All that Glitters is Not Gold… It’s Fashion

I am one annoyingly compulsive news reader, but this week it actually came in handy.

Globe and Mail fills my webpage history every day, and this week I most prominently remember seeing the 43rd Annual Country Music Awards pictures of Taylor Swift.

Now, how does this relate to fashion at all, you might ask? You see, Taylor Swift sported a dress while she took home the prestigious awards – but not just any dress, a partially glittering dress. Aha! Then something hit me with realization.

With the characteristics of a Sherlock Holmes meets Anna Wintour kind of detective, I identified the sneaky culprits. Glitter and Sparkle. The two partners in crime are expert when it comes to stealing spotlights on outfits seen this fall/winter, and also on outfits in general. Spotted on the runways of numerous designers such as Vera Wang to Diane von Furstenberg, it seems like we are encouraged this season to shine on – literally.

Then I looked beyond the trends part of shimmery fabrics, and gazed into my closet and suddenly realized: sparkles, shimmer, and sequins and their “family members” (by this I mean glittery, shiny fabrics and accessories and everything in between) can make or break an entire outfit if you let it.

Then I wondered if shimmer and shine was really a trend at all. But I myself have never given enough credit to sparkles when it comes to fashion. Really, it’s like adding high heels to an outfit, in a second you see this incredible difference.

However, sometimes it does go both ways, good or bad, especially when an outfit has overdosed on the shimmer. If Taylor Swift’s dress had been without sparkle, or if she had worn another dress without any sparkle the end result/appearance would have been totally different – it wouldn’t have the same kind of radiance and elegance the glitter brought. My charcoal-colored top would probably cry tears of sadness (well I would) if it lost its glam partner: the parade of sequins that line the shirt – it would look so different. Imagine a cute mini solid colored dress; now add some glitter to that picture, and instantly the whole look changes from casual to event/party worthy.

Sparkles and shimmer in fashion is quite different from trends like animal prints or knee-high boots. They can appear in an outfit and seem barely noticeable, hardly even there, yet sometimes they can change an entire outfit.

Most intriguing of all, it seems like sometimes shimmer has no boundaries when it comes to fashion. Definitely not the same with things like animal prints and knee high boots. The uniqueness of glitter in fashion still puzzles me, and from the glitter glue used in art class to the runways of New York, adding sparkle and shine is an essential part of art in general.

However, this doesn’t mean we should start DIY-ing an accessory for that brilliant pop of shimmer and unleash the glitter glue like a finger-painting toddler. Save that for art class, or the designers, I say!