Clothing is a powerful nonverbal signal. It is how we express ourselves to the world without even saying a word and is a major part of our everyday life.
The two common terms used in the fashion world are style and fashion. But what’s the difference between the two? Although they are often used interchangeably, both of them have different meanings.
Even in the 90s or 80s, there was a set trend of clothing. There was a vibe in those times and a good button-down, trusty pair of jeans, and clean makeup were enough to look staggering.
It’s said that fashion is what you wear and style is how you wear it. Let’s break the two apart and talk about them in detail.
Style refers to a person’s way of expressing themselves. Although Style is influenced by what’s trending or what others are into, our style is personal. Style in a broad view means, a person’s personal choice in accessories, clothes, hairstyle, and how they express their aesthetic choices through these.
“Fashions fade, style is eternal.”
~ Yves Saint Laurent
Everybody has a different set of choices for instance I’m a big fan of something formal but that doesn’t mean everyone will have the same preference. Style is all about being able to express a part of yourself in your clothing.
Dr. Quibell suggests that we may wish to:
“Strengthen our social selves, our character, rather than simply letting our uniforms do the talking. To do this, we might avoid fashion for a while – to experiment with style, rather than what’s “now”.”
Fashion
Fashion Is the Relationship With the Outside
Fashion refers to what is currently in trend right now, meaning what is being featured in magazines, TV, and other fashion runways. Fashion is what is being worn or what’s popular at a certain time. Most people get into trends to be seen, they buy anything that is hitting high scores and they wear it the exact same way it’s depicted in magazines or stores.
“Fashion you can buy, but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There’s no how-to road map to style. It’s about self-expression and, above all, attitude.”
– Iris Apfel
Trying to follow everything trendy can be a bit expensive as these are products owned by big brands. Many Fashion bloggers, editors, and influencers follow these trends but they use their own ideas to express themselves in what they are wearing.
Spreading Means of Fashion
Fashion is an evolving process and the way it reaches out to people has also changed over time. Today there are many ways through which brands try to reach out to buyers but some of the major ones are:
Fashion Magazines
Fashion Influencers
Fashion Shows
Fashion Magazines
Fashion Magazines are an essential communication component of the fashion industry. They’re used to promote luxurious fantasies to the reader who eventually goes on to buy them.
They market materialistic dreams to their readers by encasing beautiful photographs of supermodels and celebrities wearing $50,000 watches and using $250 moisturizers.
Fashion magazines have been around for many years. However, the internet era took their game to a whole new level.
Because they were now open to comments from not only professional journalists and designers but influencers and bloggers as well, therefore, many brands grew and strengthened their names as reputed brands.
Fashion Influencers
A fashion influencer is typically an internet personality that has a huge fan base on social media platforms. They focus on producing content related to fashion and are very acquainted with the trends of the fashion world.
Brands pay these influencers to showcase their designs as these people have the power to influence the opinion and purchase behavior of others with their recommendations.
Influencers also came up with their way of wearing a certain outfit, and this creativity leads to new styles people can rock. Influencers are also a major part of the fashion world as they can promote new fashion trends in their personal style.
Fashion Shows
Fashion shows or runaways are another integral part of the fashion industry. They’re used to portray the latest lineups by designers in an extravagant way.
The purpose of fashion shows is to get exposure and media attention. Fashion shows are filled with designer clothes that most of us wouldn’t even consider purchasing due to their alarming prices.
Fashion isn’t only about looking pretty, but it’s also an artistic statement and this is seen in fashion shows where fashion designers satisfy their creative fantasies while promoting their brand.
Style vs. Fashion
Difference Between Fashion and Style
Fashion
Style
Follows Geography
Breaks all geographical boundaries
It’s copied
It’s awed
Fashion is contemporary
Style is eternal.
Fashion is adaptable
Style is one of a kind.
It’s the most recent creation by designer
It’s a person’s personal creation
Fashion is universal
Style is individual
It’s the relationship to the external
It’s the relationship to the internal
It distracts us from own selves
It brings our attention directly to ourselves.
Fashion evokes connectivity
Style evokes uniqueness
Fashion vs Style
To visually explain, here’s a video explaining the difference between style and fashion:
A detailed video explaining the differences between Fashion and Style
These are some of the major differences that set both of them apart. Let’s take a detailed look at the major ones.
Individual vs. Mass
The sense of style is something that’s different from individual to individual. It’s a way of expressing yourself. A fashion designer brings out clothes that suit and fit their persona and how their choice of clothing reflects their personality.
Fashion on the other hand is all about following the trends and the craze of the fashion world. This means that you’re just following whatever is popular and not expressing yourself in your clothing.
The line between fashion and style is very thin. An influencer takes a bunch of branded clothes and styles them according to his liking and introduces something that hits the top charts. They then start their own clothing line, turning their personal style into fashion.
Permanent vs. Trendy
Style always sticks with you whereas fashion fades away. Fashion is a constant race between brands to bring out the next big thing in the fashion world, as a result, fashion is always constantly changing and to keep up with it’s almost impossible.
However, a stylish person implements his aesthetic choice in whatever he is wearing. Personal style becomes a part of your self and you forget about simply following the trends thus making it changeless.
Now that you are on board with what both of these are and how they are and what are some key differences let’s talk about which one you should go for.
Trends or Personal Style?
When you try to follow trends you’re in a constant process of changing who you are to suit what you are wearing. This can take a big part of yourself away from you because in cases like these you are letting the clothes or the people decide what looks good on you.
Many people want attention and try to grab it by fitting in with what’s popular, which is something very wrong, as being true to yourself is more important.
On the contrary Personal style is all about being true to yourself. You not only buy clothes that are in high demand but you experiment with your options and go for something that fits you in every aspect.
If you have a good sense of style instead of seeking attention, people are in awe of your choice and they’re leaned to try something of their own.
Prioritizing and Loving Yourself
Fashion can be very excruciating for many people. It has the ability to destroy your self-confidence by creating a space between what you want to wear and what people are wearing. This gap leads to chasing clout rather than honoring yourself.
As Dr. Quibell suggests that it’s best to take a break from fashion as that might be soothing and helpful. You should always wear what makes you feel like you, this not only captures the true essence of your beauty but makes you confident in whatever you are wearing.
“Never confuse fashion with style. Fashion relies on unattainable looks on women with unattainable bodies. Style is about utilizing the best aspects of you.”
-Stacy London
Conclusion
Fashion and Style come from the same niche, they are a major part of a consumer’s purchasing behavior and are what makes everybody different.
These two terms might sound the same but their main difference is their permanency. Fashion is something that is popular for a short period of time whereas Style is your own way of expressing whatever you are wearing.
Moreover, following trends is another way to define fashion. Some people tend to go with what is popular instead of wearing what makes them feel like themselves. It does not matter whether you are following trends or if you are not always following them, if something is making you uncomfortable but you are just doing it for the sake of popularity then you should get rid of it.
A person with a good sense of style not only expresses himself in his clothing but also encourages or influences others in experimenting with their sense of style as well.
A mix of fashion and style is the perfect choice to go for. This means that even if you are buying trendy clothes always try to sprinkle or add something of your choice to turn it to your own personal style.
