I think that the biggest mistake people make in fashion is taking it too seriously. With so much access to so many products and styles, any style that you want is only a few clicks away. By the time Kate Moss is snapped by the paparazzi wearing a top, there are factories working to reproduce it for the masses.

Lately, the term fashion eccentric keeps popping up in my mind when I think about style. Simon Doonan, Creative Ambassador for Barney’s New York, wrote a book about it. Bullet Magazine posted ‘Five Steps to Becoming a True Fashion Eccentric’, and my favorite of all The Times’ T Magazine posted this article about the demise of the fashion eccentric. Below is a picture of Isabella Blow (once a major player in the magazine world) about whom the article said:

The McQueen frocks and the Philip Treacy hats weren’t what made her eccentric: the meal was the meal Blow made of herself, the phantasmagoric sense of fashion, beauty and invention.

So what’s the point I’m getting at? The point is to take risks and let your clothing reflect the complicated person that’s in it. To be honest, I feel more comfortable dressed up, in full makeup, with jewelry, and my hair curled. If possible, I’d look this way when I let my dog out every day. No one can feel like their best self unless they’ve put some kind of effort into it, even if that effort is spraying your hair to reach 10 inches above your head.

Vivienne Westwood looks perfectly at home in her orange hair sipping a drink on set. That’s what makes her fabulous. She owns her look, it’s her we remember. Not a specific outfit. Clothing doesn’t have to be scandalous, expensive, conceptual, etc. to be memorable. It just has to be a reflection of you.

So I dare you to go forth and wear something you are totally comfortable in, but fear how others might react to it. Dare to be overdressed or underdressed and follow your own code.

The meaning of a true eccentric isn’t in the costume — it’s in the soul.