Escapism was in great demand, living in fantasy worlds felt so much better than facing Pandemic restrictions. Now we transform the magic we experienced on Netflix, virtual travel sites or fashion shows into new, even life changing energy.
Style has always been a tool for creative expression of status or mindset, to move us above others, to fit in or rebel against the norms. Fashion creates social identity. The three main categories women are looking at are
the woman I want to be
the woman I fear to be
the woman I usually am
Imagination is a tool for self-creation; we discover more about who we want to be and even who we truly are under the robes of daily life. Our feelings towards the expression of others in their visuals tell us stories about our judgments and desires, reveal imposters as much as guides. When our hearts beat faster watching women wrapped in couture in shows like the Queen’s gambit, Bridgerton, Emily in Paris, Younger or movies like the Devil wears Prada, we are onto something; often our neglected desires.
Too often we are stuck in our roles and mistake them for our identity.
Roles of normalcy as much as the latest fashion trends can feel like jail, a need to perform; to conform or always be on the forefront of the latest trend. Both extremes ask us to fulfill all kinds of expectations. To know who we want or fear to be and why we have a particular “normal,” requires an adventurous journey into past and future stories. Fashion is, in my experience, the most fun awareness journey there is. Outfits can be muses, awakening desires from the depth of our soul.
Fashion fantasy is one of those little talked about tools for self-discovery, slowly emerging from the secret world of designers into the curious why of psychology. Why do we feel attracted by a certain style and repulsed by the other? What does it have to do with our personal story? Why do looks matters to us?
“When making collections, designers often turn to art, film, and literature as jumping-off points. Fairy tales, for example, have informed fashion shoots, some of which are collected in Vogue: Fantasy & Fashion. But Little Red Riding Hood, renegade princesses, and latter-day Joan of Arcs aren’t only to be found on the magazine’s glossy pages. Season after season, the runway is populated with Dickens heroines and royals, as well as more outré imaginings, like femme fleurs and mystical creatures.” (Vogue)
What happens when we step into our fantasy? When we, no matter the challenges of finances, body shapes, age, cultural expectations and society’s demands, accept an outrageous outfit as part of us, as the desired version of self? What do we feel when we look at our avatar adorned in our dreams?
Go on a little adventure with me.
Let go what you think you know about your daily self, even your known desires or your style. Physically shake it; jump rope, dance, do yoga for a couple minutes; whatever it takes to loosen and open up.
Scroll down the front page of designers’ visions.
If limitations of any kind were no object, in which fashion statement would you most want to walk down the runway? Let it happen; that special something triggering a memory, emotion, or connection. Inspiration works much the same way; it can come from anywhere, but it can’t be manufactured. It is discovered.
Acknowledge and take notes of what provokes or lures you in.
Step into the outfit that talks to you, how does it feel?
Fashion is a language we can learn
Outfits are imbued with history, personal history, social values and personal judgments. Our feelings are the translator.
Fashion is communication, a conversation between you and me, but also a way for our subconscious to get through to us.
Fantasizing our outrageous self liberates us. We better understand our wants and needs, which enable us to plan for the future. Without dreams, without fantasy, we become shells of our potential selves.
Fantasy is a step out of our comfort zone
It allows us to enter a world of "contrasts and opposites", to break away from the entrapment of realism. It create an equilibrium of intellect and intuition, the analytical and visionary.
Fantasies are typically associated with scenarios that are statistically implausible or impossible in reality.
How can we transport our dream selves back into reality?
Accessories, scarves, jewelry, boots, hats, gloves or stockings can make strong points of our vibration even when added to an every day outfit, they’re like the little flags kids wave at a parade.
When digital fashion designs become mainstream use, our creativity literally won’t have any boundaries. We become the women we discovered being all along.