I have a confession to make. You, my reader, are far more
fashionable than I am.
I understand fashion and follow it even. It’s reached the
point that people will ask me for fashion advice. They do know one
thing ““ I pay close attention to fashion.
But how could UCLA have a curiously dressed fashion columnist
““ especially in Los Angeles, with people being so choosy
about what to wear here?
The answer is this: I completely reject conventions of modern
fashion and find my own way.
I dress how I want to, taking nothing more than inspiration from
modern fashion. It’s more fun anyway, and that’s what
clothing should be about ““ after all, we can’t go
without clothing, so why not make it fun?
Fashion can be a lot more individualized than the media makes it
out to be. If you wear something unique people won’t look at
you strangely as long as you wear it with confidence. Just rock
your own style.
My housemate confessed upon moving in with me that she was
scared to live with a fashion columnist. She thought I might think
she dressed weird. Turns out we have a very similar style ““
funky, chic and a most hilarious bit of spunk.
I have bright pink hair, never wear heels, and much to my
boyfriend’s dismay, more often than not I don’t shave
my legs. And it’s not that I dress weird all the time, but I
advocate it very much because getting dressed should be a highlight
of the day.
Sometimes, I’ll wear an outfit based on how much it can
make me laugh. It’s a good game. The more stressed I get
during school, the weirder I dress.
During finals week, you can spot me from a mile away.
The other day I walked through the Anderson Graduate School of
Management and wondered to myself, “How do they know
I’m not here for class?” Everyone smiled at me, but I
definitely knew I stood out. I didn’t understand why until I
looked down and realized I was wearing a neon green shirt, sparkly
fishnet tights and a flowing skirt that did not match.
Clutching my pink computer case, I realized that sometimes
people just don’t understand why I choose to dress so
strangely.
I see style as something we choose to participate in, something
that screams, “fashion should be fun again.”
Take the ’80s, for example. After the 1970s rejection of
conventional fashions and the ’60s upheaval of skirt lengths
and distinctly ’50s hair, ’80s clothing was fun to
wear.
’80s clothing was ridiculous, and that’s why I love
it. I’m not so ’80s revival that I dress that way every
day. I am ’80s revival in the spirit of the ’80s: the
idea that getting dressed can be a ridiculous, hilarious, awesome
process.
I mean, think about it. Who really thought it looked good to tie
a HUGE shirt on the side, with stretch pants? And who in their
right mind wears three pairs of slouch socks? But it was fun then,
and it still is now.
We don’t need an ’80s revival. What we need is a fun
revival, an upheaval of the ways we think about clothing.
Fun clothing is the new ’80s revival. Instead of wearing
throwbacks to things that have happened already in fashion, these
looks can be taken as inspiration for new unforeseen thresholds of
visual enjoyment through clothing.
Fashion can be intimidating. So-called high fashion, to me, is
limiting and stuffy. It’s interesting and often inspirational
but definitely pretentious.
Traditionally in what we call fashion today, clothes have to
match (or at least mis-match perfectly), be up to style, and also
be somewhat unique. It’s so precise and specific it becomes
like an equation. Some people start thinking it’s better if
fashion were ignored. They think maybe everyone else will ignore
modern fashion and its conventions of disposability and receptivity
to only the most ridiculously fast-paced changes.
I, however, beg to differ. Clothing should be fun in all its
ridiculousness ““ all the elements of styles borrowed from
other cultures and older traditions (like the ’80s), and all
the things that break these styles.
Just please, no more slouch socks.
If you would like to discuss mismatched color options or
’80s revival philosophy, e-mail Rood at
drood@media.ucla.edu.