Through the years, I’ve experienced many different emotions towards fashion and clothing.
Growing up, my family did not have a lot of disposable income to buy new clothing. The majority of my clothing items were hand-me-downs, and my mom and grandma would bring me to the thrift store to pick a few pieces that I would use throughout the year. Overall, I didn’t have a preference for what I wore, as the only criteria to fulfill was that it was comfortable.
Once high school began, my attitude towards fashion took a turn. I spent countless hours visiting YouTube, WeHeartIt, and Pinterest for outfit ideas and clothing hauls (still guilty of doing this to procrastinate). I was shy and not extremely popular, so it felt like the only way to fit in was to buy the new trendy items that everyone else wore. However, this was difficult on a limited budget.
To combat the feeling of not fitting in, I resorted to DIY clothing and thrift flipping before they were even popular. To be honest, I was horrible at it; but, my parents believed in me and bought me a sewing machine. I grew up watching my mom sew everything, so it was fairly easy to learn how to sew. Consequently, my mom scolded me for cutting up my clothes and sewing them into different pieces. But, I consider this as the beginning of my creative expression through fashion. I look back and laugh at how badly I dressed; but, I was just trying my best to fit in (and failing horribly). Although this is the case, I find solace in realizing that we weren’t expected to be well-dressed and awkward phases were normal at that age.
I’m happy to see that thrifting is such a big trend because somehow it all comes back full circle. I used to fear being called out for wearing hand-me-downs and thrifted clothing. Yet, somehow my childhood is now considered cool. People who currently experience the same fear can feel relief in that sense. With that being said, I appreciate that I grew up in a frugal household and that I am now more fortunate to buy new pieces. As a result, I put more value in clothing as I was previously encouraged to find alternatives that were outside of the box.
Now that I’m older, I still find it difficult to express how much I enjoy fashion. Considering that I leave my house in a hoodie 95% of the time, I think it’s easy to discredit myself for not outwardly expressing my interest. Therefore, the goal behind this blog is to challenge myself to be more vocal. Funds are still limited (university life!), but, this puts my interest in fashion to the test by pushing me to find alternate ways of following trends.
Although I am still the shy and reserved person that I was growing up, I have become more aware of how the act of fitting in and popularity doesn’t matter. Everyone’s tastes are different. Sometimes, I look back on an outfit that I wore the day before and cringe at myself – but that’s okay! This is all a part of the process and it’s what garners growth in the first place. By no means am I a fashion expert in any way, but I invite you to join me on my fashion journey.
(Featured image credits from Tembela Bohle on Pexels)
