Fashion, Style, Cheating, and Finally getting it in 2010.

These are my thoughts on fashion, style, cheating, and understanding myself in 2010.

Although I’ve always had a sense of style, I haven’t always followed fashion.

Until this year I didn’t know many of the names of well-known designers much less the latest and greatest.

I’ve had to learn a lot in a very short time—you can’t cover New York Fashion Week and become the Style Editor of a regional magazine, and not do the work to prepare for it.

Because I haven’t studied fashion I cover it more as a consumer with a large dose of appreciation.  Ultimately though all I have to go on is my instinct.

After seeing my first show at NY Fashion Week, I assigned myself the task of writing a blog after every show that would be post on the San Diego Magazine website.  I would be the eyes and ears for San Diego, trying to translate what I was seeing at the world famous Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

The first designer I saw was Monique Lhullier.  Her dresses and gowns were beaded and stunningly beautiful.  All the adjectives I’d come up with before seemed dull in comparison to the real thing.

But when it came to writing about it, I was terrified for fear of one, being wrong, and two coming up with words that would do justice to these works of art– after all Anna Wintour was here.  I felt out of my league.

So, as I sat on the steps of the Wi-Fi pod in the Lincoln Center lobby, built solely for the writers and bloggers visiting from around the world to post their work, I did what many writers have done or imagined doing…I cheated.

I looked over the shoulder of the writer next to me to see what she was writing. Of course I had no idea if she knew any more than I, but I needed to make sure she wasn’t saying something completely different about what we had both seen on the runway minutes before.

To my astonishment, she was writing the same things I was thinking.   Using different words, but the sentiment was the same. This Monique Lhullier, who I’d never heard of before the morning of the show, was an immense talent and her clothes were indeed spectacular—just as I had thought.

What a relief.

But at that moment, I got the ubiquitous Oprah light bulb moment, and I truly understood that I only had myself to rely on.  It was high time I begin to trust and appreciate what I could offer—for the first time in my life.

I admit it. I am a newbie and it’s scary.  But what can any of us humans do but simply put our blinders on and move forward through the world hoping we’re making the right decisions, and if we’re lucky and work really hard, maybe we may even make a mark at the same time.

When it comes to fashion, clothes, and life, 2010 has taught me to; wear what you love, wear what fits your body, try to stretch your wardrobe as much as you can, shop within your budget (except when you fall in love), and most of all try to make yourself happy while also trying not to hurt anyone else in the process.