My Eternal Source of Inspiration

What style means to me.. 

When I was 4, I remember my mother wearing a black wrap, full length jumpsuit for an award function. When I was 9, I remember her suiting up in a white shirt for a work meeting. At 13, when she changed careers and started selling art, I remember her putting on a flowery embroidered kimono, while sipping wine during an art opening. When I turned 18, she wore a black dress for my birthday dinner and sometime during this year, she held up some red velvet fabric and excitedly said, ‘I’m going to make this into a sari!’

When I think about what style means to me, I look back in retrospect and see all the stages in which my mother dressed up, and I see a distinctive pattern of how she bought clothes, stored them – and ultimately – how she combined and wore them.

There was an element of ‘her’ in every look she put together. It was something which remained constant within the evolving sphere of the changing trends of fashion.

For me style is an embodiment of your inspirations, choices and personality through your appearance, and fashion provides you with the tools to make those visible.

My source of inspiration..

I wrote this as an assignment for a fashion journalism workshop I attended early last month. While doing so, I realized how watching my mother dress up over the years actually impacted my style.

How she truly inspires me everyday.

Today, to celebrate her existence, I thought I’d share it here.

Happy Birthday to my eternal source of inspiration.