How to Get Fashion Educated Without a Degree

The fashion industry is a little intimidating at times. When you aren’t immersed in the fashion world from day one, it can be hard finding your feet and knowing where to begin, especially when fashion can be a rather costly endeavour.

But it isn’t impossible to know your way around the fashion world like the experts. If you’re struggling to know how to understand and excel in fashion, here are a few starting points for all you fashion rookies.

Avoid fast fashion

As much as the cheap prices may appeal to you, fast fashion is a big no-no. Especially considering its environmental impact. A lot of cheap fashion tends to be recreated trends of bigger labels’ collections from months ago. If you’re buying a new arrival from a cheap brand, odds are it’s already out of style in the rest of the fashion world.

Read the magazines and books.

It’s an obvious one, but it’s also a pretty crucial one. There’s only so much you can get from social media and the internet, and reading up on what the experts have said can’t hurt. Try having a browse through the library or bookstore and find new release fashion books, and grab yourself a Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar for that extra credit.

Familiarize yourself with big names.

Trust me, there are a lot of big names, but once you have a general idea of the main ones, it makes it a lot easier to just sound like you know what you’re talking about. If you hear a name you don’t know, try looking them up and getting an idea of their distinct style, their basic origin story and, the most important part, how to pronounce their name.

Follow bloggers and influencers.

This is the best and most efficient way to familiarize yourself with the fashion world. Today, most trends are discovered and introduced by the consumers themselves, instead of the magazines.

Bloggers are quick to showcase their latest fashion purchases, and most up-and- coming designers either offer to pay or give away free pieces to major bloggers, so they’re always the first to get the latest and the trendiest.

Know your fashion festivals.

All around the world. It’s actually pretty easy to keep up with fashion festivals, as they’ll usually be broadcasted a lot. Even if you can’t spend all your time watching each show, it’s still good to know whether fashion week is in Milan, Paris or New York this week, and even keep an eye out for the biggest collections on show.

Once you’ve got these few things down-packed, you should be ready to speak the language of fashion. It isn’t so hard after all.