Fashion statement

If one lives long enough, one will see fashions coming full circle. I see clothing styles from my youth becoming fashionable again. Sometimes, when my sisters and I window-shop, we make fun of each other about the dresses displayed. We say that we regret not saving those clothes. If we had been more patient, we would have stayed trendy without having to spend much. But who knows whether out-of-style clothes will make a comeback.

Although some clichéd styles have made a comeback, fashion in a general sense has made some progress. I use the term “progress” because I think the subtlety in trends reflects improvement. While I lament lack of imagination in today’s fashion, I admire its boldness. Nowadays, fashions are more diverse and eccentric. It is as though young people are making loud statements about who they are and what they do. In a certain sense, it is liberating. 

There are no more rules in fashion. While, in the past, everything was symmetrical in design—the collar, the neckline or hemline, the sleeves and the seams—symmetry is no longer in style. Asymmetry rules.

Asymmetry rules!

If, in the past, society subscribed to a common notion of beauty, this is certainly not the case today. There are no more rules for beauty. Character has a higher value. What a person wears is how the person expresses him or herself, and now we have freedom of expression. So there is less group-think and more individualized ways of living. Fashion is no exception.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.