I find myself in the midst of a crisis of belonging. I am at a loss for how to pair together the clothes in my closet that I have carefully curated and accumulated for years. Every morning, my bedroom floor resembles one of some cliched 2000s movies where a teenage protagonist casts their entire wardrobe onto the floor in the pangs of despair of not having an outfit to wear. This crisis has been slowly presenting itself to me for the last year but I only recently noticed it during one of my weekly Pinterest relaxation sessions. In my frustration for not being able to assemble outfits and clothing combinations in a way that reflected the creativity of those on my home page, the divulging agenda of the modern fashion industry struck me. There are two ways to dress: around a piece of clothing or around the feel of the outfit.
Such a revelation might sound obvious when examined alone, however, when we look more closely at the decision we each make when choosing how to approach dressing, something important is revealed about our values as individuals. If we look at the first approach, around a piece of clothing, it is aligned with the marketing strategies of the modern fashion industry. It is why we see the hype around random items of clothing like the infamous Free People corset top that was sold out for months after one influencer proclaimed it as a “summer must-have”. I don’t mean to say that this mindset is inherently good or bad, only that in the way that it is currently implemented by the masses, it leads to the death of individuality and personal fashion. I am slightly saddened to say that this is the mindset that has slowly poisoned my sense of style for the larger part of the year. Maybe not as black and white as needing a specific branded piece of clothing I saw on TikTok or Instagram but there definitely has been a switch that has presented itself to me in the idea of a “capsule wardrobe”. In my hunt for the perfect capsule wardrobe in which I would never need to update, I was lost in the pursuit of the perfect everyday t-shirts or hybrid going out/elevated basic tops and I forgot the need to step back and evaluate the greater presentation of my style.
For many of us, fashion is the easiest way to communicate who we are. Our likes and dislikes, interests, and hobbies can often be read through the clothing we wear and the general atmosphere the combination of our clothing and personalities radiate. In the assembly of a greater ‘vibe’, an individual comes to understand themselves in a unique blend of how they aim to present themselves and how they aim to be perceived. I am afraid that I have lost my ability to add to a greater ‘feel’ of my style. I have become swept up in the typhoon of influenced information and have lost the hallmarks of my own fashion. In retaliation against the way of dressing I have been brainwashed into, I deleted Instagram and Twitter (I couldn’t let go of Pinterest) in the hope of being influenced and finding my own fashion sense again. I hope to relearn what I like and perhaps discover something about myself along the way.