My relationship with the fashion industry
This week we are going on a hot girl talk that is slightly different than our usual conversations. With every post I write, I aim to not only spread my knowledge on the fashion industry but also the joy and inspiration that fashion can bring into your life. Everyone loves a good origin story, so I want to walk you all through how I initially got into fashion and how it has positively impacted my life over the years.
Growing up I was always naturally drawn to different ways I could express myself creatively. As a very young child this began with simple things like coloring or painting, but as I got older I expressed a lot of interest in things such as hair, makeup, and clothing. I truly have never looked at these things as something superficial (to an extent) and instead more of a way to express myself. When I was little, my mom used to let me do my own hair and pick out my own outfits going to school because I have always been so into it. I did look absolutely ridiculous the majority of the time, but it introduced the world of fashion and beauty to me in a way that was healthy and expressive, instead of something we did to “impress” other people.
When I was in kindergarten we had those little “All About Me” worksheets that every student took home and filled out to hang on the wall in the classroom. Under the section of “What do I want to be when I grow up” I wrote “fashion designer”. I don’t know if my 6 year old brain could really understand what that meant (my mother swears I was just a very intelligent child but she has to say that), but I knew I was very passionate about clothing in some way. I would go shopping with my family and start rearranging the merchandise tables because things “didn’t go together” and try to force my mother to buy me designer bags when the only thing I could put in a purse was a chapstick or a stick of gum. I have been obnoxiously into fashion for as long as I can remember.
As I got older I got more into athletics, but not necessarily because I was active or competitive. My older sister had try-outs for a travel indoor volleyball team and I went with my family to watch. I told my parents that I “liked the volleyball costumes” (I was 7) and so naturally I was also placed on a travel team. I ended up choosing volleyball above the many other sports I was playing because again, they had the cutest uniform. I have never been able to resist a great pair of booty shorts and I’m not sorry about it.
My love for fashion continued to grow throughout middle school and high school. I went to private Catholic schools with uniforms, which lead to me constantly getting dress coded. I would always try to manipulate the uniform or add accessories to it to try to express myself the best way I knew how — through clothing. My high school had to add sections to their dress code policy because I would find the most ridiculous ways to weasel around it to show my personal style.
For my senior trip, my mom took me and my family on a trip of my choice (within reason) so of course I dragged everyone to New York City. This point in my life is when I started taking fashion more seriously because I realized that people could actually pursue careers in the industry. I fell in love with how expressive everyone was with their clothing choices in New York and I went home feeling inspired.
My freshman year of college I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life because I was 18 years old and really just focused on my collegiate beach volleyball career. Most of the girls on my team were majoring in a science to then go into something sports and health related, so I decided to do the same. One year into it and I realized that I absolutely hated the kinesiology courses I had to take and decided to study the one thing I have always been sure I was passionate about. I switched my major to Apparel Design and my outlook on my college education completely changed. I was absolutely loving the majority of my classes (I still hate math) and I felt like I could now envision my life after graduation and after volleyball.
Being a fashion major brought new challenges that I was not anticipating. People often look down on my degree as if I took the easy way out. While I was still in college I got so much sh*t for being a fashion major, especially from men (not ALL of them, I’m not going there I swear). I have always understood that on the surface it may seem easy or useless or whatever other offensive term people loved to use, but nobody took the time of day to ask why I was doing this or what it was that I would even do for my classes. For four years I studied an industry that is so misunderstood. These experiences lit a fire within me to try to break the stereotypes of the industry and show people how much positivity fashion can bring to peoples’ lives.
I now fear that I’m rambling (that’s not hot sorry), but I have cared so deeply about fashion for my entire life. There is nothing that can make you FEEL the way that clothing does. When I’m sick or upset, I put on my softest pajama set to feel comfort. When I want to look sexy and powerful, I put on a little black dress that fits me in all the right places and makes me feel like I own any room I walk into. There is something so powerful and moving about clothing, and it frustrates me that it is stereotypically seen as something materialistic or vapid.
Fashion has changed my life for the better in so many ways and has helped me learn about who I am as I’ve grown up. I will always use fashion as a creative outlet and I will continue to encourage everyone around me to do the same. I hope you hot girls enjoyed hearing a snippet of my fashion journey, and I hope this inspires you to have a positive relationship with fashion in your own lives. Fashion is hot. Self-expression is hot. I will never stop pushing that narrative.
