How Fashion Trends Shape Our Body Image: and How Embracing Personal Style Can Set Us Free

Fashion has always been more than fabric. It’s a mirror of our culture, a signal of status and often, a silent enforcer of who is allowed to be seen and how.

Trends, by nature, are exclusionary. They come and go quickly, demanding a certain silhouette, color palette or aesthetic to be considered “in.” One season it’s ultra low rise jeans and cropped baby tees, the next it's oversized everything. The underlying message remains the same: if your body doesn’t match the shape that trend was designed for, you must alter yourself or be considered lesser than.

The fashion industry has long promoted an idealized body: thin, tall, often white and able-bodied. While body positivity movements have made some progress, the majority of high fashion and fast fashion still centers a narrow standard of beauty. “Trendy” becomes code for conformity. And for many, that conformity comes at a cost with disordered eating, shame, compulsive shopping or complete disconnection from one’s own preferences and comfort.

We absorb the rules from a young age and lean into what’s flattering, what to avoid, how to dress to look slimmer, taller, curvier or more feminine. Clothing becomes performance, not expression. And the more we try to fit into the rules, the more disconnected we become from ourselves. In the quest to look “stylish,” many of us lose touch with our own bodies, our hunger cues, our comfort and our joy.

But what if we could reclaim it?

What if clothing didn’t serve the gaze but our spirit?

Style vs. Trends: Reclaiming the Narrative

Personal style is not the same as following trends. Style is intuitive, evolving and sovereign. It’s the choice to dress in a way that feels good, not just looks good. It’s listening to your body’s needs (temperature, texture, flexibility) while also honoring your identity, history and expression.

When we stop dressing for the imagined critic and start dressing for ourselves, something powerful happens. Clothing becomes an act of care. We begin to feel "in" our bodies, not at war with them.

Healing your relationship with style after years of fashion induced body shame doesn’t mean never enjoying a trend. It means asking "why" you’re drawn to something. Is it an authentic yes or is it a reaction to a cultural “should”?

Steps Toward Style as Healing

1. Explore Your History

   
   

Revisit what you used to love wearing before body shame crept in. Was it combat boots? Band tees? Flowy skirts? Reconnecting with those early memories can reveal parts of yourself that still want expression.

2. Get Honest About Comfort

If you’re pulling, adjusting, or holding your breath in an outfit, it’s not empowering. Dignity starts with physical ease. Choose fabrics and fits that feel good against your skin and allow for movement, rest and a full breath.

3. Use Color and Texture as Emotion

Healing through style doesn’t mean neutral palettes unless you love them. What textures soothe you? What colors energize or ground you? Let your nervous system co-create your wardrobe.

4. Let Go of “Flattering"

“Flattering” is often code for “makes you look smaller.” Instead, ask: "Do I feel like myself in this? Does this feel aligned with who I’m becoming?"

5. Create a Visual Mood Board

Save images that evoke feeling, not just aesthetics. Think characters, scenes, eras. Are you drawn to earthy forest energy? 70s rebellion? Parisian ease? Gender neutral vibes? Use that as inspiration to build a wardrobe that tells your story.

6. Name Your Style

Claiming a name for your aesthetic (even a silly one) can offer clarity and empowerment. “Soft sorceress,” “edgy botanist,” “desert mystic.” This is about identity, not approval.

7. Dress for the Day You Want to Have

Clothes can anchor intention. Some days that might mean cozy, oversized layers to ground you. Other days, it’s bold lipstick and boots that make noise when you walk. Let your outfit serve YOU, not the other way around.

From Shame to Sovereignty 👑

Healing through style is not a linear path. There will be days you try something on and spiral. That’s okay. The point isn’t to get it right, it’s to get free.

The goal is not to escape your body, but to "come home to it". To stop dressing it as a problem to fix and start treating it as a canvas of expression. Every piece of clothing you choose with intention becomes an act of resistance against a culture that profits off your insecurity.

Fashion may be an industry. Style is yours.

And when you dress for "you", you don’t just look good. You feel powerful.