Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who designs, models, or markets high-fashion clothing or who is an ardent follower or consumer of the latest clothing fashions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person who creates or promotes high fashion, i.e. a fashion designer or fashion editor.
  • noun A person who dresses according to the trends of fashion, or one who closely follows those trends.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[fashion + -ista (as in Sandinista).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined by Stephen Fried in Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of the Supermodel Gia in 1993. It is a combination of fashion and the Italian, Spanish or Portuguese suffix: -ista. Compares to other -ista neologisms such as Sandinista, Peronista, Guardianista.

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Examples

  • Just as the label fashionista evokes an entire lifestyle, so, too, does the term foodie.

    Martha Stewart: Food Is the New Fashion Martha Stewart 2011

  • Just as the label fashionista evokes an entire lifestyle, so, too, does the term foodie.

    Martha Stewart: Food Is the New Fashion Martha Stewart 2011

  • Oh, and if you are asking me to link to your latest me-too "fashionista"-type site that has NOTHING to do with dresses or vintage but is instead all crappy overpriced handbags, celebrity sunglasses, and embellished jeans: who do you think you're fooling?

    January 2008 2008

  • Oh, and if you are asking me to link to your latest me-too "fashionista"-type site that has NOTHING to do with dresses or vintage but is instead all crappy overpriced handbags, celebrity sunglasses, and embellished jeans: who do you think you're fooling?

    In Which I Answer Some Random Questions - A Dress A Day 2008

  • Jefferson Antiporda, Reporter A plot was allegedly being hatched to shorten the term of Chief of Staff Victor Ibrado and to replace him with a general who would support changing the Constitution to allow Philippines - Once in a rare while, Malacañang can be a place for 'fashionista'-watching.

    WN.com - Articles related to Vick To Repay $416,000 To Pension Plan 2009

  • It takes way too much effort to dress up all of the time - I could never be a "fashionista" - all I would do all day long is dress and undress.

    Fashion World of SL 2008

  • Why is it Miley Cyrus gets trashed for inappropriate fashion, but Taylor Momsen, who is a year younger, gets called a fashionista?

    WN.com - Articles related to Madonna turns photographer 2010

  • Why is it Miley Cyrus gets trashed for inappropriate fashion, but Taylor Momsen, who is a year younger, gets called a fashionista?

    WN.com - Articles related to Madonna turns photographer 2010

  • Why is it Miley Cyrus gets trashed for inappropriate fashion, but Taylor Momsen, who is a year younger, gets called a fashionista?

    WN.com - Articles related to Madonna turns photographer 2010

  • Despite being known as a fashionista, the actress says she's much more of a tomboy at heart.

    ImNotObsessed.com Vera 2010

  • This is how we got “fashionista” – coined by Stephen Freid in a 1993 biography of the supermodel Gia – and “amazeballs”, first used publicly by the fashion blogger Elizabeth Spiridakis Olson in 2008.

    From woke to gammon: buzzwords by the people who coined them Steven Poole 2020

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