self definition

Fashion is expensive; style is not.
-Nina Garcia, The Little Black Book of Style

It seems that the last few months of serious sleep deprivation are finally catching up to me; I spent most of last week going from work to bed and back again. I should be asleep now, but I feel that odd itching beneath my skin that prevents me from being comfortable when left alone with my thoughts for any length of time.

The official beginning of spring is still three weeks away and I'm already growing tired of the spring trends - like a killer song that's been played on the radio far too often, the over saturation of pastels, neons and color blocking is beginning to grate on my nerves. I'm bored.

I feel like fashion itself has become a "thing"; a passing fad. True style seems so rare and is so elusive... Sometimes I think we all try so damn hard to be unique that we're all the same. If our goal is always to be unexpected, isn't that sort of becoming the expected?

The truth is, I am no fashionista. I am obsessed with clothes and style, but I don't get fashion, and I don't often hop on board the trends train (and when I do, it's usually by accident). I love black, sweaters and bouncy skirts; I love faux leather, but the only fur I wear is the white stuff my cat sheds all over everything I own. I don't know why studs, chains and zips aren't attached to pretty much everything, and I don't understand why you can't wear suede shoes in the spring (seriously, someone please explain it to me).

The truth is - I am a fashion nerd, and I am completely okay with that.