Turning fashion into style

Fashion blogger Claire Jameson from Kinnegad is starting a new column for the Westmeath Examiner this week, so ahead of that we asked her to introduce herself to our readership. Read her thoughts below and contact her at Claire.jameson5@gmail.com if you would like to discuss the world of style with her. Claire blogs at JustifiedByJemo.com.

 

As a fashion/personal style blogger and general fashion enthusiast I often ponder on the transformation of fashion to style. Essentially, that is what fashion bloggers do – they take fashion and turn it into a style.

“Fashion is instant language,” or so Miuccia Prada thought. Stylist to the stars, Rachel Zoe, later elaborated on this proposal by suggesting that “style is a way of saying who you are without having to speak”.

Prada’s “language” through fashion is what we see at the fashion weeks in London, Paris, Milan and New York. Rachel’s suggestion of us speaking through style is a metaphor for how we individually adapt and tailor the language of fashion to fit our own sense of style.

Differentiating fashion from style is beneficial for everyone. Without even being aware of it, each of us has our own style, formulated by picking what we prefer and adapting it to our own personalities.

I am a 22-year-old psychology graduate and fashion blogger (JustifiedByJemo.com) wanting to put my knowledge of fashion to the test by contributing a weekly fashion feature based on fashion shops in Mullingar. I want to make local fashion more accessible to readers in the hope that we can all recognise the great selection of styles that are on offer in our town.

Sales of fashion magazines are on the rise in Ireland, so even when money is tight we still want to look our best. I am sure that many of us, myself included, are guilty of relying on online shopping or occasional sprees in the city, forgetting about our local shops, but hopefully my weekly fashion feature can inspire you to include some styles in your wardrobe that are from a little closer to home.

It is important to point out that my feature is by no means a bible and that my suggestions and advice are just that – suggestions and advice. My background in fashion is not conventional but, to be honest, when is anything in fashion ever ‘conventional’?

My studies and career path were (and to a certain extent still are) not directly aimed at fashion. I graduated with an honours degree in psychology and I would like to pursue further study in that field at some stage.

Previous to that, I was never typically ‘fashionable’ in school. Sure, I loved clothes as much as the next person, but it never crossed my mind to develop that love into a career. Maybe that was due to the lack of awareness and opportunities for that sort of creativity locally. I studied art as one of my Leaving Cert subjects, purely for the creative outlet, but that was the extent of it.

During my primary school years I loved colouring in, simple as that! I would sit for hours scribbling my way through colouring books. Not aware of it at the time, it must have been the end result of a completed picture with lots of colours that drew me back again and again. To this day, that is what I love about fashion – seeing an entire look put together with everything in proportion, developed from what was just a blank canvas to begin with.

Today, I regularly assist fashion stylist Linda Conway in Dublin, where I receive that same thrill as I did as a seven-year-old. Linda has given me great tips and advice and she has shown me first-hand how fashion, particularly styling, works. Assisting on photo shoots and fashion shows, I have developed a greater understanding of how clothes should work, depending on the individual, the situation and of course the garments themselves.

My fashion blog is my creative outlet. I started it as a way of expressing my sense of style. Blogging is open to everyone and it is free to set up, so it seemed like the right choice for me.

Through social media and various competitions my audience has grown, as has my fashion experience. On one occasion I was lucky enough to receive some words of wisdom from Debbie O’Donnell, producer of TV3’s Xposé: one remark that stuck is how blogging has developed a place of its own in the fashion world.

The ‘Frows’ (or front rows, as they were known) at fashion shows are now lined with international bloggers who have worked their way up from the back rows as a result of their dedication to the cause that is fashion.

Having finished college, I decided to take a year out and throw myself and my blog into the world of fashion, to get the curiosity out of my system! Never did I expect it to go as well as it has. In October I won the RSVP Style Blogger 2013 Award, a nationwide competition that was organised by RSVP magazine and Oasis Fashions. A month previously, I came second in a styling competition that the Ilac Shopping Centre ran as part of Dublin Fashion Festival.

As a result of these successes many more doors have opened to me, one of which is the opportunity to contribute a fashion feature to the Westmeath Examiner and lend my fashion knowledge to its readers.

Each week I will discuss a current trend or theme that can be achieved from shops this area. As well as providing images, I will write about how you can make the most of the featured items.

I will also be available to answer any style dilemmas that you may have. Feel free to email me at Claire.jameson5@gmail.com.