style remains

I've never been interested in fashion, always felt it to be a group-thing (which I don't do), massproduction, wear and tear, quality and style that doesn't last but which do make a lasting, heartbreaking impact on the environment (the last issue wasn't a thing one knew about when a kid all those years ago of course).

But from a tender age i've been fascinated by style. Personal style. I think it's partly genetic, partly stems from the fact that I grew up in a family not wealthy of money but love and creativity, thus one had to be creative with clothes too. Inherited clothes combined with home-made and not a lot of new bought ones.

I have lots of pictures of me sporting interesting outfits from a young age, sadly those photo albums are in a box in shed right now. (Found an old blogpost about the same topic with a tiny me though.) But one of my earliest memories (I was about five years old) of a treasured piece of garment is when I inherited a white winter coat with fake fur rims from parents' friends' children. Of course it was such a delicate and impractical thing for a kid to wear, but I loved it. Like a little posh princess I stood in the corner of the kindergarten yard not wanting to play outdoors since it could ruin my precious white coat. I was so sad to let it go when I had outgrown it.

I continued to wear my own style all through school and high-school, I made a lot of my own clothes, rummaged through my parents and older relatives closets, inherited stuff. I honestly can't remember that what clothes and brands you wore playing a big part back then. Or noone getting teased about not wearing the "latest fashion". Or perhaps I was just blissfully unaware about such mechanisms.

What made me think about the "fashion fades, style remains eternal" was the photo above of my maternal grandma I found the other day, when she was young and how that look is as perfect now as it was back then, in earlyish 20th century. (The collar is probably real fur, sadly, that is certainly something that has changed for the better, at least for compassionate people with a brain.)

When I knew her she wasn't wearing that type of snazzy outfits, but she was always fun, funky and inspirational. And taught me how to knit and crochet. One of the people I wish I had the opportunity to spend time with now, at this time in life. Not sure I fully appreciated everything about her back then.

- I just realised she actually looks just like the grandma on this grandma-cup -



Right now, autumn/winter 2012, myself I'm just wholeheratedly in style love with this Marimekko photo; classic adorableness, love the shoes, dress, socks, red hair, bag, quirkiness - a perfect example of timeless style, not fashion.

What's you views on fashion vs style?