I love art. While traveling, I jump on every opportunity to go see the local art museums and exhibitions. Monet and Renoir are my favorite artists and Musée d’Orsay is my favorite museum. Although recently I’ve been learning more about Warhol and I’m very intrigued by his life and story. Plus, he illustrated massive amounts of shoes early in his career and they’re stunning.

Warhol's shoes

Renior and Monet are the quintessential masters of Impressionism and my style reflects elements of my love for this genre. You don’t have to be in a museum or exhibition to appreciate art; it’s all around you! I’m horrible at drawing and I’m trying my hardest to learn how to sketch, but my favorite way of expressing my creativity and artistry is through fashion and writing.

My thoughts on fashion as art:

The final art piece reflects the artist’s work, who they are, and what they’re about. Artists put everything they have into their creations. Like it or not, we as human beings are visual creatures and fashion is a daily artistic visual representation of who you are. It takes balance and effort to dress in a way which represents who you are or who you want be. I’m a firm proponent of straying away from trends and mainstream commercial styles but realize that’s my style and who I am. If Abercrombie enlightens you and represents your style, great – I get it. I just want to encourage you to find a style which truly represents who you are and not just wear whatever is on the rack because you think it’s your only option.

Just like there are artistic eras and genres, it’s the same with fashion but they’re usually separated into seasons or decades. There are so many different types of artists, techniques and styles; it’s rare to find two people with these exact same style. I grew up believing the snowflake theory; that every snowflake is different and no two snowflakes are exactly the same. I really don’t know if that is true, because I also grew up thinking Pluto was a planet…. but I do know theories like these have shaped the basic foundation of my style. Reading blogs like The Cherry Blossom Girl, listening to people like Suzy Menkes (see the video below) and watching celebrities like Lady Gaga also strengthens the role of creativity and individualism in my life.

Fashion powerhouse Lady Gaga who I compare to artist Salvador Dalí. Both are
extreme creators and conquerors of "unreal and unimaginable" art.

Art is not only visually stimulating, but symbolic and meaningful. Often artist’s creations represent emotions, beliefs, view points, tributes etc. I love the symbolism that is created in many cultures through fashion. Ex: wearing black at a funeral, the abaya coverings from the Middle East, and the Indian bindhi symbol adorning the forehead.

Remember that like an artist with a blank canvas, so are you with your style. Allow yourself to create anything you choose to be or represent.