 WHAT IS AESTHETIC IN FASHION?The word aesthetic, according to the famous Merriam-Webster, means “pleasing in appearance : ATTRACTIVE.” In the fashion world, aesthetic refers to a specific style of dressing. If someone wears small gold hoops, claw clips, neutral colors, and Aritzia jeans, they are choosing to dress in the “clean girl aesthetic." This aesthetic is characterized by looking put together, more minimalist, fresh-faced, and wearing neutral tones. Other examples of aesthetics include the Y2K, E-girl, VSCO girl, preppy, grunge, and cottagecore aesthetics.
WHY WE FEEL THE NEED TO CONFINE OURSELVES TO A SINGLE AESTHETIC I’d like to begin this section of the blog post by highlighting a personal experience. Growing up, I LOVED examining and analyzing the outfits characters wore in tv shows and movies. Since most shows are exaggerated depictions of reality, the “goth” character would be hyper-goth, always donning black clothes and heavy makeup; the “sporty” character was only seen wearing sneakers and t-shirts, etc. In these fictional friend groups, each character would have their own unique, exaggerated sense of style that they would never stray from. I always admired the idea of each friend having a signature look. I love experimenting with my style, but even now I find myself getting caught in the trap of wanting to be defined by a single aesthetic like the characters I looked up to growing up. Social media has also conditioned us to believe that in order to be fashionable, we need to pick a lane and stay in it. If we try out too many different looks and aesthetics, social media deems us “lost” and having no original sense of style. TikTok especially preaches style as maintaining a consistent aesthetic day in, day out. PROBLEMS THAT ARISE FROM STICKING TO ONE AESTHETIC
HOW TO BREAK THE HABIT OF STICKING TO A SINGLE AESTHETICOne way to get out of this one aesthetic mindset is to try out all the aesthetics that appeal to you. Keep track of which elements from each aesthetic you like and don’t like, compiling a list. For example, you may love fairycore’s flowy maxi skirts but hate the green and brown color palette. Take this information and apply it to your own personal style and way of dressing. Another tip for breaking out of the one aesthetic mindset is to dress for your mood. Some days you may feel grumpy and tired, donning all black and comfy sweats, while other days you feel sexy and want to wear a two-piece going out set with cutouts. Matching your outfits to your mood rather than an aesthetic gives you more room for creativity and exploration. It is also important to remember that fashion is supposed to be fun! Limiting yourself to dressing in one style is not fun. FINAL THOUGHTSNext time you are on social media and see a post about “finding your aesthetic,” remember that confining yourself to a single aesthetic is a curse. Dress in whatever makes you feel happy and the most you, don’t be afraid to experiment, and always remember that fashion is fun! SEE YOU NEXT SATURDAY WITH ANOTHER FASHION POST.
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9/10/2022 0 Comments FALL 2022 FASHION VISION BOARD It's that time of year again! Time for my seasonal fashion vision board. While I can appreciate the autumn vibes the preppy, dark academia aesthetic gives off, I'm declaring fall 2022 a "colorful fit fall." I feel the most like myself when I am sporting a bright shade or colorful patterned clothing, so I will be incorporating a lot of color into my autumn looks. Below is a breakdown of my fashion vision board and the styles I cannot wait to wear this season. COLORFUL KNIT SWEATERSI have been gravitating towards knitwear recently and I am absolutely head over heels for colorful sweaters. These past few years I have always reached for a hoodie when the weather gets chilly, but this year I want to spice up my style and try out knit sweaters instead. BEADED JEWELRYA fashion goal of mine this fall is to step up my accessory game. I love the look of beaded jewelry- it is so fun and playful! My plan is to buy beads and elastic cord to create my own one-of-a-kind bracelets (keep an eye out for a blog post on this!). THE COLOR ORANGEOrange is such an autumn color, yet I never find myself wearing this shade in the fall. I actually own a fair amount of orange pieces, so I plan to incorporate this autumn-approved color in as many looks as I can this year. LAYERINGI am a layering gal through and through. There's just something so stylish about throwing a baggy tee over a tight long sleeve shirt. 2014 tumblrThe niche topic I LOVE to talk about is the 2014 Tumblr era, so it's no surprise that this fall I plan on dressing as a Tumblr girl. For those of you that don't know what I mean when I say 2014 Tumblr fashion, I'm referring to oversized jean jackets, tennis skirts, thigh high socks, tote bags, and anything American Apparel. Be sure to follow my Instagram to see the outfits I end up wearing this fall :) SEE YOU NEXT SATURDAY WITH ANOTHER FASHION POST.
