In college, I majored in fashion design and merchandising. I really enjoyed it. I looked forward to going to class (on most days) and was always ready for whatever project lay ahead. While it was fun and exciting, I never knew what I would do with this degree after school. After graduation I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember why I had majored in fashion.
In high school, I wasn’t good at most subjects. I excelled in English and grammar. The rest of the core subjects weren’t my specialty. In fact, I worked very hard to maintain my B average in things like math and science. My senior year I took art and sewing. These classes were easy for me. They were full of self expression.
During my freshman year in college I, like every other college freshman, was trying to find my place....and my major. I found myself enrolled in a “Fashion Basics” class. As I sat there, the first day of class, I took a look around the room. It was filled with girls dressed in fancy clothes with bold colors. Every girl in the room was wearing the latest style and trends, which at the time sadly was the “80’s revisited” look. These girls were so put together. I looked down at what I was wearing; an old sweatshirt and jeans that I had had since junior year of high school. It dawned on me then that I had not gone shopping for new clothes in a while. I was still wearing clothes I had in high school. And more importantly, I did not fit in with this crowd.
I had never put that much thought into what I wore. I had always just worn what was in my closet, how ever old it was. When my mom would take me shopping, I never noticed trends and styles. I had always just bought what I liked or what was on clearance.
For whatever reason, that semester I declared my major in fashion. Over the next three and half years, I transformed myself from slouchy and frumpy to trendy and stylish. My clothes changed with the trends, I shopped several times a week, and was always reading the fashion magazines trying to stay up on the latest and greatest in fashion. I knew designer names and labels. I knew what season clothes were from. I was obsessed with fashion. Along with my new found fashion, came changes in hair and make-up. The changes were: I actually started wearing make-up and fixing my hard to manage hair.
I started to feel better about myself and how I looked. With this new found confidence, I became more involved with my school’s fashion community. I joined the Association of Clothing, Textiles, and Merchandising, and was more involved with “fashion promotion.”
Before long, I found myself on the runway of several fashion shows in the town where I went to school. It felt good to finally be noticed; even it was just for a 30 minute show. I got to wear expensive clothes and walk the runway. Though I was no Heidi Klum, it was still fun.
One of the downsides to the whole fashion major thing was the stereotypes. After hearing my major, often people would give me the dreaded, “oh….” This “oh” meant “oh so you’re shallow.” Even the awesome people I meant at Campus Crusade for Christ would do a double take when I told them my major. I felt like some of them wondered how I could be a Christian and still be hard of the sinful world of fashion. I struggled to find a place in both worlds.
When I complete my own senior collection in my second to last semester of school, I had never felt more accomplished. Those who went to high school with me would have never guessed I would be where I was. I was never a fashion forward person. I was never voted best dressed. I would have never been the girl who would become a fashion major in school with a collection designed and constructed by hand.
Fashion became something more to me at that point. It was no longer about fitting in or staying up to date with trends. It was about being who I was. I had never been a scholar, but I could succeed in design and merchandising.
When I graduated from college with a degree in fashion design and merchandising I felt like I had really accomplished something.
I believe fashion can be something that is positive in life. Too many times it’s looked at negatively. There are the fashion stereotypes. The negative sides are the ones too often looked at. I would like to be a positive light in a too often negative industry.
I believe you can look like a million bucks without spending it. I also believe that if you feel good about what you wear, (you honestly feel good about it) then who are others to judge. You feel as good as you look.
With that said, I’ll continue on my unexpected and often questionable journey in fashion.
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