The Alternative Press

There is a difference between fashion that is on trend and fashion that is trendy. The trick is to figure out which side you want to be on. I try to choose on trend because I find that when I choose trendy, I often make mistakes. Have you done the same?

Fashion that is on trend is about modernizing your looks, even the classics. Buying on trend these days, means adding certain pops of color to your wardrobe. Now that it is summer, for instance, bright colors are everywhere. Accessorizing an outfit by adding an orange or yellow tee or a colorful scarf with your neutral khakis is on trend. Choosing a new color for a manicure or pedicure is subtle yet very much on trend.

Fashion that is trendy, on the other hand, is buying something of-the-moment simply because it is of-the-moment, without really thinking about whether it works for you and your body type. This is when mistakes happen. Recently, I bought skinny light gray jeans and regretted the purchase as soon as I brought them home because, really, who looks good in skinny light gray jeans?? I wonder … even a six-foot model?! But I got caught up in the craze over skinny jeans and I wanted to be trendy. I have made so many other fashion mistakes because I went trendy – oversized earrings, full, billowy blouses that will never look right on me – I can’t even remember them all.

Hopefully, I am a little wiser at taking the best of the new and not overdoing it. I am off now to try a new shade for a pedicure – opaque orange. On trend but not over-the-top. And it’s a pedicure so it’s not a huge commitment; it can come off anytime.

Melissa Kaplan Guarino delights in sharing her love of fashion with you. Check out Melissa’s blog – www.speakingoffashion.com.