Simon Doonan, the wonderful creative ambassador at Barneys New York and one of my most cherished fashion inspirations, once said, “Conformity is the only real fashion crime. To not dress like yourself and to sublimate your spirit to some kind of group identity is succumbing to fashion fascism.”

This is arguably one of the most perennially relevant and important fashion axioms ever, and here’s why: The fashion world will always be feeding us new trends, adjusted styles, ‘fresh’ ideas and creative looks. It will always be yelling at us what’s hot and what’s not, and it will never cease to make us look up from the glossy pages of a fashion mag and glance over at our current wardrobes with distaste. It will almost always make us feel inadequate. It will almost always make us feel empowered to make a change.

The fashion world is a beautiful, enchanting, fascinating, fierce, fiery beast of stylish seduction. It has the charming ability to draw you in with its sartorial whims and spit you right back out as the next “must-have” emerges into the market. The thing is, trends change almost daily. What _Vogue_ says is ‘in’ one month will change the next. This is the cycle of the fashion world. There’s a reason no one sports denim skirts or funky hair scrunchies anymore (though I’m still waiting for these to be OK again; my collection is the actual ish).

If we spend our time constantly trying to keep up with what the industry tells us is the “look of the moment,” sure, we’ll look trendy as all get out for a little while, but trendiness is just that: trendy. It fades in the blink of an electric-blue shadowed eye.

What doesn’t fade, however, are those things that make your style entirely your own. Whether it’s your affinity for scarves, your constant swooning over maxi dresses or your unwavering love for tacky rings, these are the things that turn your fashion sense into your personal style.

The common misgiving about fashion is that you must wear what’s ‘in’ in order to be seen as fashion savvy. Can I get a “probably freaking not?”

In reality, it’s those who give a swift kick and slap to what the industry tells them to wear and deviate into what _they_ want to wear — what _they_ perceive as being cool, fashionable and pretty. Uniqueness is the blood of fashion. It keeps the industry flowing, and it keeps the industry alive.

Find what your fashion jive is, because it’s the one thing over which you have absolute control. But at the same time, don’t let yourself be afraid to let these jives change as you do.

My six-year-old self’s princess-themed short-eralls were fresh and fabulous at the time, but nowadays I’d look like a darn buffoon waltzing around with Belle and Co. adorning my upper torso. You get the picture.

For me, I wear a denim jacket and a chunky watch on a daily basis. My inability to turn down a good peplum top is almost pathetic, and my button-up collection could rival the entirety of a J. Crew storeroom. I believe denim is the greatest material to ever be invented, and if it looks like a dress Audrey Hepburn would be spotted in, you best believe I’m buying that puppy.

These are some of the tidbits that make up my style. They’re what make me feel great, and they’re the things to which my subconscious brain always flocks. So why shouldn’t I don them whenever I darn well choose?

Your style is your daily visible signature. So dot your I’s with hearts, make it swirly until your little self’s content or make it so illegible that you may or may not be mistaken for some science doctor. But above all, you do you.