The fashion blues

We all know the feeling: you look in your wardrobe and find nothing to wear, so you attempt to go shopping, but see nothing to buy. Eventually you concede and wear your wardrobe basics and hope inspiration comes from somewhere.

However, in 2017 finding original fashion inspiration is near impossible. Instagram feeds are filled with the same images over and over again, be it Kardashian-esque glamour, 90s chic, Alexa Chung wannabes, or rainbow queens, and eventually they all blur into one and the same. The blogger whose style you adored is dilated when Instagram suggests four other bloggers all dressing in exactly the same style.

Slowly but surely the power of the internet has diluted our ability to find anything truly ‘new’. It is not just us as individuals scouring the internet for the latest looks to recreate, but also huge fashion retailers like Topshop, Zara, and H&M, are all looking for the next big thing that will capture the consumers eye. Consequently, the brief moment where you strike inspiration upon some fabulous idea is being sold worldwide in less than six months.

Even here in Manchester we are overrun with the Fallowfield look: we all know it too well, supposedly edgy and vintage but all too often bought in Urban Outfitters for £40. It’s a look that attempts individuality but in our suburb of south Manchester is de rigueur. However, through the doom and gloom of a particularly miserable and grey Tuesday afternoon spent writing this, I am forced to consider what can be done to break the melancholic outlook of my current fashion blues.

When the political climate is so overwhelmingly depressing I know many consider fashion to be of little importance, but for me fashion should offer relief to the drudgery of the news declaring the latest cries of hate. Thankfully as January draws to a close, we can look forward to February and the month long fashion extravaganza that will travel from New York, to London, to Milan, and finish in Paris.

It is not for the new hot item that these shows give me optimism, but because of how they can inspire me to look with a fresh pair of eyes upon what I already own. Runway shows are an opportunity to see something new: a new way of styling, layering, or combining your wardrobe. As trivial as it may seem, a fantastic outfit can lift the spirits, enabling your feeble brain to see some positivity in a 2017 that seems determined to compete with 2016.