From top: Audrey Hepburn, Johnny Depp, Madonna, Indira Gandhi, Alokananda Roy and Suchitra Mitra

Style as soul search

Style is not about the clothes you wear. A stylish woman is someone who is absolutely comfortable with who she is. She is original. That can only come from being honest with yourself. While you can cultivate a sense of fashion, style is something you are born with. You can hone it, give it a nudge here or there to bring out the best, but you can?t fake it. It is not about being ?with it?, it is identifying what works for you.

Everyone should stand in front of the mirror and take a good look at themselves. Look hard, see the pros and cons. Knowing your body gives you an inner confidence that helps discover a personal look.

These are a few people who stand out in my mind because of their effortless style:

Madonna: She is the ultimate diva. She is living proof that if there is a will, there truly is a way. She was not born beautiful and she is a mediocre talent. She has made herself from scratch and has become an icon who started so many trends through the years. All new-generation pop stars ? including the likes of Britney Spears ? are wannabes in comparison.

Audrey Hepburn: She is stylish in an understated, utterly elegant way. She understood her limitations and her strengths. She never felt pressured by trends to become someone else.

Indira Gandhi: She personified less is more. Limitations of her job aside, she still managed to look powerful, dressing within the confines of her image. And Sonia Gandhi is following in her footsteps rather well.

Suchitra Mitra: I love her salt-and-pepper hair. I love her Bohemian attitude, which comes out in the way she sings, in her diction. I love the way she drives her little car around town. She is completely at ease in her tangail saris.

Alokananda Roy: Her flawless skin and hair ? all messed up and piled on top of her head ? are extremely stylish. She can carry a vintage bag with sneakers and not look out of place. Her sense of style is not borrowed. She has her own confidence.

Johnny Depp: He is the only man that makes the list because he is his own man, entirely. He has a rather eclectic way of dressing, as opposed to the carefully cultivated charm of Hollywood. He is the only man who can wear a satin shirt and drawstring pyjamas and Gucci loafers with unkempt hair and get away with it. He is a man whose clothes acutely reflect his razor-sharp mind.

Some tips to avoid the fashion-victim trap: It is better to be a late follower of fashion rather than a fashion victim. Look at trends, only take what you are comfortable with, what you identify with. How you are wearing what you are wearing is most important.

A stylish woman is someone who doesn?t have to try very hard. The moment you are trapped in an image, you are no longer stylish. Which is why Madonna scores so high, she can constantly reinvent herself. She breaks an image and evolves.

Style is about not playing safe. It is a five-foot-tall woman who can wear flats to a ballroom party and carry it off with elan. Women go wrong when they blindly follow fashion without understanding the limitations of their own bodies and surroundings. You should look different, but also blend in. Women who look conspicuous are fashion victims. Someone who keeps pulling up a neckline and pulling down a hemline is glaringly self-conscious.