Fashion Statement: An Expression of Uniqueness

By Alvin

As the saying goes by Margaret Mead, “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” We, humans, being in the category Homo sapiens, have something in common. We have the same physical attributes, we have a soul, and we have a spirit. What makes us different from other species gives us a common ground with our species. Our earliest counterparts had already the ability to walk upright and have evolved larger and more complex brains. We have the ability to speak and learn language and the ability to express ourselves in different forms of art. One of which is in our clothing. We make it our fashion statement. We also feel compassion for others and have a sense of religion, a concept of worship to a higher being, transcending the physical and the emotional to the spiritual.

Throughout time, it has been part of humanity to express oneself and to be different in a good way from others of the same kind. It has been part of human history to be unique, to stand out from the rest. Others who were born ahead of us marked history not just because of their significant contributions to humanity but on also how they adorned themselves in such feat. Take for example Solomon, the wisest man in the world. Jesus Christ, Himself, described him as “not dressed as beautifully as the lilies amidst in all his glory.” Cleopatra, who was known to the queen of Alexandria, the fashion capital during the first century BCE, adorned herself with ready to eat earrings! Talk about dual purpose. But that was her fashion statement and so as beings of the same kind, although different time, we struggle hard to be unique.

We may like it or not but we are shaped by our environment. Music, art, language, and even technology are some forms we used to express ourselves, to make known to the world our inventive spirit. Day by day, we have a choice to make. Choices range from what clothes to wear, shoes to put on, color of the tie, earrings to ornament our ears, to put on make up or not, so on and so forth. The lifestyles we choose, the sports we play, the places we go, and the people we are with affect our decisions that ultimately make up our fashion statement. We wear different clothes for different occasions. We event mix and match not just to suit our own apparel but also to compliment our mate, to fit in yet be unique from our peers. The gadgets we choose that fit our occupations, that fit our lifestyle, makes them part of our uniqueness, our sense of being an individual. Our choices now do not only determine our future, they determine who we are as a person today, fitting in but standing out.