Your wardrobe should be a dressing up box.

I don't mean like a little girl's, all feather boas, angel wings and insanely glittery makeup, and however much I enjoy a good fancy dress party I wouldn't go out in a costume set on an average day. But as I've always said, overdressed beats underdressed any day of the week. So honestly, I'd rather have a bit of fun with my clothes and not quite pull it off, than stick to something middle-of-the-road all the time. And that's what I mean by making your wardrobe a dressing up box. You should be able to enjoy playing around with your clothes - getting dressed and made up for the day should be half the fun, even if you're just going to the supermarket!
 

While your wardrobe shouldn't be full of fancy dress, it's clear to see that fashion trends are made up of 'looks' and all the clothes you buy, high street or designer, will fit into one or more of those looks. These change every season, and are introduced in the world of haute couture on the runways, often with outfits so avant garde that they only make sense at a costume party, or on Lady Gaga. But even after a style has filtered down a little into more wearable items, any models still distinctly fit with the latest trends, as do looks created by any day-to-day fashionistas - celebrities, bloggers and fashion lovers alike.

Take a current trend, like 70s Studio 54 glamour, and while nobody is going to catwalk lengths of wearing the style top-to-toe with corresponding bold makeup and hair, if you are wearing the trend, you are likely to be matching a jewel tone jumpsuit with platform heels, serious jewellery and some metallic makeup. Therefore you have created a 'look', much like a costume - just more stylish. One trend that definitely errs towards dress-up is androgyny, it is literally girls dressing like boys!

I wouldn't even say your wardrobe has to be a dressing up box to fit in with the trends - you need to enjoy being creative with your clothes, so a full, fun wardrobe is essential. And I find that I dress totally differently every day, depending on my mood, so I need plenty of different items that can be put together quickly to suit whichever character I feel like on a certain day. Some days I want to be ladylike, other days I'm feeling androgynous, some days I'm into brights, others I want to huddle up in cable knit.. the list goes on. Maybe I have fashion schizophrenia, but all I know is that I can't say I always want to look the same. Hence an incredibly huge and versatile wardrobe, which is like a dressing up box that indulges my characters.

I'm not the only one either, some of my favourite style obsessions like Lady Gaga, Paloma Faith and Dita Von Teese are always dressed up, and while I might not go to extremes like they do, I admire how they dare to be different and wear clothes that match their personalities. Our clothes should be an extension of our personalities, a way to show the world who we are and how we are feeling, possibly a creative outlet. These are all very abstract things that could change in 5 minutes flat, so being able to use your wardrobe to express them is, in my opinion, incredibly fun and liberating. I love that after years of limited expression in a school uniform (the only way was pattern tights) I can now dress however I like for college.

So, really, your wardrobe should be a dressing up box, full of looks that not only make you stand out as on trend, but let you express yourself and show who you want to be for that day. And most important of all, getting dressed every morning, be it for work or play, should be just as much fun as getting ready for a costume party! Love and kisses, Tara xox