Fashion and our heroes du jour

I hate buying clothes. There, I said it.

(Ladies who are into fashion, read no further. Save yourself the pain. This is not a post for you).

I find clothes shopping, frankly, traumatic. So when I heard that today marks the start of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week I was filled with a combination of loathing and lack of interest. I’m sure that if I was a size 8, attractive 30 year old I’d feel a bit differently. But I was never that person.

I like to look nice, don’t get me wrong. I think you can really boost your confidence if you feel you look good. Nice clothes are nice to have. And sometimes a touch of retail therapy is good for the soul. But I don't have the cash to splash on a whole new wardrobe every year just because some fashion designer reckons I should.
I don’t think the definition of nice should change each year. This is what fashion does – through commercially-motivated peer pressure it tells us that we need to follow something. To buy more clothes each year to stay with the trend. To spend money.

Can someone please tell me when being an apple of two sticks will be a trend?

Most fashions don’t suit me. Or if they might, they’re only made in impossibly small sizes. It’s true that every now and then someone recommends a clothing line or shop and I weaken in the (usually naive) hope that they’re right and something in there will be one of the timeless pieces I ache for. (One notable example of when this went spectacularly well is when my gorgeous friend LGS recommended the equally gorgeous Te Kiero Boutique in Melbourne. This isn’t a sponsored post – I just love the clothes this lady is importing. Most of the clothes for my age group have something  timeless – even vintage - about their design. Thank you Teresa. You're not a slave to fashion, despite working in the industry. Great work.)

Why do the rules about what looks good change, just because the numbers in the date tick over? Fashion is a sneaky ruse to get you to part with your hard earned cash. Get the hot new look for 2013/summer/winter/spring/autumn/Monday/this second.

I keep a look out for timeless items that I can mix and match, and wear while working. And not have to iron. Oh god, the humanity. No ironing please.

I applaud the piece today in The Hoopla by Rachel Ward on older women and timeless style versus fashion. (Sorry Rachel, not with you on the cosmetic surgery though). Why do so many retailers only push clothes for the young? Thanks to scarcity these pieces are costly so I don’t have many. The rest of the time I’m a slob. I don’t deny it. Cheap t-shirts and jeans, that’s me. A hoodie. No makeup.

So when a large company like Mercedes-Benz gets together with a bunch of retailers to tell me that I should change my look to keep up with all the other women out there, forgive me if I don’t jump up, grab my purse and rush out the door.

Fashion is a first world construct designed to line the pockets of greedy retailers. And don’t get me started on “fashion designers” as our heroes du jour. Fashion designers? Really?

Are you excited about fashion week? If so, why? (And why didn't you heed my warning at the start of the post?!!)