Whenever we talk about ‘Plain Jane’, it’s always considered something negative, yet I’m sure that our inner Plain Jane’s will laugh at us throughout various stages of our lives.

Jane comes with a safety net; if you don’t want to overdo a trend you might stick to wearing your Plain Jane option. But, if you’re like the daring and crazy Ravey Dave, you won’t care at all! The adrenaline rush that travels through your veins, as you decide to commit dreadful fashion sins is so extreme you just cannot wait for people to stare and point at you - in clear idolisation.

Certainly no Plain Jane!

However, fast-forward 30 or even 20 years later when you’re sitting with your first born, laughing at pictures of your childhood, and suddenly there it is - a Polaroid of you stuck in a trend. Embedded into the family photo album for all to stare and point at - out of clear embarrassment for you.

Now, this can go one of two ways. Your child looks at you in disgust and thinks, ‘so this is what you call your ‘fashion heyday’ when everyone wanted to be just like you… yeah right.’ Or, ‘oh wow! Wait until I take this in for a show and tell, you’ll be like the coolest parent around!’ Plain Jane will laugh because clearly the latter will not happen.

So, you may be thinking, ‘but I don’t always want to play it safe!’ And good on you! But that’s where style comes into the equation. You cannot justify what you wear by saying it’s your personal style, there will always be good and bad style. The difficulty is creating style that’s on the right side of good.

By Petrina De Gouttes