WHAT FASHION MEANS TO ME?

Fashion universally is adopted by people of different cultures, different styles, and how they want to portray their style to the world. Fashion is something that people use to put glamour on them through clothes that they love or feel themselves in. We all love fashion, but we love different types of fashion styles. When people say fashion designers, they usually describe them as unique clothing styles that nobody in their normal lives would wear it. I mean we do see fashion designers dressing their models in different styles we normally would feel awkward wearing outside. I am talking about those carton wear and crazy outfit and colors.

It takes a lot of boldness to rock looks like that. Growing up in an Indian household, I usually used to like the western style more. It was because the dresses I used to see people wear were saree and chudis. To me, it looked a little too bland for my style and my mother or even any of my family did not care anything about fashion. Which sometimes pissed me off. Because since my mom had no fashion sense she literally dressed me like a boy till 5th grade. I mean to compensate for my clothing she even gave me a haircut as a boy. Kid you not I had mushroom hair cut throughout my 2nd and 3rd grade. After convincing her that I was getting teased a lot and trying to make her believe that I am a girl, she let me grow out my hair. Don’t worry the torture doesn’t end here. My point is, as a Muslim Indian girl I technically did not have much of a choice in fashion. My sister and I loved fashion, dressing up, styling our hair and looking at magazines, fashion walks, etc. We do not like a specific fashion style, we are pretty diverse when it comes to fashion. Now, we like western, and Indian dresses and actually like to keep up with the trends that come along. Only the ones we liked.

If I have to talk about fashion, I can talk about it all day. " Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of every day- Bill Cunningham. I love a well-good put together outfit. For example, a black cute tank top with a brown cardigan and tight jeans. Honestly, fashion means a lot to me. I appreciate it when people take their time to look good for themselves and not look like a hobo. Well, that is also a style too but just not what I would wear.

After 5th grade, I started growing out my hair. My hair was silky smooth and straight. Once it grew to my shoulder length my Mom would plait my hair and say if you don’t plaid it, your hair will fall out. So, she wouldn’t let me style my hair how I wanted. Girls my age would have cute ponytails, hair let down, and different cool styles. But me, no. I had 2 plaits till the end of 7th grade. Even though I begged my mom to grow my hair out, I immediately started hating having long hair and just wanted short hair so that I don’t have to plait it daily. The worst part was, that the hair I used to have straight and silky became wavy and frizzy due to the amount of 2 plaits I had worn. After 8th grade, I begged to wear my hair into 1 plait so that I don’t look like a kid no more. Still heard all sorts of advice even though I had my hair plaited.

Anyways, just like my hair my mom always had something to say about my clothing choices. Saying things like "these jeans are ugly, this top is ugly, this wouldn’t fit you blah blah"...etc. During 11th and 12th grade, I had gotten a little freedom with my clothes and my hair after I begged and cried and had all sorts of fights with them.

Then I started experimenting with different types of styles. Not too drastic but just had an upgrade to my closet and the era of clothes that we bought. I used Instagram as an inspiration for clothing styles and read blogs on different fashion points and their point of view. Watching movies I loved to look at what they wore and how I would look if I wore them and how I would style them.

My day-to-day style is chill and dark and neutral color outfits. Like I said I don’t have a specific fashion style I wear everything.

Recently I took an interest in PINTEREST for inspiration and just to see what else is out there. I feel the fashion industry has changed a whole lot since this past decade. I don’t know but the era of clothing from 2010 to 2015 styles still holds a special place in my heart. Now I feel the style is great, but I feel like it's not as artistic as it was before.

But if we look from the sustainable point of view people buy clothes left and right and sustainability is out of an option now. Since brands put out clothes that are easy, accessible, and affordable, they push out clothes faster than they could dispose them. I would say, buy clothes that you can style in multiple ways and is of good quality so can wear them multiple times. I feel like repeating outfits shouldn’t be seen as bad things or even called out on. I love repeating outfits that I love multiple times a month.

When I was in college which was not too long ago, I had seen people repeat outfits 3 times a day like a freaking uniform, even my friends. Sometimes I almost wanted to say something like, “do you not own any other clothes like...” Then I remember that it is not only rude to say something like that but also okay for them to repeat them however they wish. Maybe they want to wear that outfit, maybe they are financially incapable of buying many outfits as us, or maybe they don’t value fashion as much. There are so many reasons for it. But you shouldn’t shame anyone for repeating it.

I don’t buy a lot of outfits but I always buy things that I will wear for a long time. I have learned to style clothes with different outfits and different clothing pieces that stand out. One clothing piece that makes your outfit pop or just makes it right.

Anyways, to live a life with an awesome fashion style, we should try styles that we always wanted to try. Stop caring what other people think and go get that top that you always wanted to rock. Because How much ever you style your clothes even after considering everybody's point of view and how you should dress. Somebody will still have a problem with how you dress. Now, my mom’s style has evolved. She now actually has a good dressing style maybe because of me and my sister or also seeing outfits she likes on social media. I actually sometimes like shopping with my mom. So go get that dress or jeans, that low back cut churidar or top whatever you wish because we only have one life. We can’t always alter our styles for other people around us.

"Don't be into trends. Don't make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way to live." —Gianni Versace