The Evolution of International Style

If you are walking around any major city on planet earth today, you are probably aware of the apparent homogenization of style in clothing. For women, wherever you turn, it's leggings, giant scarves, sunglasses, boots or flats, a fabulous statement bag and killer bracelets and/or watch. It's the easy uniform today.  Or so it seems.

And for men, jeans with rolled cuffs, a navy or black blazer, a custom loafer or brogue and a great shirt. Sunglasses, watch - good to go - anywhere!

Where does that leave the individual in this day and age? Is it still possible to stand out and express oneself in a way that asserts one's difference from all others?

If that is what moves you, then you are presented right now with more choices than any fashionista could possibly entertain if she were working on it as a project twenty-four hours a day for the next thousand years!

This is a fairly recent turn of events, no more than 4 or 5 years, hastened by the Internet and the immediacy of information, and the simultaneous influence of designers and fashion interpreters internationally.

Things were a little different just a few decades ago.

At that time, there was a hierarchy of availability of fashion choices, access determined by your physical location and exposure to what was actually manufactured for sale in any given season, by virtue of what retailer was offering the clothing, accessories, shoes, and so on near you. The most exclusive items were in large cities worldwide, rarely elsewhere.

Outside of a major city, you were limited by your ability to get to the location of the actual item for sale. And if you had to drive a distance, or fly somewhere to get it, you would have to call the store and hope to get someone to help you acquire what you wanted, IF it was in stock and IF they would ship it to you.

How quaint it all seems now - but this was only 20 or so years ago.

Say you were in South Dakota reading Vogue.  You would have to strategize like General Patton to figure out how to acquire the latest Calvin Klein or whomever - and pray it would fit and that it would be exactly what you were hoping it would be.

I remember lusting after a pair of Trussardi black wedges with long laces, a leather version of a high espadrille - super chic - back in 1998. I had seen them in an editorial in one of my fashion magazines and had to have them!   Were they available in the US?

Of course not - only in Paris. As in France.

I called information for Paris, got the number and called the store at some crazy hour, San Francisco time.

My French is rusty but I would have resorted to that if I had had to. Thank goodness the person spoke English and was very helpful.

I purchased the black wedges and a pair in navy patent!  Very exciting!

Did they fit me when they arrived two weeks later?  No. They did not.

I sold them to a friend.

But did that stop me from pursuing fashion wherever it might be?  No way! The fun was in the discovery, and the thrill was in the acquisition.

With the literal tsunami of information, images, ideas and viewpoints swirling around us now, it really is a wonder that sense can be made of it all.

With everything from heritage brands for both men and women, as well as new looks emerging from the minds of both new and old designers, the most exciting trend is the one that speaks to YOU.

Resources are a click away, to virtually visualize your next look before you buy or to try something that you would never have considered until you became aware of it.

Culturally, there used to be recognizable items that immediately identified a person as being an inhabitant of a country.

Now, we are citizens of the world, with all the freedom of choice that that confers.

There will be consensus as we evolve, but it will be among people of like mind wherever they live, unconstrained by borders or their own imagination.

We will be free to pursue our respective styles and inclinations.

I can't wait to see the results of the grand experiment we are all living!!