 Back in January of this year I wrote a blog post featuring my five favorite fashion brands at the time. I thought it would be fun to revisit this article topic and write about my current favorite brands. lonely ghostThis brand will forever be in my top five. I have been an Indy Blue fan since her YouTube travel video days, and I think her clothing label is iconic. Currently, my favorite Lonely Ghost item in my closet is my brown hoodie donning the words "It's 2021, it's cool to care." I actually bought this sweatshirt at the beginning of 2022 because I think this will be an awesome vintage piece in the future! It might be a problem, but I often think this way when buying clothes. I ask myself, "Will my future kids think this item is cool?"  Here are a few of Lonely Ghost's recent items I've had my eye on: HEAVEN BY Marc JacobsI am utterly obsessed with Marc Jacobs' Heaven collection. While I do not personally own any Marc Jacobs Heaven items, I admire the craftsmanship of the garments. My favorite piece is a brown knit sweater donning a pink rat and the words "rat girl," a piece from a collaboration between Marc Jacobs and Stray Rats founder Julian Consuegra. Living in Chicago and seeing rats frequently, I love the idea of wearing a sweater around town that says "rat girl."  model Lola Leon wearing Ratgirl in Heaven, 2021 @BUGGIRL200My favorite small business at the moment is the amazing @buggirl200, run by Madison Sinclair. She sells humorous celebrity merchandise that very much highlights her quirky sense of humor and style. Her designs never fail to make me chuckle. Her pieces are also so unique and serve as good conversation starters!  I recently purchased a Robert Pattinson crewneck from her site and cannot get over how cool it is! Some other cool @buggirl200 pieces: DEPOPI'm working on being more sustainable and not shopping at fast fashion stores like Princess Polly and Zara. I love going on Depop because I can buy Princess Polly and Zara items secondhand. This way I'm not only saving money, but also giving clothing a new life and buying clothes from brands whose designs I like. I also love finding vintage, one-of-a-kind items on Depop. I have an individuality complex where I love owning something that not many other people have- I know that sounds terrible, but that's just the truth. There are endless amounts of unique pieces on Depop, and I enjoy looking through them and saving the items that match my style. Here are a few items I have saved on Depop right now: Ralph LaurenWith fall approaching, I am excited to pull out my Ralph Lauren sweaters. In my eyes, Ralph Lauren is synonymous with autumn.  Earlier this year I was able to purchase this RL flag sweater on eBay for the low price of 40-something dollars! The Ralph Lauren brand is commonly associated with the preppy aesthetic, academia, and autumn, making it the perfect brand to sport this upcoming season. I am personally looking forward to visiting Ralph's Coffee while wearing an RL sweater (and yes, I will be taking 1,000 Instagram pictures while I'm there). I took a minute to browse Ralph Lauren's online site and pick out a few of my favorite pieces to share in this post. There were so many beautiful sweaters to choose from, I couldn't pick just two to feature. It is interesting to look back at January's blog post and see how my tastes have changed. I'm still very much into Lonely Ghost sweatshirts and second-hand brands like Depop and thredUP, but I have swapped modern preppy stores for the more traditional Ralph Lauren. I am looking forward to my next installment in this series, which I will likely write six months from now. see you next saturday with another fashion post.
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