My Mindset Towards Fashion

This has been a topic that I’ve been wanting to speak about for a while. Many times I’ve tried to talk about my mindset towards fashion in Youtube videos or on Instagram, but for some reason it just didn’t feel right. I wanted to go deeper and, although I love creating on both platforms, it just didn’t feel like the right space.

Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves, this isn’t some huge declaration. I’ve just always wanted to have a place where I could speak about things that I’m genuinely passionate about and topics where I’ve noticed a lot of growth.

So here it is: 

The story of how my mindset towards fashion has changed over the years.

Let’s start from the very beginning. Growing up I’ve always been attracted towards beauty and fashion. I was an avid watcher of Youtube and I loved following all of the big beauty Youtubers at the time. I found the online beauty and fashion community so fun and expressive. I loved recreating looks and learning more about the trends of the moment.

From high school through college, I loved learning about the current fashion trends. Although I always loved learning about it from afar, I always felt behind on trends. I noticed that right after everyone else around me started to wear certain fashion items was when I started to wear them. Fashion to me wasn’t a personal expression at the time but more of a means to fit in. While in college, I felt like I had a good sense of style but again it wasn’t personal. I wore what everyone else wore. I was inspired by others who did have a personal sense of fashion and this was the time I started to get into “designer” items.

Growing up, I have been very fortunate to be given very beautiful gifts over the years. I have always been and still am very grateful for those experiences. The funny thing is, as much as I truly appreciated it at the time, I never gave much thought about the “importance” of designer items.

It wasn't until my senior year of college and a little after I graduated that I started to put importance on designer and trendy items. Wearing the next new thing, whether consciously or subconsciously, made me feel worthy. Social media didn’t help either. This was when I started to discover fashion bloggers and it felt like every post I saw was somehow luxury or showcasing the latest fashion trends. Everyone was sharing their amazing lives wearing these amazing things and, whether you realize it or not, it does sort of influence you. This is when I started noticing the “it” bags, the “it” shoes, the “it” belts and I wanted them. I wanted all of it.

Of course, at the time I didn’t have the money to buy all of these items and I was always pretty financially savvy. However every chance I did get to purchase clothes, I bought from all of the fast fashion stores to create similar trendy outfits that I saw online. I wanted to be on top of the fashion trends instead of behind them. When it came around to birthdays or Christmas I would start asking for these trendy bags/shoes. Thankfully, my father never bought me any of them (he knew what he was doing lol). Whenever he did buy me a nice gift, it was always pretty classic. They were items that I never really saw anyone else my age wear and I always wondered why he bought gifts that way. 

After being out of college for a little bit, it finally hit me. I was already well into trying to be a mini-influencer, sharing my clothes and sense of style. I would buy clothes for a certain trip or want to buy certain clothes so that it would help my “influencing” career. I would often purchase trendy items in hopes that the content I made with them would somehow help me grow. Everything was so short-term. My mindset towards fashion was on items that were in now. It also felt like social media showcased the more is more mindset. Everyone I saw on social media would have closets FILLED to the brim with clothes, shoes, and bags. It was overconsumption at its finest. 

*Disclaimer: I’m not saying this was the culture on social media. But this was what I was experiencing and noticing from the people I was following at the time. 

I started wondering: how is this sustainable? The answer is it isn’t. But that's what I was noticing. We buy into fashion trends simply because it’s trending. We buy luxury items we don’t need and won’t last. We buy luxury to feel important. It makes us look well-off. We buy cars we don’t need, apartments, you name it because on social media it makes us look better. It may not be a constant thought that you buy things because of these reasons, but it just may be the deeply rooted reason as to why you buy into fast fashion and the current trends. 

Now I’m starting to go off on a tangent about spending habits, but what I’m trying to say is that I realized that the reasons why I used to purchase clothing the way I did was no longer important to me. My mindset changed from buying clothing for the moment to buying clothing that lasts. I noticed that the clothes I previously purchased from fast fashion stores were often falling apart. Now I find myself value buying quality over quantity. I value classic pieces; something I now realize my father always did. I prefer the money I spend on clothes to go further than to only be worn a handful of times. 

I also started looking at luxury with a different perspective. I realized what makes luxury “luxury” isn’t the brand name. Luxury is whatever you make it out to be. It is personal to you. I purchase from luxury designers because of the quality of the item, the craftsmanship, and the fact that certain items from luxury stores really do last you many years.

I find this mindset to be more sustainable. Not only in an environmental way (although that’s a plus), but I now look at fashion as long-term. I want to build a lasting wardrobe of clothing items I love! I want every piece to fit me just right, to make me feel amazing. This doesn’t mean I’ll never buy fast fashion or that I’ll never buy trendy items. This just means that when I do purchase them, it comes from a place of wanting to use those items as part of my personal self-expression. I want the item for the long-term and I want it to be a reflection of me, not because it’s the “it” item of the season. 

I hope this helps you on your fashion journey. If you happen to think differently or fall into the description of my previous fashion mindset, this in no way is saying that you are wrong. Everyone is welcome to their own thoughts towards fashion. My hope is to inspire those who are going through similar mindset changes and are still figuring out who they truly are and what they value. Trust me, this will be a never-ending journey. As I age, my mindset will continue to evolve. And it is because of this, that I want to share every step with you and every thing I learn in the hopes that it helps you on your path to self-discovery.