A realization took me by surprise. Ninety percent of the clothes I own were either given or handed down to me. Only a good ten percent was my own purchase. Now that I've placed much thought to this, most of my money does go to cafés (hello coffee lovers/addicts), food and transportation. It came as a surprise because this implies that my personal style isn't really "mine." I reflected on how this was the case and I think I've found the answer.
As a kid, I was presented with very few outfit options. Enrolled in a Catholic school, I was used to wearing the generic few-inches-below-the-knee skirt, white collared blouse and a tie to match. What little freedom I have can only be exercised in my choice of shoes. But even that was subjected to numerous constraints: shoes have to be leather, black, no higher than one inch heels, no other adornments or whatnot. It goes without saying that my fashion experience had been cut out for me. Of what use is shopping for clothes when you don't get to wear them as often as you'd like?
Then, high school happened. My sense of self was slowly starting to show and it wanted to be recognized. The Catholic school I was in only allowed for very simple accessories, no makeup and no hair color. Because I was desperate to get my crush's attention (now that I'm over this, I can't help but cringe, haha) I bought flowery earrings, hair ties that scream "I'm a pixie" and I tried putting on more powder to cover my imperfections. It didn't kick in at that time, but that showed the very first traces of my love for fashion. The uniform was still the go-to outfit but come the weekend hangout with friends, my mother's closet comes to my rescue. My mom had a huge impact on my personal style. She and I are almost the same size so I could just fit into her clothes and dress up just like her. She grew up with limited opportunities but that didn't stop her from being stylish. You could say that she has an eye for pretty things. Your closet has served me well, mother, thank you!
College came, along with it the freedom to finally wear whatever I feel like wearing. Yas! Though not strictly the case, at least I kissed the long and alimuot skirts goodbye (good riddance). I was still occasionally looking through my mother's clothes and sometimes I would save up for new ones. This was the time when I discovered that my style leaned towards the feminine and classics. Every Christmas, I'd receive clothes as gifts from my family. My insides scream "Yay! I have more pieces to mix and match and style."
Now that I've graduated, I'm slowly preparing myself for work life. I made the habit of planning my outfits in advance as inspired by Kryz Uy's method from her book "Behind the Blog." I doodle the pieces that I will be wearing for the coming week and go with whatever accessory I feel like sporting on for that day. This has become a really enjoyable creative experience for me. Through this, I can trace what I've already worn for the past week and make sure that I don't wear it again with the same pieces next time. That my friends, is how you cheat your (limited) wardrobe. (curtsies)
I wonder how my style will evolve in the coming years as I build my own closet. Will I still believe in scarcity enforcing out creativity (read: Disclaimer)? Speaking of scarcity, because we weren't blessed with a lot of time, Wayne and I squeezed in a few minutes to do this spontaneous shoot. Our curiosity took us to the 6th floor of JCentre Mall.
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