Is Effortless Fashion Really a Thing?

I recently read an article in The Debrief about effortless fashion and the focus of the article was that we shouldn't be using the term effortless fashion or effortless dressing because in reality, achieving this effortless look is a lot harder than magazines (and society) give off. 

After reading Pandora Sykes' article it really got me thinking: we are living in a world where the epitome of fashion is an effortless look which in reality is not so effortless to achieve. Telling someone if they look effortless or not is a bit of a double edged sword: you either insult them because effortless could mean that they have put no thought into their outfit whatsoever and couldn't care less, or you face the trouble of making your friend/mum/sister feel that they have severely overdressed for your coffee break and that they need to be more effortless...

Back in May The Debrief did an interview with Shopbop's NYC based fashion director, Eleanor Strauss, in which she voiced her opinion on this effortless trend by saying: 'I like to think what I wear looks effortless - but in all honesty I probably tried on around fifty outfits and was then late for work.' 

There is a stigma that arises if a woman spends hours planning her outfit; to some it suggests a level of vanity and excessive self-pride, however in reality most women (obviously not all) DO plan their outfits or DO spend time thinking about what to wear. The ability to just 'throw on' an outfit is much more difficult than we realise, and I know that if I was to just 'throw' something on it would not result positively and I would most likely end up wearing a horribly coordinated outfit or joggers and a hoodie.. 

William Rast || Distressed Jeans

I spoke to Eden Gasson, who I recently did a style profile on, about her thoughts on effortless style in which she replied saying "I could never say my style is effortless. I love fashion and love planning my outfits [and] getting inspiration. Fashion can be effortless but I think it's hard, and for most people it's not. "

"In regards to being able to throw anything on and look stylish, I guess people who can do that are just lucky, or have a good quick eye for a good outfit and I'm jealous if people like that exist!"

I really struggle to come to terms with the idea that a look can appear effortless. There's just something that I don't quite get. I mean if you really have put no effort into your outfit that fine, and you have successfully achieved the goal. However what I just don't understand is the concept behind buying and outfit purely just look like you couldn't care less? Think distressed jeans, over sized shirts and that 'boyfriend' look that keeps coming back. I can't tell you the amount of people I know that have bought a perfectly nice pair of jeans only to rip them up so they look distressed and create an effortless look.

One of the things I really do struggle with in regards to effortless fashion is what it really means. Whilst writing this article I did some research and Googled it. At first I went onto reddit.com and read a discussion about effortless style and how to define it. Whilst reading it I realised that effortless style means different things to different people. it should be noted that to one person, effortless style could be literally just grabbing whatever is lying on your floor at that exact point, or maybe even just wearing a really simple and boring outfit (but still nice?) However to some people the concept of effortless fashion is something completely different. Some of the women on the discussion page made it clear that their idea of effortless fashion is a combination of the comfortable and the stylish. It seems that keeping it simple and stylish is the main idea behind this effortless fashion movement.

Alexa Chung || Huge style icon for effortless fashion

However after reading some of the discussion on Reddit I simply just Googled "effortless fashion" and lo behold up appeared hundred and thousands of Pinterest pages and blog posts on How to Achieve Effortless Fashion and articles about Alexa Chung Looking Effortlessly Chic. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes I do like looking at these articles and Pinterest pages, but surely if you're basing your look after Alexa Chung and learning How to Achieve the Perfect Effortless Style in 5 Ways from a magazine it defeats the point of having an effortless look in the first place? 

Personally I'm not a fan of the term effortless fashion, I think it comes with too many contradictory connotations and in the long run, achieving a complete effortless look without putting effort in isn't going to happen. It will require putting in effort somewhere along the way. And whats so wrong with having put effort into you outfit anyway? There should be no shame in admitting to your friend (and yourself) that yes to did put effort into your outfit, and yes it might show, but don't you look great.

I would love to hear what your opinions on effortless fashion on - leave them in the comments below.

