Battling "Celebrity Look-Alike Syndrome"!

Amidst a trembling fury of publicized celebrity scandals and overdramatized appearances at award shows such as the Academy Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards, A-list celebrities create what is known as the Butterfly Effect, with a little help from hypersensationalism in the media these days. By saying the Butterfly Effect, I am directly correlating huge waves of current fashion trends and styling techniques with Consumerist America's Biggest Problem: Buying those looks to imitate the lives of the rich and famous. But, how do the lives of so many young men and women become sucked into this necessity to adhere to celebrity standards of dress and style?

"You will hear so much about a look from celebrities that we attempt to recreate the lives of the people we always hear so much about", says a 21 year-old student attending the University of Colorado in Boulder. By reading magazines such a W, Vogue or US Weekly, we are able to manipulate different trends that have become iconic within the neighborhoods and the Hills of Hollywood and a vast majority of Los Angeles. "Celebrities always have a huge impact on the way people live their lives. When Jessica Simpson buys a new bag, 3 million people want it, 200,000 people actually get something that looks like it and only a handful actually get the exact bag", says the anonymous University student. People who follow these trends need someone to look up to, why not the stars?

A major problem overlooked by many individuals (who are feverishly shopping ebay in the hopes that Lindsay Lohan's Oversized White Balenciaga Motorcycle bag will be sold at a mere fraction of the price) is that these trends adopted by Models, actresses, heiresses (or any one who has too much money for their own good for that matter) are trends that are rarely chosen for themselves. Of course they are given an option of what to wear and look like, however with the help of big fashion houses, celebrities are handed a $14,000 handbag that is photographed to the high heavens, creating an uproar of celebrity fans to stampede into our Nation's malls in search of that very bag at affordable prices. This process is not only a waste of time, however, is a waste of individual style, as we each mold into different Hollywood/TV personalities in the hopes that other people will look upon us as being A-list ourselves. While we choose to imitate the rich and famous, millions of
company's, who are void of any groundbreaking fashion concepts and prefer to replicate millions of cheap knock-offs for quick money to become successful, are embezzling the public's ability to think and choose their own personalized fashion methods.

A quick and easy way to correct this absurd vicious cycle of senseless fashion choices, one should rethink their very own reasoning behind purchasing a bag, a pair of shoes, a coat, or any other item for that matter. Are big retro sunglasses what we really want? Or is this a trend that looks great on Nicole Richie and therefore, must look good on me? By making these decisions, we are able to turn our heads away from a constant need to delve into Hollywood fashion; a look that many of us don't even know why people began wearing it to begin with. Instead, try to use concepts that celebrities use and revamp that look to hit a more personalized style. This will show that you have at least the slightest idea of what fashion is, how to access specific trends in current fashion, and more importantly, how to make your favored look more you. Most celebrities could never say the same. That's what stylists are for, after all right?