IRis Apfel: the principle of individuality through fashion style.

In the midst of trying to pack my bags ready for Dubai, I had a browse through my Netflix account and caught sight of a documentary on Iris Apfel. Documentaries are my favourite things to watch , prior to watching Iris I had also watched a documentary on Nina Simone (another distinctive individual). Such powerful women appeal to me greatly because I feel it is so hard to be yourself in this day and age where the power of media clouds your consciousness and what you regard as your own STYLE. It is quite frankly so easy to be influenced by the “so called” fashion bloggers gracing the front row of runway shows that one quickly  identifies with their style; imitate it and claim to be fashionable in order to be accepted. This is not wrong in any way! My question is, as a society have we lost a sense of SELF?! 

  Iris refers to young fashion designers of our time as media hungry and having no technical skill in design. Although that could be right from her perspective, from the perspective of Anna Wintour, Fashion mimicks the culture of our time, therefore  

 it constantly changes. Media plays a huge role in our culture today hence the reason for young designers not having to cultivate the need to be skilled technicians. 

  Iris speaks to me in so many different ways, watching her reminds me of how I used to dress myself when I was a lot younger ; without caring if I was ridiculed or judged. I was often teased by my parents and my friend went as far as calling me “Voodoo Mama”. I feel like I’m slowly losing this sense of self where I could easily transport myself into another realm. What I’ve noticed and learnt from life is that when you do things that involve  others i.e.  work, business, regular content etc it slowly eats away the sense of self you had and then you become extremely confused as to why your soul is in such a turmoil. It’s Sun Tzu’s book: the art of war. Sun Tzu makes it clear that in order to win a battle you must acknowledge the heavens and earths which are external factors which one must adapt to.

With that being said, I am completely inspired by Iris and her sense of Individuality and style. She makes me excited and gives me the chills all the time.I advise watching her documentary on Netflix to get blown with the same energy. Let me leave you of with some of her favourite quotes: 

  Fashion you can buy, but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There’s no how-to road map to style. It’s about self-expression and, above all, attitude.

When you don’t dress like everybody else, you don’t have to think like everybody else.

If you don’t learn constantly, you don’t grow and you will wither. Too many people wither on the vine. Sure, it gets a little harder as you get older, but new experiences and new challenges keep it fresh.