Zeitgeist: Style icon Alexa Chung’s refreshing advice on following trends - ‘you have your best taste’

Alexa Chung wearing Simone Rocha during London Fashion Week, 2019. Photo / Getty Images

As I, too, stare down the barrel 40 from a not-so-comfortable distance, I was struck by the depth of Alexa Chung’s life advice, published in British Vogue this week.

The TV presenter, model and fashion designer marked her 40th birthday this week by sharing 40 life lessons with her readers (on top of all her jobs, she’s also contributing editor to British Vogue) and a lot of her advice resonated with people of all ages on social media.

The list of 40 “pearls of wisdom” is long but worth sharing with your favourite people, as it perfectly blends light and fun advice with the kind of deep meaningful reflections we all wish we could keep in mind more often.

In fact, there’s plenty of great fashion advice on the list, as expected, like the idea of not adopting trends that don’t serve you, never getting a drastic haircut after a breakup, wearing men’s socks instead of women’s (men’s socks are superior in quality, she says) and using your makeup however you want (Chung suggests lipstick for blusher or lip balm for a glossy lid).

“Sit out a trend if it doesn’t suit you. I would love to wear low-slung Y2K jeans. Unfortunately, they didn’t suit me then and they don’t suit me now. I have made my peace with this,” she wrote (and I read, wishing someone had whispered this to me a decade or two ago).

She also reveals her favourite cocktail - Maker’s Mark bourbon on ice with a dash of apple juice - and her least favourite karaoke song (her advice: don’t go for Spice Girls’ Wannabe, no matter how much you want to sing it - it’s probably the Maker’s Mark talking).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alexa Chung (@alexachung)

But in between more mundane suggestions to cut your jeans into shorts, reminders to moisturise your neck, and advice on never overlooking “the power of a well-applied accessory”, there are deeper musings about ourselves and our place in the world.

“As a 20-something millennial, I knew the world revolved around me and that I was special. By now, I am aware that the exact opposite is true, and actually any calamity I have experienced has been encountered by most humans and will be again,” she wrote.

She also gets candid about her pursuit of romantic love and her realisation that your friends are the true loves of your life. “The point is: the people who nurse you through the great loves of your life are the great loves of your life! You are not without love,” she wrote.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by British Vogue (@britishvogue)

Chung, an absolute style icon, urged people to fight trends and find their own style: How you decorate your home is up to you, and social media trends are an expensive trap,” she wrote. “You have your best taste.”

She also made a very important point about gender disparity in medical research and the importance of being your own advocate when it comes to your health.

“If you are experiencing abnormal menstrual pain, go to the doctor. If the doctor doesn’t believe you, go to the doctor again,” she wrote. “It is a shame we have to advocate for ourselves in this way but gender disparity still plagues our medical system and women’s health is woefully under-researched. You know your body, please keep seeking answers.”

One of the most important pieces of advice in her list of 40 pearls of wisdom comes about a third of the way through it, when she says something we could all do with remembering a bit more often: “I used to live in fear of seeming stupid if I didn’t know something. One of the most rewarding things I have come to know is that nothing bad happens if you say, ‘I don’t understand what you mean’.”

You can read the full list on the Vogue website.