Life

Are you Stylish Enough for a Fashion Statement?

style is an inherent and often permanent attribute (in terms of physical appearance and self expression ) of a person whereas his/her fashion sense stems rather straightforwardly from the choice of wardrobe items, accessories etc.

Sentinel Digital Desk

Often the terms style and fashion are used interchangeably. According to a section of stylists and fashion designers the difference between the two can best be explained by stressing on the intangible essence of style and the fairly tangible essence of fashion. "Style is like the soul of a person whereas fashion is like his/her body," says Ridhima Chawla a stylist. In other words, style is an inherent and often permanent attribute (in terms of physical appearance and self expression ) of a person whereas his/her fashion sense stems rather straightforwardly from the choice of wardrobe items, accessories etc.

Fashion is dictated by external trends and popular fads and is actually a temporary and time bound phenomenon. And hence the age-old adage... Its in fashion now. Style on the other hand is timeless.

Needless to say style encompasses (and greatly so) attire and its complementing accessories too. A jazzy looking scarf can be a fashion accessory but it can make the wearer look stylish if she/he is conversant with the nuances of draping it stylishly. Simply put, one has to have a certain sense of style within themselves to be able to make a fashion statement. However, interestingly not all stylish people adopt to changing fashion trends.

Infact many are dismissive of most trends and are more conscientious about maintaining and evolving their own sense of personal style. Conversely a person who is fashionable is not always perceived to be stylish.

Style is unique to an individual and all about being oneself. While trying to build one's characteristic sense of style (in terms of choice of clothes, accessories and personal goods etc) it is important to blend it with one's personality, beliefs, disposition, lifestyle and even profession. For instance junk jewellery and tattoos might look more becoming on a bohemian artist then on a doctor. For instance junk jewellery and tattoos might look more becoming on a bohemian artist then on a doctor. However there are no straitjacketed rules to determining or evolving ones sense of style. "Ultimately a good sense of style is all about a sense of a certain symmetry among the various tangible and intangible parameters that make a person," says Chawla.

Given the overlapping ( yet distinct ) essence of the terms , it is easy to get confused between style and fashion. The graph on the right, is envisaged to explain the differences more lucidly.

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