Few years back retrospectively when I first discovered my passion for fashion, someone told me that 'If you're inherently yourself, you'll always be one no matter where you're at'. I didn't quite get him at that point of time. What did he mean by 'Inherently yourself'? Isn't that repetitive? Yet, those are the exact words that echoed when I picked up the book titled 'How to Be Parisian Whenever You Are' a few months back. I realized that if you are innately one (a Parisian, a New Yorker, a whomever you want to be), your environment should not be a factor that forces you to be someone whom you're not.
I'm not trying to say I'm one of those who have uncovered my true self either. That is because I haven't exactly discovered who I truly am. Despite the fact that there a few factors that intertwines me with being Parisian; love, ascertained my signature fragrance before the age of thirty, at times style wise - and henceforth I tried to emulate one by donning on French slogan t-shirts - it dawned upon me that maybe I was simply seeking for mere inspirations as a French. Maybe I look up to the Parisians because they had the air of certain sort that is equivalent to the ubiquitous je ne sais quoi.
I was simply too caught up by that je ne sais quoi that I forgot who I truly was. In fact, who the hell am I? I remembered just a two years back I was obsessed with being a New Yorker. What has made me disembark a 180 degree turn and decided that French's simplicity was more 'sartorially appealing'? Was it because it is less repelling? If not so, then what?
Questioning myself was something I hardly do. But the comprehension that I've completely changed took me aback. I noticed the fact that I have made such a change (that is somewhat inherent) wasn't exactly for my own well-being (oops, this is a taboo that independent individuals should never express), it was for the sake of others. I have modified myself from a convoluted, arduous Katie-cum-Carrie girl to a simple, less complicated Natasha girl (think The Way We Were meets Sex and the City). I have became someone whom I was not.
So in the hopes of finding that complicated me, I seized this slightest opportunity to reembark to my 'old self' because I really do miss it. It was the me that I used to adore, used to have so much faith and hope on that I truly felt happy for myself. In order to reach my rather unattainable goal at the moment, I got a slightly oversized 'New York' t-shirt tucked into a pair of oversized high-waisted khaki trousers with high cuff folds. On another occasion I did the blatant - I wore a term New York was known for circa 1920s: The Big Apple. I matched it with a denim overalls because it simply screams the opposite of French and henceforth it meant New York.
Oh, I also did something very New York. I was constantly checking on Tinder. LOL.
Former: Topman inverted New York t-shirt, 3.1 Phillip Lim khaki trousers, Zara sandals
Latter: Zara Big Apple t-shirt, Zara denim overalls, Ego and Greed leopard printed shoes
Image credits Imran
I was simply too caught up by that je ne sais quoi that I forgot who I truly was. In fact, who the hell am I? I remembered just a two years back I was obsessed with being a New Yorker. What has made me disembark a 180 degree turn and decided that French's simplicity was more 'sartorially appealing'? Was it because it is less repelling? If not so, then what?
Questioning myself was something I hardly do. But the comprehension that I've completely changed took me aback. I noticed the fact that I have made such a change (that is somewhat inherent) wasn't exactly for my own well-being (oops, this is a taboo that independent individuals should never express), it was for the sake of others. I have modified myself from a convoluted, arduous Katie-cum-Carrie girl to a simple, less complicated Natasha girl (think The Way We Were meets Sex and the City). I have became someone whom I was not.
So in the hopes of finding that complicated me, I seized this slightest opportunity to reembark to my 'old self' because I really do miss it. It was the me that I used to adore, used to have so much faith and hope on that I truly felt happy for myself. In order to reach my rather unattainable goal at the moment, I got a slightly oversized 'New York' t-shirt tucked into a pair of oversized high-waisted khaki trousers with high cuff folds. On another occasion I did the blatant - I wore a term New York was known for circa 1920s: The Big Apple. I matched it with a denim overalls because it simply screams the opposite of French and henceforth it meant New York.
Oh, I also did something very New York. I was constantly checking on Tinder. LOL.
Former: Topman inverted New York t-shirt, 3.1 Phillip Lim khaki trousers, Zara sandals
Latter: Zara Big Apple t-shirt, Zara denim overalls, Ego and Greed leopard printed shoes
Image credits Imran