To blend in or to stand out?

Hello there for those who read me. I am sorry there have not been any posts lately. I have been busy and really uninspired.

Nevertheless, the inspiration came back as I was shuffling through the pages of a magazine. There was an article asking if a woman should change the way she dresses for a man. Two women answered it, one is a fashion designer and the other one is a stand up comic. The fashion designer advocated against changing the way you dress for a man but the stand up comic was asking to ditch that personal style.

As a fashion blogger and style icon wannabe, I felt offended by what the stand up comic had to say. She ridiculed the fact that women wore animal prints and heels in the city. She said that if men wanted to date cheetahs, they would and not women dressed as cheetah. She went on to add that camouflage was to blend in with nature and not to stand out.

I think she completely lost the point about fashion and style. Women nowadays (and since the beginning of times) do not dress to blend in. They dress to stand out, some more outrageously than others. Whether they are wearing animal print, stripes, bold colours or even go the Goth route, they always expect to be noticed and not necessarily by men. Look at Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj or even Beyonce. They always have some kind of over the top outfit for the pleasure of our eyes and gossip magazines. But it is not only about the celebrities. Google the number of fashion blogs there are in this world. How many women (and men) dress up and take pictures of their outfits everyday for the world to see. Do you really think that all of these people (included myself) do want to blend in. No, they want the world to see them, to get to know them, to like them and even to hate them. But they want to be seen, acknowledged...never will they want to fade in.

Not everyone is like them obviously. Some people think of clothing as just another thing they have to do in their day. They cannot walk around naked so they will dig a shirt and pants and get out of the house without caring if they look proper, put together or trendy. They are not looking to be recognized for their clothing because they are too busy with other things or they just do not care. I am those people sometimes; I just cannot be bothered to wear heels or make up even if that would make me more put together. Clothes are not the only thing in my life and I would not want them to define me either.

Nevertheless, I will use them to show the world who I am. Because ironically, we live in a world where clothes make the person; what you wear automatically defines who you are as person. It is all about appearances. You wear a Piaget watch, you are rich; you wear the latest trend, you are fashionable, you wear a red dress, you are confident. It may not be all true but it appears to be so.

The stand up comic ended her article by saying that "Life is hard enough getting people to like us for who we are; please let's not complicate it further" by wearing man repellents clothes. I answer this: "yes! Life is hard, particularly because people are intolerant, hateful and selfish. And because we waste our time trying to make the wrong people like us. But I am going to make my life a little funner and laugh at those who wants to judge me by wearing what I want". I refuse to blend in. I am not here to. 

So what are your thoughts? Would you rather stand out or blend in?