In Vogue

The Vogue Guide to Spring 2010 http://www.vogue.com/guide/S2010RTW/ highlights the trend of so-called 'personal dressing'.  Virginia Smith writes: "Put your own spin on Spring with stylishly mismatched layers of lace, sparkle and leggings".  I'm all for the mismatch, the layering, the lace, the sparkle and the leggings.  But all of them together?  Really?  Put the average woman in that eclectic mess and she'll look like she just went through a dumpster (or may even live) in the back alleys of Rodeo Drive, Madison Avenue, the Bal Harbour Shops.  Luckily, dumpster chic is not the only trend

Marc Jacobs 2010, from www.elle.com

for 2010.  But who cares, right?  Well, uh, lots of people.  Even if you're not an avid reader, watcher, breather, wearer, lover (but never eater!) of fashion, you're still heavily invested in the rag business.  You may be a season or two or five behind, but you've most likely given into a trend of sorts.  Yeah, you just can't help conforming one way or another.  But true personal style requires an understanding and appreciation for one's body, proportions and scale.  No one will refute that Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe were two of the greatest fashion icons of recent history.  They were born only a few years apart, yet they couldn't have been more different in their interpretation of style.  They both dressed with a critical awareness of their bodies.  They may not be your personal heroines but there is something to be said for their timeless relevance.  Women in vogue (but not necessarily in Vogue) possess a sense of themselves and express this through their own signature look.  You may scoff at the fashion of the moment, but never make the mistake of scorning style.  If you take the time to genuinely evaluate how you choose to clothe and adorn yourself, you will no longer waste so much precious time in front of your wardrobe and mirror.  Life, with all it's beauty is volatile and it's a wonderful thing to be assured that you can rely on your signature look.  Constant, invariable, steady, consistent, uniform.  There's something to be said for a uniform style, just like Marilyn with her constant curvy garments and Audrey with her gamine style.  They would have scoffed at the idea that personal dressing has anything at all to do with Spring 2010. Only once you have discovered your essential style can you then afford to adorn yourself with the modes of the moment, but just make sure don't pile them all on at once.