Ladies, we can finally take a deep breath and rejoice in the name of fashion. Okay, maybe that's a bit much. But the celebration doesn't have to come to a complete halt. For all of the times we've been told how to dress, who we should dress for and how we're not good enough if we don't dress according the fashion "rules," here's our moment to scream, "We don't believe you, we need more people!"  

And more people is just what we got. In fact, we've got more researchers to back us up when we say, "We dress for ourselves, and no one else. Period." A new style study debunks the myth that women are slaves to fashion and proves that we, the consumers, control the industry. Dr. Hazel Clark, research chair of fashion at Parsons' New School for Design, and popular fashion and lifestyle brand T.J. MAXX found that 77 percent of women use fashion as a tool to express their personality. Of the 1,000 American women surveyed, 88 percent declared that they dress for themselves, not others. 

It’s true that fashion trends will always determine which pieces show up on clothing racks and in magazines, but Dr. Clark found that over half of the women she studied (55 percent) reinterpret these trends by adding their own personal twists.

“Findings clearly show that women are feeling empowered by fashion, not confined by it,” said Dr. Clark. “They aren’t looking for some cookie-cutter approach to shopping or to copy a head-to-toe look.” 

What do you ladies think? Are we finally in control of our own fashion sense, or are many of us still slaves to trends? Let us know on Twitter (@ebonymag)!