Style VS Fashion. Do you know the Difference?

"Fashion fades, style is eternal"- Yves Saint Laurent

Fashion, style, fashionable people, stylish people. We talk about the two quite often and in the same context mostly. Can a stylish person be fashionable and can a fashionable person be stylish? Are style and fashion the same thing? Do they project similar traits? Is there any difference between the two?

Well here is my take on it and I say "YES". There is a big difference between the two. So do not get confused because they are not synonyms.

Fashion is trend. It's not permanent, it needs to change every few months, it can change within weeks or days. Fashion is what you see on televisions, on the runway, on the fashion house's window display, fashion can be learnt from magazines, from movies , from the internet.

Fashion is for your body which has to change, style on the other hand goes beyond someone's body. It's not only in your clothes but in the way you speak, the way you eat or drink, the places you visit, the movies you watch, your facial hair, your body hair, your phone, the car that you use, the cigar that you smoke and the house you live in.

Style unlike Fashion is not pre-determined, at the same time they depend on each other for their existence. You learn from fashion and make it your own unique style. 

To be a stylish person you have to make a statement using your clothes and your body. It's something that you want others to see in you. You want them to listen as your outfit speaks. Style comes when you are very well aware of your personality and what you can do to enhance it.

Style comes when you know what kind of clothes would look good on you, style is when you know what kind of attitude suits you the best, style is when you know exactly what you can pull off without feeling awkward, style is when you dress according to your weight,height and skin tone etc.

Fashion has dedicated followers but style has an individual status and it's yours. You do not follow anyone else's style but create your own and make it a trend. You watch fashion but you do not become a victim of it, instead you learn from the trends and set new ones.

Fashion on the other hand is hard to keep up with. If you are a fashion follower then you will not realize what looks good on you and what does  not because you will be too busy changing with the season as it changes. You would not care if you have a toned body or not but just because low cut skinny jeans is in fashion you will wear it to look fashionable regardless of whether or not you look presentable or not. 

I often hear women say "This is in fashion, saw it on the Milan Fashion Week, all the actresses and models are sporting this". 

Oh well... true they are wearing it but unfortunately it's not for you. It can be in fashion but not good for you, therefore it is critical to understand and develop your own unique style. Wearing what's in fashion would not make you popular but being stylish sure will force people to remember you. 

A fashionable person always conveys a great sense and ability of self and social confidence and intelligence. Fashion distracts us from concentrating on ourselves whereas style brings our focus directly on ourselves. Style teaches us to respect ourselves as an individual.

Oscar de la Renta says- " Fashion is about dressing according to what's fashionable. Style is more about being yourself." 

So my dear readers make sure that you have a good grasp on what suits best on your body. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses, be aware of your inner self, be original and do not try to be someone you are not. Use fashion and incorporate it in your style, make it an extension of yourself for others to see.

Now coming to what I am wearing. This ensemble just happened very randomly. I had absolutely no idea what to wear. I dug into my closet found some stuff which I had not worn in sometime so decided to try them on, then I realized I have gained way too much weight to just wear a t-shirt and pants (dint wanna sport those muffin tops) so I borrowed this fabulous jacket from my  friend "Jacob Browning" to cover all my horrible disfigurements. Thanks for saving me Jake.    

Pictures taken by Allan Raj. Click here to check out his Flickr account and here to find him on Facebook.