Why fashion?

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
-Coco Chanel

Ever since i was little i had a fascination with fashion. I have clear memories from my pre-school and kindergarten days when i would not go to school unless my dress matched my shoes and hair accessory. I loved dresses, particularly red ones, and often picked out my clothes myself. As i grew up i realized fashion really defines a person. No fashion is right or wrong however, there are fashion mistakes. For example, my "awkward" stage, basically 5th through 10th grade consisted of oversized abercrombie and fitch jeans and several colors of gap and tommy hilfiger shirts layered with old navy performance fleeces--usually in white or pink.

Once graduating from the all girls private plaid catholic school, I traveled 3,000 miles to attend The George Washington University, or rather The University of Designer Brands. Even at 8:00am in the morning you would see students strutting the runways/sidewalks of DC with their large LV totes, oversized blinged out sunglasses, side ponytails, and so lows with uggs. However, i soon realized this was not fashion but instead "trends" that often plagued our campus. Sophomore year, I was lucky enough to have an amazing roomate who I will call "Karen" (she knows why). We started to discover the amazing DC nightlife along with DC nightlife style. Thanks to Karen I now own at least 20 pairs of very high, and painful heels which i now believe is essential to every women's closet (i will blog about it later). I remember one night senior year, i was sitting on the couch with my roomate Gretchen, niether of us wanted to go out and literally were vegging out watching some stupid reality TV show. The other girls wanted to go out so we both said "FINE" and we got ready. Gretchen tends to whine a lot about going out but when she put on her heels she said "whenever i put on my heels im ready to just go out and have a good time. they are AMAZING!! now go put yours on". One of my favorite people in college, Cady, lived her life in sweat pants. She swore by them and even to this day she still does, however, when it was time to party, she always wore the CUTEST tops, with her favorite pair of jeans and bedazzled flip flops. Several times, we all tried to force her into heels but, i think we all realized probably just a month ago, that Cady pulls off those bedazzled flip flops just as well as Angelina Jolie can pull off having 20 children, and it is her own personal style that makes her fabulous. Finally we have Ms. Olivia who only came out about once a month, or when it was a "special occasion". This petite gorgeous girl could literally pull of anything and often did it with class and style. Even if people(stupid boys who dress only European) made fun of her sometimes out of the box style she still wore it, and carried herself with confidence, even to this day.

As junior and senior year rolled through i began to appreciate designers and not so much for the name, more for the art, style, quality that came with them. In fact, I never bought, and often vehemently voiced my opinion on how tacky purses, sunglasses, clothing etc was that had the designer so blatantly and obviously displayed that even my friends blind dog could make out the designer. Fashion isn't about letting the world know about the designer you are wearing, its about feeling comfortable in your clothes, knowing what you love, and carrying it with confidence. Taking ideas from designer labels is great too. I definitely cannot afford all designers therefore i often read vogue and try to mimic the pieces in other lower cost brands. Im not saying go to Forever 21 because its a total waste of money, but find the same look in a mid-range department store. You'll still get good quality with the same fashion appeal.

I just recently became a firm believer in classic pieces (i threw out 3/4 of my closet), dressing your age, and sexy sophistication with a splash of trend. Just because you're going out on the town doesn't mean you need to wear a tranny red, plunging skin tight dress to attract men (thats another blog). I do not think i have the answers to all fashion faux pas but I do know enough about fashion because it is really a passion for me (yes it rhymes) and i am interested in discovering the seattle fashion scene while saving money :). I hope to help people capture their own sense of style and fashion while learning about local stores in the Seattle area.

WAIT just for clarification sake, dont get me wrong i LOVE my north face fleeces and blue whale rubber boots. In fact i am wearing my North Face fleece right now :)