I started caring about what I wear only a year ago. It was invigorating, getting that feeling of confidence with every outfit that I constructed. Though, I still do wonder, “what is the point of wearing these clothes?” They reflect me, what I am, and what I could become. So I began to attempt to find meaning within the clothes that adorn my body.  For the majority of the time I was clueless, but I generally was playing it safe with a lot of formal wear. Though I had immersed myself in more and more advanced fashion techniques and inspiration, this journey through these different colors and garments has shown me the ways I could change into a new person.

The silver and bronze screens have always been a big inspiration for me. From their heroic beliefs to their outlandish fishbowl shaped helmets. The world of fiction has made me dress like I am to show both myself and the world around me the confidence I carry because no one can walk around with that confidence when they’re dressed like Dio with his giant yellow boots. These media use fashion to elevate meaning within these characters through their advanced drawing and costuming techniques to bring forward the character’s confidence or lack thereof. The way these fictional characters dress shows their personalities, and when I dress like them I can carry their charisma and show the world that I am who I say I am.

While art may take its inspiration from fashion, the opposite is true as well.  Looking at famed fashion designer Karl Lagerfield’s many famed clothes he takes inspiration from 18th-century art and brings the pale and distraught colors from the vase and turns that into a dress that shows the elegance of the time and Lagerfield’s combination of the pastel colors on the vase he takes inspiration from to create the soft cut of the dress. 

This talk about the media, myself, and ultimately the world of fashion leads to the most important part of even wearing clothes, expression. These art pieces and media show how we in the world are pulled every which way and our style reflects our everyday lives. Our ties for talking to our annoying co-workers and our jeans to die in the summer heat for the sake of being trendy. Fashion is meant to be the self, but each and every garment and accessory thrown on shows the world who you even are and what you stand for. Every model on the runway is a walking mannequin billboard hybrid and every average fashion enthusiast on the street stands for their lifestyles advantages and struggles. 

Symbols are everywhere in your life. From the gleaming logos on dark city streets to the loud and rich architecture of monuments. Symbols act as a center point in all life. Style is the same as symbolism. Sometimes style is used to act like someone you’re not. Old money has been a rising style meant to act as a signifier to the rich or to be an impersonator of the rich by using the chic and non-confrontational style to hide one’s wealth but to have the luxury quality in these clothes still. This style has grown largely within the fashion trends with brands like Zara, who cater to people who can’t afford these higher quality goods, a chance to achieve a life that they may not have the chance to live. This puts people into a disingenuous mindset to live a life that is not their own, while some may like the style, the life of discreet vanity shows that fashion is being turned into a less individualized experience and more of a categorization of people surrounding themselves. 

I attended uniformed middle school and with that, I had never learned to dress myself up until the start of my senior year in high school. I was held back by this uniformity and was forced to act as a symbol for the school and not a reflection of myself. Style has brought me this immense joy to walk out of the house and become someone that I couldn’t have been before. I was an elevated version of myself from the clothes that I wore. The surrounding environments did not make me. I made the outfit and therefore the person that I am today.