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We all have that one person who we look up to when we think about fashion and style. Someone who oozes that sartorial elegance and effortless cool style. It doesn’t have to be somebody famous, it could be your friend, a blogger or someone you see getting on the number 72 bus every day. Either way, they inspire us and our own personal style.
So, what exactly defines a style icon?
I decided to take an online quiz to see which 21st century fashionista I was most likened to but I’m not entirely convinced of the result. First time round I got the outlandishly bold and wonderfully eccentric Iris Apfel – apparently my “approach to style results in ‘bangin’ cool looks every time”. I’m not sure I would describe my style as “bangin” and considering I was asked to choose my favourite Ryan Gosling picture and which cat I thought was the cutest, I’m not sure this is the most accurate conclusion. I thought it best to try my hand at another, although this one asked me to pick which dog I would like to take home (all of them, obviously) and my favourite Johnny Depp picture (there seems to be a recurrent theme here) and on this occasion my style was most likened to Nicole Richie with her “effortless approach to dressing”. A better result than Kim Kardashian or Rihanna I thought, but are these really the modern day fashion girls we look up to?
Some may look for a style icon that inspires a look for the red carpet, what to wear on the school run or to the office. I look for everyday style inspiration: how to style my vintage wash jeans or cosy autumn outfit ideas.
I feel inspired by the girls who wear a casual look so effortlessly, making ‘dressing down’ look seamlessly stylish and natural. Alexa Chung, Camille Rowe and Mary Seng (a blogger from Nashville) achieve this staple everyday look perfectly – teaming a pair of boyfriend-fit jeans with a simple t-shirt and somehow making it personal and Instagram appropriate.
Women don’t need to dress ‘beautifully’ everyday now – in the sense that it’s not required because fashion has had such a dramatic makeover in the last century. Many of us will build our daily outfits around a pair of jeans or rely on a tailored suit for those 9-5 slogs and as a result, who we choose to look up to and feel inspired by has inevitably changed too.
While you may not feel inspired by today’s 21st century ‘style icons’ or you find yourself looking back 50 years when the influence of diamond-clad Bond girls and pin-up models was in full swing, it is the diversity and creativity they all represent and how they inspire us. After all, it would be very boring if we were all to wear the same thing and got on the number 72 bus every morning.