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Style Profile || Eden Gasson

Meet Eden Gasson (aka choccyprincess), a sixteen year old retro-fashion loving feminist from Northampton, England and with over 4000 followers on social media. I've been following her on twitter and instagram for  a long time now and, without this sounding horribly over-enthusiastic, she is probably one of the coolest sixteen year olds I've ever seen and spoken to. She is open-minded and isn't afraid to express her opinions and beliefs, and is a strong advocator of positive body image and feminism. For a sixteen year old she seems way beyond her years and exerts a very mature view on the world. 

What strikes me about Eden is her unique and eclectic style, she has the most amazing wardrobe I have ever seen, and with most of it being vintage. Her style illuminates a sort of joy and confidence that so many girls lack nowadays, and that so much fashion does not have. Her bold colours, one-off finds and hidden gems all, I feel, represent what Eden is like as a person and her style emanates her and truly is unique.

After laughing at her tweets and stalking her instagram I found her tumblr and was introduced to much more of her wardrobe than I had already seen and I was, I have to to say, exceedingly jealous. She seems to have this whole fashion thing figured out and she told me that she has no main fashion inspiration, and all at the age of sixteen. It's enough to make you look at your own wardrobe and wonder what you are doing wrong…

"I love fashion and love planning my outfits, getting inspiration off of tumblr and from magazines etc, and colour-coordinating my outfit with accessories. I feel like my fashion sense does reflect me as a person in some aspects and it is a way of expressing myself and my artistic side, but I honestly do just wear whatever I like to wear just because I can."

Anyway, I've haven't done one of these before, but I have been very eager to try it, so I thought I would do little style profile/interview with Eden and see what she feels about her own style, fashion and fashion within feminism.

Tumblr || Twitter || Instagram

Have you always been interested in fashion, and if so can you remember when you first became really interested? 

I think I have always been interested in fashion, but didn't really get fully into it until I was around 15.

What would you consider your style to be?

My style can go from 50s movie star to 90s goth to 5 year old in the length of a week . My style is a mix of anything and everything I think is cool. My classmates used to say I came into school dressed as different person every day!

I've noticed your massively into vintage - can you remember what the first vintage thing you bought was? 

I wish I had both a cool answer to this and a good memory, but no I do not. I can remember the first time I went into my local vintage shop though. It's this ginormous warehouse hidden just out of my town and I had never seen so many different colours and styles in one place. It's called 'A Most Marvellous Place To Shop' and it really is.

Favourite era of fashion? 

I want to say 60s but this is honestly like a mother having to chose a favourite child.

Have your parents (or any other family member) influenced your style in any way? 

Yes, both my parents! I was around 14 and I remember my parents bringing a load of clothes down from the attic and it included my Dad's original 90s Nirvana oversize tie-dye jumpers and my Mum's clothes from her goth and punk days as a teen. My Mum influenced my style mainly though, her teenage days she was a punk with bright red hair and fishnet tights and in her later teens she was a goth with corsets, choker necklaces and these long black pvc coats which were so kickass. In the 90s she also used to go clubbing with my Dad, her in fur coats and him in his pin stripe suits, they'd call themselves the "King and Queen" of the local live music venue. My mum also used to wear a suit jacket whilst topless underneath or with a bra which I always though was super cool (which I'm yet to experience).  

How do you think feminism has influenced women's fashion, specifically today's fashion? I've not had a big think about this. I know it's now acceptable and pretty badass for women to wear suits, I've seen a lot of women wearing them lately too in the fashion world which I think is awesome and is influenced by feminism. 

Would you say your own style is influenced by feminist movements etc?

I wouldn't say my own style is, I do own a few T-shirts with Feminist phrases on if that counts, although since becoming a feminist I don't care if people don't like what I wear, or if it's too "sexy", "shows too much skin" or "isn't 'right' for my body". So my confidence in outfit choice has been effected by my journey as a feminist. 

All images are taken from Eden Gasson's Tumblr with permission.