school art class with fair skin that easy look about her), and overall feelings/themes that I like (autumn style, natural but sharp). I am still working on it but I am financially modest and don't really know the resources. I don't get to shop often, I just wish that I could happen upon pieces that I can't live without. I get certain things but then I don't know what to do with them. I think about 4-6 times a month I feel really put together and stylish and 100% ME, the other times I feel like I just threw on whatever was clean.

I should mention that I have a one-year-old and, while I know it shouldn't be an excuse, I am just now feeling I am back to my regular body. I need to learn to work with it again.

 

[melt977]

Inspiring thread!!!! Thanks everyone for sharing....

IMO, if you understand the background of what you are wearing then even if you copy someone else's idea you will do it well and it will look your own... if you don't understand where it's coming from you'll never get it right... for example, if you don't understand the fashion background of the safety pin your outfit will never be complemented by wearing one, even if the person who inspired you did it right...

seeing someone using a safety pin as an accessory and being able to grasp its punk connotations you will definetely be able to use it in the way it should be used (whatever this is)...

so, to wrap my thought up, if you know your history, you can dress well and be individual because you know what your clothes and accessories mean and what they represent.

 

[copper]

i think that there are a lot of people who directly copy what the celebs wear.

however, i think some people go a little bit overboard on 'ownership' of a particular item

example: ashely olsen wore a black&white striped tee.
sienna miller then wore a black&white striped tee.
i wore a black&white striped tee 3 years ago.
convicts wore black&white striped tees long before me.
so, does this mean that i was copying convicts, ashley was copying me, and sienna was copying ashley?

 

[UNiQFashionista]

I hate it that when I go back to my home country (where im rather known for my style) i see girls coping whatever i do..when i got into scarfs...3 months later more girls from my circle starting doing it..i colored my hair jet black and cut it short..there ya go lots of girls did it..i started the whole boho look..years ago,...girls in my society started to follow...same with the skinny jeans now and the big bags and big shades and and......im not flattering myself...but since i know everyone knows me in my society as a trend setter..it really pisses me off..and turns me off from my own style sometimes...but when i think how kate moss inspires me......and i get style ideas from her....im like...well maybe its the same for them..but then again..im not an international super icon...im just an individual...so i feel ripped off......thank god no one is into vintage ..and it disgusts them the whole idea of seconed hand..so for now..thats something i have a monopoly on......haha

 

[copper]

^reading that reminds me of something.

i think that people like to think they started a trend, but really, did you make those skinny jeans with your own sewing machine? no. there was a designer out there who had the idea already, and was selling them in a shop for you to buy.

really, the credit for goes to the designers.

even the 'trendsetting' olsen twins were covered in designs by marc jacobs/dita sunglasses/balenciaga/chloe

 

[QuirkyCool]

Firstly,let's leave the Olsen twins out of this,I'm not going there. .

But is that 100% true,Copper? Designers may churn out clothes,but "style icons" (often set up by the media) go a long way toward making those trends appear on the streets.

I agree with you that it is often hard to know who started/inspired a trend on the street,though.The process is often multifactorial.

Plus,you'd find that different portions of the market look to different sources for 'inspiration',even when it comes to the same season or trends.

I,for example,can only regard the olsen twins with a kind of baffled amusement...but then i said I wouldn't go there .

 

[melt977]

^reading that reminds me of something.

i think that people like to think they started a trend, but really, did you make those skinny jeans with your own sewing machine? no. there was a designer out there who had the idea already, and was selling them in a shop for you to buy.

really, the credit for goes to the designers.

Style has nothing to do with the designers.... style is the way you wear your clothes sewn together by the person who sews for the designer.... style is how you wear something to represent your personality.... so you people wearing skinny jeans but very few are thought of as stylish because they are the ones who wear it in a way it represents them... in a way that says something about them...

 

[copper]

Designers may churn out clothes,but "style icons" (often set up by the media) go a long way toward making those trends appear on the streets.

in my opinion, style is not about the actual items, but the way they are put together, chosen, and uniquely styled.
the designers play a fundamental role in CREATING the pieces we pick and choose from!

that is why UNIQfashionista's post hit a nerve, as she labelled specific items with a sort of ownership: scarves, big sunnies, skinny jeans.

i believe that people such as kate moss who are well known 'trend setters' have the humility and understanding to know that fashion is ephemeral and constantly recycling itself. there is no such thing as ownership of certain items

 

[QuirkyCool]

Good point melt 77

 

[QuirkyCool]

Sorry copper we must have posted at the same time...I agree with you too...and I wasn't referring to specific garments but to ways of wearing them as melt said...

