A fashionista is a complimentary term used to describe an avid follower of fashion, one working in or deeply involved with the high-fashion industry, such as a fashion designer, fashion model, photographer, buyer, fashion writer, or wearer; a devotee to clothing trends and fashion. It is a portmanteau of the words fashion and Sandinista of the Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN, a Nicaraguan left-wing political party.^[1] A related term, "fashion victim," refers to a person, particularly a celebrity, whose slavish dedication to the latest fashions may override what is generally considered to be in good taste or actually flattering, thus attracting the attention of the fashion police.

In culture and blogs

Fashionista is a fashion-oriented way of life, almost as in 'groupthink'. Traditional fashion directives have been culturally restructured in recent decades. In the 1960s, haute couture fashion designers influenced street fashion via a hierarchy of fashion distributors. In the 70s and 80s, large media corporations in film, magazines and music took over control of the industry. However, during the 1990s, Japanese street fashion began to reverse from the influence of haute couture.

Since the year 2000, weblogs worldwide have been promoting street fashion rapidly. Such blogs have become a way of life for many, and the fashionista blog culture has been changing the industry.

Fashionista blogs also brings a new popular fashionista vocabulary. There are differences in semantics between use of the word 'fashionable' and 'trendy'. The Japanese word 'Fasshonaburu' is similarly gaining acceptance, usage and meaning in the non-Japanese fashionista vocabulary.

The band Panic! at the Disco mentions the word fashionista in their song "There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey (You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet)." The line is "...I bet you just can't keep up (keep up) with these fashionistas..."