Never Trend, Always Style.

I often see girls (and guys!) when I am wandering the down town area who are wearing trends that I have also seen online or on the television or on some celebrity, and more often than not I find myself thinking, "Just because the media says it's great does NOT mean that it's great for EVERYONE! Please, be kind to yourself, and take that OFF."
Harsh, I know. But someone's gotta say it.
Just because Rachael Bilson can rock just about anything, does not mean that the rest of us Joe Schmo's can rock anything too.
Here are my how to tips and tricks to wear anything you want and still look stylish, fabulous, and most importantly, beautiful.
So everyone, let's do a re-cap on the first amendment to the constitution of style...


Stylists shall make no law respecting an establishment of fashion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of style, or of the stylist; or the right of the fashionista/fashionisto.

All stylists must make no strict connections with one house of fashion or for on certain trend, or prohibit certain trends, styles or houses of fashion to be used by said user. Neither can a stylist deny you certain rights to wearing specific items in a collection of a trend or house of fashion. The stylist can neither limit themselves based on feelings of peer pressure or media pressure. The right of the fashionista/fashionisto to express their style freely is open to them in a way that is not to be critically judged, but rather improved or suggested to make it better.

And with that stated, let's help you figure out how to wear all of these cute summer 2012 trends!

Things to be conscious of...


Clothing:
Get to know your body. Take a good look. Figure out what things you like and what you don't like, these are the things that you are going to want to either accentuate or downplay. We are victims to seeing things on runway, television, and those damned celebrities and what we see we tend to think it's "in" and will look good on everyone. This, sadly, is not so. Not in the least bit. This doesn't mean that you have to nix all trends and only wear what works for you (I would die if I were stuck in jeans and v necks for ever.) So pick the trends that work best for YOU and YOUR body. Example: If you have larger thighs and you've fallen head over heals for those colored shorts that are super hot right now, and trending badly for this summer, you might want a pair and you might actually get a pair. But NOT a pair of super tight and super short pair of those flashy tangerine acid washed shorts. Rock them the right way, not the wrong way! Get a pair that flatters you. If you are not in love with your thighs, go for a midlength bermuda cut. They're longer, but still shorts and your thighs will still look cute!




Hair:
Growing up with my mom I've learned many things, and one of the more prominent lessons in my mind is that no matter what, always make sure your hair looks good. 
The best hair color for you is the one closest to your natural skin color. I am not a blonde, I've been blonde but it was clearly unnatural. Dark works best for me because I have dark features and olive skin. Anything lighter usually washes me out. I know this, I've done this. I'm not saying that I don't dye my hair (anyone who knows me personally knows that I've dyed my hair more times than hair should ever be dyed...) But when I do dye I usually try to keep in the range of colors that I know work for me. 
As far as cuts go, really study your face and get to know your favorite and best facial features and learn to accentuate those with appropriate hair cuts. If your face has a dominant nose try to keep away from full frontal bangs, they would end up making your nose completely dominate your face. And depending on how you feel about what look you want, I would stay away from this. But I would lean more towards some cute fringe-y side swept bangs. They are great for styling and would draw less attention to the center of your face.

Makeup:

I am a strong believer in trying out new things when it comes to how I want to paint my face. But I usually push a "less is more" approach to make up. It's safe, and doesn't hide your natural beauty. And more often than not you look ten times better. Though, going natural can still be done wrong. Very, very, very wrong. Along with clothing makeup has trends also and you're going to want to pick and choose the ones that work best for your features. And since we've already studied our face to figure out our hair we know with features we like and which we don't like. Though... Kate Moss did look super gorge in that pinterest picture... But that still doesn't mean that you really want to wear that daring dark purple lipstick when you have no eye makeup on and fair skin like she did. I would bet that you and Kate will not look the same. Always go with colors and shades that are better options for YOU. Look for the ones that brighten up your face or bring out the beauty that you want the world to see. 

(I'm not saying that wearing lots of dark makeup is wrong. On the contrary I love beautifully done "goth" make up. There's something extremely artful to it. Just do it right! There's more to it than half a stick of eye liner...)

So be daring. Try out new things. Step into a new trend. But just do it in a way that works for YOU! And makes YOU look beautiful. Don't be sad if you have to wear something a different way than it's pictured, it just means that you've found a new way to style the product. A new way to make it look even more beautiful.

Happy Monday everyone. Stay fabulous.