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Author: Stacia Affelt Photography: Stacia Affelt
Prague&Vienna
The Streets of
he runway is designed to make every piece of fashion you see look fresh, innovative, and envious. The rows of white chairs make it an event, with excited buyers and tough critics. The bright lights shine down on every perfectly poised and polished model, making them the center of attention. The extended stage gives you just enough time to get lost in thoughts of another world: the world of fashion.
The runway is where fashion is born, but the street is where fashion comes to life. I have always been a fan of street fashion, constantly eyeing the stylish (and not-so-stylish) city women wherever I go. Although I am not yet in my 20’s, I have been fortunate enough to visit some major fashion capitals of the world: London, Beijing, Paris, Madrid, Florence, and most recently Prague and Vienna. I am eager to learn from the different styles and trends in each new country that I visit. Gaining inspiration from the fashionistas I study around the world or simply just having admiration for their confidence and bold outfits are two of my favorite things about the effect that street fashion has on me. Street fashion takes place in a more raw and natural setting. You get to see people on their way to or from work, on a date with their most charming faces on, or getting lunch with an old friend. And whatever these people choose to wear to each occasion, you know that it portrays how they want to be viewed by everybody else. You know this because fashion, while expressed through items of clothing in different patterns, textiles, and colors, also has a voice. This voice speaks louder than most because fashion ultimately lets you know what that person feels confident in when they are trying to look their best and who they are as a person. On the street, as opposed to on the runway, there are no last minute clothing checks or makeup touch-ups. On the street, fashion is fashion and people are people. Fashion has a way of unifying people, no matter where they are from. Even though the streets, languages, and cultures might be completely different, the voices that fashions speaks make their way from one side of the planet to the other. Everyone understands it, everyone wears it. For instance, on my trip to Prague and Vienna, I saw a fair share of riding boots, trench coats, and brightly colored skinny jeans. Each of these items is no stranger to fashion in America, especially in Colorado during the cold and snowy months. Although I am not entirely sure what I expected to see as I walked down the cobblestoned streets of Europe, it was none of what I would see walking in Denver. In Colorado, the Bohemian look with flowy maxi skirts, top knots, and fringed crop tops seems to have grabbed hold of every teen and young twenty-somethingyear-old. Each tall and skinny blonde European woman, on the other hand, looked as if they had just strutted off the runway. They did not look disheveled, but appeared as if they had spent hours getting ready that morning. Even so, these women had a way of making it look effortless. They wore a confidence unmatched in America, as if they were undeniably aware of their beauty and exotic nature. This confidence was exuded not just in the way they strutted their stone stage, but in what they wore. Along with clothes, all I could keep my eyes on were their shoes. Tall, black high-heeled boots, brown-wedge sneakers, combat boots, and Coverse in every shade. The amount of shoe stores there, two or three per block, explained their shoe obsession. They were not afraid of color, whether in their shoes, jackets, or pants. With the rain-stained, gray muted streets and buildings as their background, the bright colors acted as a welcome contrast. Almost every city girl that strutted past me was carrying an H&M or Topshop bag from a recent shopping trip. In America, many of these women would appear overdressed; but in Europe, each woman blended in and went almost unnoticed, except by me: the American tourist suddenly feeling silly in her black-and-white, polka-dotted crop top and black tights. In some areas, clothing is viewed as a source of discri