Fashion is ... Creative

Welcome back to this Friday's installment of Between Laundry Days's "Fashion is..." series. We've already been visited by Sal of Already Pretty, Kyla of Blue Collar Catwalk, and Chelsea of Bright Side Dweller. I've had such a blast so far reading the posts and the delightfully insightful discussions that have come up in the comments. And I'm so excited to bring you another fave blogger of mine, Audi of Fashion for Nerds. Despite the title of her blog, Audi is, by far, one of the coolest bloggers out there. She's one of those women who I'd be way to shy to hang out with in person because, let's face it, she's kind of totally rad. Her style is individual, while still focusing on comfort and a fabulous sense of aesthetics. I'm so excited for Audi to be writing her guest post about fashion as a creative outlet.

Working as I do among hundreds of brilliant but mostly fashion-indifferent biology nerds, style is the means by which I explore creative invention and personal expression in a disciplined, highly technical environment. Each day brings a new opportunity to experiment with style and to craft an outfit that can reflect my mood, or even shape it. And just as there are many facets of my personality, so are there many facets of my style, which is ever evolving and mutable.

I think in order to really have fun with fashion and use it as a creative outlet, one must be willing to make mistakes, and believe me, I make plenty of those. But to me, taking risks and perhaps missing the mark on a single day is far better than wearing ‘safe’ selections every day that never make an impression. Another important aspect to dressing creatively is being willing to change your style, because even the most daring looks will become ‘safe’ if done enough times. There are many styles I’ve tried, and loved, over the years, but eventually each one made way for something new and different. I like the way those previous styles become frozen in time, defining certain periods of my life.

By using fashion to express my inner voice to the outside world, I can also shape my own moods and experiences. If I’m feeling low, I can wear vibrant colors and funky patterns to lift my spirits; if I’m feeling downtrodden at work, I can use towering heels and edgy styles to give me power; if I’m feeling too serious, I can wear something playful and laugh at myself. And even if my stylistic statements are comprehensible only to me, they’re still important because they change my relationship with the world and how I view myself in it. When my creativity flourishes I am at my best, and this affects how I interact with others as well as how they respond to me.

From a practical standpoint, dressing as a creative outlet means that my style varies a lot from day to day. For many years I struggled with the fact that I don’t really have a signature style, but more recently I’ve learned to embrace that fact. I might wear a vintage mod minidress one day, cropped pants and a tie the next, and ruffles and tulle the day after that, because I’ve grown to trust my instincts and know that each of these distinctly different styles conveys some small part of who I am, or who I want to be on that day. And exploring all these different sides of myself – feminine, sexy, playful, nerdy, bold, powerful – allows me the fullest enjoyment of fashion’s creative potential.

Audi, thank you so much again! You're just wonderful.