P Diddy

“When I was younger instead of playing with trucks and cars, I was reading fashion magazines and sewing” said the Fashionisto.  A fashionisto is a male who has a passion for fashion.  Similar to a fashionista, a fashionisto wants to design clothes, own a clothing company, and write for a fashion magazine or even the more farfetched idea of becoming the next, Anna Wintour of Vogue.  These are careers that a fashionisto aspires, just as much as a fashionista.  But what requires a male to be a fashionisto? Is it just the passion for fashion?

A fashionisto is a shopaholic, attentive to trends, and fashion savvy.  You’ve got to have “Style.”  Marinating a love for shopping and to know about all the latest male trends will consist of your style.  Fashionistos take this part of the fashion life very serious just as much as a fashionista and maybe even more. New trends for spring 2010, like long cardigans and regular old sheer cards are out of style, it’s the fashionistos’ time to get in touch with their own textures, and to experiment with shades and fabrics.  For example Prada Chainmail cardigans are an ingenious idea for men to stop being boring with their clothes and get on the path of excitement.

A fashionisto is any guy who has that inner “Divo.”  Divo is a guy who’s just like a “Diva,” but instead of being a Starlet, a divo is the star and life of the party similar to P. Diddy.  Now if you want to be a fashionisto, there are certain questions that you are going to have to answer.  First, do you love fashion? Second, do you have money?  If you are going to live the life of a fashionisto then you have to know there are not a lot of sample sales, store sales, or amazing thrift shops to keep you in style. So you are going to have a little change to buy those Dsquared2 high top shoes at Saks New York.  You can love fashion, be a stylist, or maybe even a designer, but to be a true fashionisto is hard work, dedication, and expensive!  A stylist and a designer can love fashion just as much as the next fashionisto, but not every designer or stylist can keep up with latest trends and above all, set trends.  Setting trends is expensive and hard.  With New York being 1 of the major fashion cities in the world, there is a ratio of 13 to 1 thrift stores for women to men and there’s a ratio of 10 to 5 boutiques and clothing stores for women to men. 

You can find men’s clothes don’t get me wrong, but the quality and quantity are very rare.  You can’t go to Soho in New York and find cheap low top skinny toe shiny black shoes for men under $240, but for women it’s different.  You can go to midtown and find a lot of women’s boutiques and find sample sales.  A fashionista buying a Burberry tote bag for less than retail is way more realistic than a fashionisto finding a Burberry tote bag for cheap.   To be a fashionisto or an aspiring one, you must have a job and know how to shop, especially now that we’re in an economic downturn.

Fashion is something inside you that you can find and pull out.  Once pulled out, you can shop, and experiment until you drop.  Clothes are supposed to make you feel good about yourself. Being a fashionisto is a life not everybody is meant to have.  Knowing the latest designers and looking  glamorous for a living is what fashionistos live for.  Don’t just love fashion, live it!