Tonight I caught a bit of a TV programme about the fashion choices of a celebrity (Kate Winslet); not my normal kind of TV which is why I very quickly turned over to something more interesting (to me) like the test card!
But before I did, I was treated to some self-important fashion gurus flaming some of the fashion choices of a younger version of the celebrity in question. In particular a 20-year old celebrity.
My initial reaction was: Of course a 20-year old celebrity makes some fashion mistakes. At that age we all make stupid choices; in fact without those stupid choices we don’t learn what is sensible and what is not.
But then I thought: Actually they weren’t mistakes at all. Young people should be experimenting, and sometimes experiments don’t work out. But they are not mistakes.
If we discourage young people from experimenting – especially with something as harmless as fashion experiments – we risk ruining what makes young people young. Not their age, but their sense of adventure and willingness to experiment.