I wonder if Uniq was also referring to the *way* in which she wears scarves or sunglasses,not that she invented the actual garments...that's what I took it to mean..dunno...don't know about her style icon status in her country either,just saying...

I still don't feel that designers come up with style though...that was my first point,but thne maybe I misunderstood your first post.

(am at work and must stop now LOLOL)

 

[melt977]

i believe that people such as kate moss who are well known 'trend setters' have the humility and understanding to know that fashion is ephemeral and constantly recycling itself. there is no such thing as ownership of certain items

Karma for you! Especially for using the word humility!

 

[copper]

I still don't feel that designers come up with style though...

designers play a huge role in my opinion. their artistic eye has refined a jacket to the 'style' that it is.

we have seen this a LOT with celebrities wear pre-styled outfits directly from the runway.
in that case, is it the celebrities style that we are looking at, or marc jacobs/karl lagerfelds?

but i could also argue that somebody who wore a pre-styled outfit, or was styled by somebody else (rachel zoe anyone?!) has no personal style, but is merely wanting to look fashionable and contemporary.

this is a very diverse and complicated topic that i could argue from so many perspectives though!

 

[copper]

Karma for you! Especially for using the word humility!

thankyou!

 

[dizzydog]

To me, a person's 'style' is less about the actual clothes and more about the confidence with which one wears them. Two people can wear the same outfit, but the person who feels truly at ease in their own skin, as well as in their clothes, will appear infinately more stylish than someone who merely wears the clothes as a human 'hanger' and only wears them because they want to appear stylish.

 

[QuirkyCool]

designers play a huge role in my opinion. their artistic eye has refined a jacket to the 'style' that it is.

we have seen this a LOT with celebrities wear pre-styled outfits directly from the runway.
in that case, is it the celebrities style that we are looking at, or marc jacobs/karl lagerfelds?

but i could also argue that somebody who wore a pre-styled outfit, or was styled by somebody else (rachel zoe anyone?!) has no personal style, but is merely wanting to look fashionable and contemporary.

this is a very diverse and complicated topic that i could argue from so many perspectives though!

I think we're talking about two different things...I am (and I think the thread is )talking about personal style and not the style of a jacket .Two different people could wear exactly the same garment in 2 very different ways...

And copying a runway look is never style.

Style is something personal;and I think that that is what the thread is about;do people on your environment copy the *way* you do fashion.Your best friend buying the same Balenciaga bag could fall into this category,but it is often more subtle than that.

 

[Curious]

^ Excellent point Quirk

Yes, this thread is most definitely about personal style, the way we wear clothing, and not the style or cut of the piece itself. I'd also like to point out that even some designers use stylists at their runway shows, so the credit may not go solely to the designer in terms of runway style either

 

[*Princesse*]

I'm inspired by actresses and things I see in magazines. If I see them wearing something a certain way, I might copy that. I doubt I'd ever copy an outfit piece by piece. I tried once or twice to directly copy an outfit from a magazine, and I ended up following my own, cute little path until it turned out to be something else. I think I have too much fun playing with clothes to directly copy someone elses style. It's like sucking the entire fun out of it all.
I have these black and white twead high-heel pumps with a tad bit of toe cleavage that I love. I get compliments on them, and I wear them so often. Then a week or two ago, this girl in my class sported a pair that looked vaugly familiar, though, of course, in my opinion, were far less cute (rounded toe and missing the cleavage.) I'm sure she was trying to rip of my shoes. Of course, my opinion on the situation could be more due to the fact that she blatently hates me, and I'm not overly fond of her, either. Think I could be reading too much into the shoe thing? Of course, that wasn't exactly stealing my style anyway, which I think is still developing too much at this point for anyone to actually "steal."

 

[Pastry]

i steal and get stolen from...

most of the times, i wil copy an entire look, sometimes just an idea..
and people have ripped me many times. for example i button my shirt up all the way very high. i do a lot of geek chic. next day, people do the same.

i hate it, but then again, i steal from others. i'm such a hyppocrite

 

[The_Ida]

My best friend copied my thing - a ribbon in my ponytail. But I just think it's cute that she wants to steal my thing, really. I know that she likes my style