Style Brief: Why I Fell Out of Love with Fashion and In-Love with Style.

Above: Screenshot from my Instagram stories @jacquelyntierney where I have begun posting daily school-day to night looks as a way to ease back into content production after a nearly two-year hiatus writing my style books Divine Capsule and Divine Style.

Why I fell out of love with fashion…

and fell in love with…

Style.

It happened sometime within the past couple of years. Fashion became…boring. Overdone. Regurgitated. Unimpressive. And highly deficient in the magic it once possessed.

I stopped watching the runway shows.

I can care less about award show red carpet looks. (Ok, I still peek.)

I have no clue about what’s trending in contemporary clothing outside of what I see the kids wearing in high school, and what the YouTuber digests tell me.

I did the unimaginable this summer: I unfollowed VOGUE online.

I also did not renew my fashion magazine subscriptions this fall.

As a child of the 90’s, I spent my adolescence devouring all forms of fashion I could find from Tim Blanks critiques on E! tv to the terrible slop of the supermodel’s Fashion Cafe in NYC. Fashion was my escape route from school, family, and tough kid life stuff.

And from those early, impressionable years well into my 30’s, fashion was where I could play, fantasize, and hope. Fashion was one of the only spaces where I felt understood, and it was the only space where I could dream without limit.

But now? I no longer care about the ‘fashion’ of it all.

Because today, the fashion industry has made fashion (the clothing) a reminder of how our planet is suffering, the wealth gap is widening, exploitation of workers is the default, and the dream of a better life will likely just remain a dream for many. The fantasy that fashion lovers, myself included, used to be able to escape to, is gone.

“Fashion fades, style is eternal.”

Yves Saint Laurent

Though I no longer aspire to possess a piece of any one brand, am not persuaded by editorials to buy into a persona, and don’t find value (and certainly not my value) in showing off what I own, I admit, I still excite a wee bit when I see a beautiful piece of clothing.

I ooo and ahh at videos of resellers remixing items from various decades. I spend 1-2 hours a day “treasure hunting” eBay and other resale platforms. I feel inspired to push my wardrobe choices further when a high school student tells me they like a garment I’m wearing. And you know these Gen Zer’s have seen it all.

Because, even though fashion doesn’t inspire me anymore, style does. And it’s the expression of a style that gives fashion soul.

What is Style?

In my book, Divine Capsule, I define style as, “your unique expression of self. It is your attitude toward life, and the curiosity of your personal creativity. It is your choices in how to assemble an outfit and in how you give a garment life. It is the way you communicate your viewpoints…”

Exuding style does not happen through the ownership of brand, nor the number on a price tag, nor the clique/group/class that can be bought into via some outfit formula an influencer is selling you.

Rather, style originates in your confidence (and SELF-PERMISSION) to experiment, play, and self-express. How do you make dressing, decorating, leading, loving, and moving about the world an art form? What colors, textures, shapes, and experiences make up your life’s palette?

Fashion doesn’t exist without style, so forget fashion. Go straight to the source. Lean into style —your style— when creating, dreaming, conjuring, and seeking inspo for your next life move.

I bet, when you start to fall in love with your style, you fall more in love with your life too.

—

In my books Divine Style and Divine Capsule, I talk much more about personal style — what it is and how to develop yours. You can now find Divine Capsule on Amazon as a print on demand hardcover here and in a soft cover version here. Divine Style is coming soon.

—

P.S. Having a signature style doesn’t mean you have-to possess a wardrobe packed with clothes, wear something different everyday, and opt into the current trends. Some of the most stylish people wear the same silhouette and accessories day in and day out. They keep their outfit formulas simple and their look is predictable. Here is your permission to be a stylish outfit repeater.