Learning Portfolio # 3

 

I’ve noticed that even when I think I don’t follow trends or that I’m unique or think that what I wear is my style, I come to find out its not.

“…dress as a system of concepts conveys a sense that people create their own “fashion statements” but are ultimately constrained by what is available in the marketplace, by dress codes and social conventions, by political regimes, and the like.” Kaiser Susan, lntersectional, Transnational Fashion Subjects, P31.

It comes down to the intersectionality map where everything is connected and the choices are given to you. You can of course exert your own agency, but that is just a false sense of reality in my opinion. I’ve noticed I’m not the only who thinks that their style is acquired by themselves, I’ve seen countless of fashion guru’s who complain having too much of one color or saying they have always loved an item that just recently became trendy and thats how advertisements make people believe that the clothing they are selling is something the consumer wanted all along.

 

In my daily dress practices I observed myself becoming another person that perhaps the past me wouldn’t have been able to recognize physically perhaps the way I think and act is different as well, of course this has to do with growing up, but it also has to do that I’ve absorbed another culture as my own. I have been in New York for the most crucial part of my growing up stages where I’ve felt that I could re-design who I was, which happens every time I travel and live at a place too long. I’ve noticed it is not just a survival skill, but something I enjoy and I assume most people do for various reasons particularly because every culture promotes something different and appealing. My family say I behave differently now, but not in a bad way. Dressing differently has also led me to fantasize who and how I want to act each day but still remain me. I like to play with stereotypes . My new environment gave me the chance to explore each side of my personality.

I also noticed how I believe I don’t put too much effort in my outfits, but this isn’t true, I may not perhaps in the moment think too much about it, but this thought process happens when I go shopping. I’m meticulous in what I buy depending what information it send out when another person sees me and how I will feel wearing it in the future and in different occasions. This type of thinking process is what I apply when I go back home, where I dress according to social encounters. My city is small and very gossipy so it’s always important to dress nice in case you run into someone, that’s why moving to New York made me feel a bit free in the way I put myself together. Though I never thought too much about it, I become another version of myself depending where I’am and with who and this affects how I dress and feel about everyday.