Armenian street fashion: Stylish, not necessarily expensive

More and more brightly colored, bolder, sometimes trendy and sometimes unusual apparel appear in Yerevan’s streets every year. Armenian stylists note that, nowadays, Yerevan residents pay more attention and allot much more time to choosing their clothing than a few years ago. They have told us about the transformations in Yerevan’s street fashion, resulting in some positive changes emerging.

Marina Kababyan, a fashion stylist and designer, says that fashion trends in Armenia have become particularly noticeable over the past 5-6 years, when fashionable clothing hypermarkets opened in Yerevan, offering brand name clothing.

In Marina’s words, earlier on, people in Armenia used to wear mostly costly fake brands imported from overseas:

“Whereas now, the majority of our citizens find it unacceptable. They don’t wear fake brands.”

In the stylist’s opinion, casualwear has become a part of daily routine:

“A few years ago it was difficult to distinguish between a girl rushing to university, and one going to a party. Whereas now, the situation has changed and people choose more appropriate attire. But they still wear evening makeup. That’s probably because people in our country attach great importance to a well-groomed appearance.”

Experts note that the Armenian youth have shown a keener interest in works by local fashion designers: they want to stand out from others and look unique, which isn’t easily achieved with mass marketed fashion clothing.

Narine Simonyan, a beauty blogger, believes that both males and females, especially among the youth, choose more daring casual wear nowadays – they show a more creative approach and, more freely and easily, accept new trends than before, while festive looks have always been accentuated by details and accessories.

“Casual and festive style mixes can often be observed. High heels are still an element of Armenian girls’ and women’s image, which oftentimes doesn’t match at all,” says the beauty blogger.

In Narine’s words, men have also been creating some interesting looks in recent times: they have started wearing color-print shirts, suits and loafers [laceless shoes with flat heels]; interestingly, they combine clothes of different lengths, thus creating a layered effect.

However, Narine notes with regret that a negative phenomenon – ‘imitation’, can also be observed alongside the positive tendencies:

“Many people fail to match certain fashion trends to their style and image. As a result, they either get something that falls short of the original suggestion, or an absolute copy of it, which is not indicative of an individual style.”

Fashion stylists recommend to be bold, to follow one’s sense of style, to buy basic things and wear clothes with due account for one’s body type, rather than to chase trends that mismatch one’s image.

Looking stylish doesn’t necessarily imply spending much. You can buy clothes within the budgetary limits you’ve set. Narine Simonian believes that an average of AMD 45,000 [USD 93] is enough to create a comprehensive look.