Style and fashion have been part of my life from early age.
My mom and I would go to her favorite boutique when I was a pre-teen .
My original family lived in a small city in my native country, Peru.
After she cashed her monthly check for being an Elementary School Teacher we would go to her favorite boutique run by a very elegant lady. This lady had a business partner that was a dressmaker and she  would supervise a group of seamstress that would make high fashion designs with European patterns that the owner’s son would send from Europe.

We would chose several dresses and the owner would give us a feedback of how we looked. My mom would finish quickly because she knew what she wanted and then it was my turn .
After I tried a bunch of clothing, my mom would chose one or two dresses.
I felt very spoiled and happy that my mom spent time with me and would buy me nice clothing from such prestigious store where everybody was happy to see us and they were so friendly and helpful.

This was a small town boutique with great costumer service and well-made clothing, I am fond of the memories of this early experience with style and fashion and my love for it.

Fashion Designers want women to look nice, some of them want us to look like flowers, others want us to look elegant and sophisticated, others go for the romantic flare and others I do not have a clue. There are so many styles and each season can be a pretext to update our looks.

There is so much to choose from, sometimes it can be overwhelming.
I went to the mall the other day and I saw a blouse that I liked. I liked the colors and the texture, it was a crochet blouse. I felt excited and I tried it.
When I saw myself in the mirror I was disappointed. The blouse did not do anything for me, I looked too square, the colors overpowered my small frame. “ This blouse is for a tall and skinny girl” I thought. I end of buying a sweater that did not catch my eye at first but when I tried it I felt good because I looked good on it.

This is why it is important for me to try before I buy clothing. Clothing can look good in the models and not look good on me.

My idea of expressing myself through clothing is that I should be able to wear whatever I please according to the circumstances. My sin, fashion-wise, is that sometimes I tend to dress up. Maybe it is because the high fashion of my pre-teen years or maybe because times are more informal that when I was a child.

To give you an example: One of my neighbors invited my family to a pool party. I did not intended swimming therefore I thought that a summer dress was appropriate. Big mistake, when I arrived to the party, the people that were not in the swimming pool were in shorts. I felt uncomfortable at the beginning, everybody was looking at me like I came from another planet.

“Oh no, fashion mistake. Oh well, who cares” I though to myself feeling embarrassed. “ Nice dress, be careful with the splashes” my friend told me.
“ Thank you. No problem it is just a summer dress, I should’ve worn shorts” I said. “ Do not worry about it, just enjoy the party” she said.

This is why when somebody invites me someplace I ask “What should I wear ?” to be sure.
I know, we should be able to wear whatever we please, our significant other still find us attractive in the morning after we awake and our hair is all over the place. Some girls/women can wear a potato sack and still look amazing but for most of us it is not a good idea. To face society, that is another story. We will be judge by our appearance and it is better to look presentable if we want to move ahead in life.

It is not all about the flare unless you are going to a Costumes Party. Or maybe it is, it is up to you, look at some of the famous entertainers, the clothing goes with the package, what do I know ?

I really do not know, it is up to personality and attitude. If you want to look elegant, sophisticated, put together and find your personal style it is going to take some trial an error which is okay, life is about mistakes and successes anyway.

There are some guidelines for us to follow to look the best that we can look which the fashion designers sometimes forget, they are all about creativity and expression which is good for the Fashion Shows grandeur to call attention to themselves. But even Haute Couture has to be adapted to the customer’s frame to make it elegant and sophisticated. Let’s take advantage of this secret.