If there is one thing that I have always loved, it is fashion. I don’t obsess over all of the latest trends or religiously follow designers, but I do take pride in picking out my outfits. While fashion can be a form of self-expression, I think that people have gotten too caught up in stereotyping other people based on what they are wearing. For example, if we see someone dressed in ratty clothes, we make think that they are poor, and if we see someone dressed in luxurious clothes and jewelry, we assume that they have money. It is important to understand that this is not always necessarily true. Ultimately, fashion can reflect who we are, but it doesn’t have to define us. It can most definitely show someone’s style; however, I personally do not think fashion always expresses someone’s personality.

I’m not a tomboy, but I’m also not a girly girl. I fall somewhere in between those two categories, which causes me to be what I call “fashionably bipolar.” This may not be a real term, but it is a real condition, I promise. Some days, I’ll choose to dress like a tomboy, and other days, I’ll choose to display a more girly outfit. Basically, I have two distinct styles, neither of which reflects my personality. If you are fashionably bipolar, you know that there are two subcategories that determine your stylistic mood: colors and accessories.

In art, fashion, and interior design, color is used to evoke certain emotions and is typically stereotyped with certain events. People wear black at funerals to express somber moods and white at weddings to express purity. Additionally, these colors are also worn on a daily basis, and while the emotions that are evoked on a daily basis may not be as intense, the colors still trigger some sort of reaction.

The first subcategory of fashion bipolarity is color. In this stage, one wears colors of opposite extremes in a pattern in which no one can truly figure out their personality (because clothes don’t necessarily reflect personality, remember). Personally, the majority of my clothes are black or gray. No, I am not goth or depressed. I’m just not a huge fan of bright colors. At all. Side note: black clothes are perfect to wear to any event. The only bad thing about them is matching them up, because, yes, there are different shades of black.

Anyhow, I’ll go for a couple of days, maybe even weeks, sporting dark clothes, and then, out of the blue, I’ll change to colors. To me, this transition is no big deal because I’m just casually going through my wardrobe, but people who notice tend to be shocked and, sometimes, concerned. They think that I have changed into a whole new person despite the fact that I have simply changed my color scheme.

Sorry, I haven’t changed. It’s just me being fashionably bipolar.

The second subcategory of this fashion disease is what can make or break an outfit: accessories. How one accessorizes can also contribute to their style. Just like with colors, I will go through stages where I’ll focus on accessories for a while, and then I’ll just drop them. When I quickly switch from wearing elaborate necklaces and earrings to nothing at all, people automatically assume that something is wrong. Maybe I’m sick or have had some horrible life crisis that has caused me to become lazy and stop trying. Nope, I just don’t feel like dressing up everyday. It’s safe to say that these dramatic changes are caused by this fashion disease.

Once again, there are no emotions associated with the colors or accessories that I choose to wear. The outfits that I wear each day are usually pieced together carefully, but they are assembled in an extremely short time frame, and in no way do they reflect my mood. They simply reflect my polar opposite fashion tastes. My outfits are the true indication of my fashion bipolarity, and that is something I’m not ashamed of having.