V/O: “Old. Fashion. Old. Fashion. Old. Old. Old. Colour.”
Paris: Welcome to A Girl’s Guide to Fashion. This is Paris Louise and today I'm going to be speaking about fashion and society.
Bec: Hi, I'm Bec Bowman and today I'm joined by Paris Louise. Paris, it has been such a pleasure getting to know you over the last few weeks. You're someone who has very definite ideas about how you want to dress and how you want to be perceived in the world. Can you tell me when it was that you really started getting interested in fashion?
Paris: When I first became interested in fashion was when I was about in my mid-teens.
Bec: And tell me what happened, what was it that made you go, oh I love getting dressed?
Paris: All the colours.
Bec: Was there a particular colour that you really liked?
Paris: Pink.
Bec: That’s still a colour that you like today, right?
Paris: Yeah, I love it.
Bec: What was it about the colour pink that really made you...
Paris: It's bright. And it's very me.
Bec: Why is it you?
Paris: It just resonates.
Bec: Like if you could think of words that describe you as a person and words that describe pink, are they the same words?
Paris: Bright. Bubbly. Colourful.
Bec: So it's like your signature.
Paris: Signature. Yeah.
Bec: When you were 15.
Paris: Mid teens.
Bec: Yeah. What sort of clothes were you wearing?
Paris: I was wearing like nothing branded. I was wearing just like normal everyday clothes and I didn't know what fashion was. Like I wasn't going with the trends for like teenagers back then. I wasn't going with the trends.
Bec: You're going with the trends now. So tell me what's in for 2024?
Paris: What's in for 2024 is jorts. Although I don't like the trend that’s in.
Bec: What are Jorts?
Paris: Like jean shorts. So longer jeans. Like jeans cut here.
Bec: So mid-thigh.
Paris: Mid-thigh, yeah.
Bec: Are you going to be wearing Jorts?
Paris: No. I don't think it's very like my style.
Bec: So what are you going to be wearing in 2024?
Paris: Jeans and denim shorts.
Bec: Nice.
Paris: Because they're longer shorts. And that's the reason why... And they don't look good on anyone really, only people who just want to be trend hoppers.
Bec: So even the trends can get it wrong sometimes.
Paris: Yeah, even with the croc trend, that was the same.
Bec: So it's like you've got to keep an eye on the trends but still dress for yourself.
Paris: Yeah.
Bec: Do you have like a certain person, like a famous actress or singer that's your style icon?
Paris: No.
Bec: So you dress solely for Paris?
Paris: Yeah, solely for me.
Bec: What advice would you give to someone who's just getting into fashion?
Paris: Look at the trends, think to yourself what I'd like to be wearing and who I want to be as a person. Because your style reflects who you are as a person, in a sense. It's not like you're just this once off person. It's like you're always going to be that person but it's always going to be your style, reflects who you are.
Bec: And so as you grow as a person or as you change as a person, your style can change as well.
Paris: Yeah.
Bec: How has your style changed?
Paris: My style was, when I was a kid it was just like a, it wasn't placed properly.
Bec: What do you mean by that?
Paris: As in it wasn't like set out. As nice a clothes I have now, it wasn't as nice.
Bec: You didn't really think about what you were wearing.
Paris: No [laughs]. In that, as a kid I didn't think of what I was wearing. Because like when you get brought up, you don't… if say you don't have parents that are into fashion, it's kind of a thing. It's just different.
Bec: Do you think that because your parents didn't weren't really interested that when you did start getting interested in fashion that that was a way for you to be like independent?
Paris: Yeah. Yes.
Bec: It was something that you got to have a say over.
Paris: Mm-hmm.
Bec: When you think about the ways that our clothes represent who we are, right, do you think that that needs to be balanced with like a nonjudgmental attitude of other people?
Paris: Yes.
Bec: So like, on the one hand, our clothes can tell people who we are, but on the other hand, it's important not to make assumptions about people just because of what they're wearing?
Paris: Yeah. But you can, but you shouldn't.
Bec: Yeah.
Paris: Because it's not a definition of personality. It's to do with the person they are.
Bec: It's like another layer.
Paris: Another layer, yeah.
Bec: Because you are someone who's experienced people judging you for what's on the outside.
Paris: Not what's on the inside.
Bec: And that's not something that you want to do to other people.
Paris: No I don't. I don't feel like that's needed. And just it's not a way of being towards people.
Bec: So fashion shouldn't be for other people. It should be for yourself.
Paris: Yeah it should be.
Bec: You're someone who chooses not to be defined by your disability.
Paris: Yeah.
Bec: Does being a wheelchair user ever affect how you get dressed or what you choose to wear?
Paris: No.
Bec: You just wear whatever you want.
Paris: Yeah. This has been A Girl’s Guide to Fashion produced by Paris Louise for RTRFM.
