My Winter Uniform

Hello one, Hello all. First of all, if you have not tried Boom Chicka Pop Sweet and Salty popcorn YOU ARE MISSING OUT. I am ravaging through this bag right now, and it's basically crack. i cannot stop shoving it into my mouth as I write this. Anyways, I just want to talk about what has become my winter uniform and what I would add to my winter uniform if i had the funds. First, I have been a ***** for sweatpants. SPECIFICALLY the Brandy Melville sweats. Now, YES I KNOW THEY ARENT SIZE INCLUSIVE, but they literally are my favorite fitting sweat probably for the last five years. Now if you're taller, they might not fit the same. So if you are 5'4" 145 pounds, then snag these babies up. Secondly, a crewneck or hoodie. I have begun to realize that living in florida for two years SEVERELY decreased my cold weather gear, so I will be looking for cool sweat brands. If you know any, bang my line. Anyways, there is a specific type of sweatshirt; oversized, boxy, SOFT. Baby, if that sweatshirt feels like a hard rug as i put it on and essentially has a neckhole that is the size of a choker, I AINT WEARING IT. You will most likely see me in my Howl's Moving Castle sweatshirt, my Lehigh athletics crew, or any other thrifted crew I have. Now, I have this Golf Sweatshirt, and I do love it, it has nice thick material, BUT it has a small neckhole which doesn't make me gravitate towards it *sigh*. IF I had the money, I would buy the Akimbo hoodie in a flash. Highly recommend taking a peak at it if you have never heard of it. Next, I am EATING a good beanie up right now. Now, do I have only one beanie at the moment, yes, BUT theoretically, if i had more that fit the same, which i will get, I would be adding them to my daily uniform. The one I have is grey from cotton on and girl shes my fav. She's the perfect length where it doesn't have the weird extra hangover barf on the top. I have been looking at Mada Graviet for a lot of beanie inspo, so I will be acquiring more whether from retail brands or depop sellers. Lastly, I love me a good scarf. My grandma would always buy me a scarf, and now I understnad why. I love how not only warm but cute and feminine it makes me feel, and yet, sometimes I can still wear them and channel the more streetwear style I tend to wear. I would love to get some more that can add more color like a red one as its the color of the season, or even some patterned ones. Same concept applies to beanies. I am really trying to add some pops of color to what I wear because it makes the outfit pick out process so much easier as it centers more so around the statement pieces. In the end, the uniform consists of a hoodie/crewneck, beanie, scarf, and sweats. I PROMISE YOU, if you see me, I am probably wearing some variation of that outfit whether its dressed up or dressed down swapping a sweat for a jean or a hoodie for a sweater.

Stepping Up Our Going Out Outfits

Welcome back my friends. Let's discuss something that I think we need to talk about as a generation and group of people specifically women. BABY STEP UP YOUR GOING OUT OUTFITS. LET ME SAY IT AGAIN. STEP. IT. UP. When did we start to slack as a society in this department. Girl i get it. We all don't have a surplus of clothing to choose from so sometimes its easier to go basic. but MA'AM. we can be basic AND look good. I will show examples so just grab some popcorn and wait a lil sec. But anyways. If I see another group of girls walking down Lehigh's block in the same jean, micro top, air force one combo, I am going to vomit. I want you to look for it now as I always say in my posts because now you'll see it. Every girl looks the exact same. Maybe thats just my preference but I want to not only dress as myself stylistically but also I want to stand out. Not for the male gaze because EW, but because I want my self-expression to be at its fullest. and genuinely who doesn't want to be complimented or at lease acknowledged for what they wear. I WOULD RATHER EVERYONE LOOK AT ME AND BE LIKE DANG THATS INTERESTING and maybe not like the outfit rather than be hidden in the background. Catch my drift? Don't you want to walk into a room and TURN HEADS???? yeah i thought so. I know that in a college campus setting your often going to a house party or a bar, maybe not a club, but my response is AND? you're still going out right? SO SHOW OUT. Once one person does, it can be infectious and is it not more fun to get all cute and ready and feel HOT? When I say hot it isn't

even necessarily in a derogatory sense, it just is what makes you feel

confident, and baby I GET IT. Some days we want to cover up because of an insecurity. No shame AT ALL. But my challenge is for us to step it up. Look back in time think of the 70s disco outfits or THE 90s or even the 2000s. I MEAN BRO LOOK AT CHER. I know this is her performing but that essentially is the inspo for women. bell bottoms, glitter, BODY ARE YOU KIDDING ME. All are characterized by a certain style we all can visualize when thinking of that decade. even 2010s we can imagine what was in in college. snake skin tops......Anyways. Now look at Cher again. fantastic right. Let me pull up example one of what we see now a days :) Okay so these are some random girls but I cut their face out because it felt wrong. Anyways. TELL ME YOU DONT SEE THIS EVERY WEEKEND!!!!!! Do we need another example???? Maybe the Urban Outfitters corset top???I think you catch my drift.

WE CAN DO BETTER!!!!!! You may ask now, Julia, what do we wear then? What if I like to dress more simple? Let me give my example of simple but COOL. Look at this basic white tank, but the addition of the sequin skirt--chefs kiss. Simple and effective and with the slick back it is so clean yet seductive.

Another example shall we, look at Zoi in the picture on the bottom left. Yes she is the queen of a mini skirt and not all of us can do that, but see the mixture of texture? Especially with lace being so in right now, love love. I have a couple others that I like (I have to admit my Pinterest currently hates me so it was hard to find concrete examples), but here are some key takeaways.

When in doubt ADD A BOOT. A boot can make the simplest look a little more elevated. I know this is something no one will admit but I know we don't choose a boot primarily because people will call us extra or we feel like we sound loud because of the sound of the heel. BUT CHOOSE IT. Even if you just buy one pair of boots that can go with anything I promise your life will be better. Secondly, WEAR color. Sometimes I go all black because when in doubt as well, go all black, I promise it works (ex: black top, black mini skirt). but seriously we need to wear color more. Like i really want to do the color stockings right now because I feel like its so chic and references styles in past decades. Now, none of these pictures are very grungy, sexy, or overall super scandalous. And don't worry we can find some of those, but the reason I chose these is one, they're my style duh, but also because it challenges a more stylistic view of what a going out outfit is. It's not just dress to look like the societal view of what "hot" is, it's in a way that brings more creativity and self-expression, and girl, if I wore these I would feel hot. Lastly, a jean is fantastic, but baby switch it up sometimes. Grab a mini skirt, grab a leather pant, grab a cargo, anything. I know you have it. Now I know some people may propose that this view point is more subjective. Well Ding Ding, it is. Some people may want to keep dressing like I showed above and that's okay. And another point is, and I get it, it gets hot when you go out as well. But GIRL. Try it once, Just once. Because life is more fun when you learn to do what you want when you want and that can start with something as small as what you wear.

Here are some looks that serve as inspo, we can use, myself included :) i also thinking looking into the past like for example Cher above is also fun. I have to clarify, do i look like this when I go out, sometimes, but the funds are depleted soooo

Why fast fashion should scare you...

You get my pun kind of??? like scare you cause its Halloween?? No? okay, sorry for breathing... Anyways, I love this topic so so much, and I genuinely think its something we should discuss as a country and society as a whole. Especially my general audience I would say of younger 20s women, and my mom. Hey mom!! this is for you too babe ;) Now, I think there are a couple things that I should put out as a disclaimer and for credibility purposes before I write this post. One: I do not have my PHD or any higher intellectual credibility in terms of journals or articles published, so basically what I am saying is that I have not done published research. Two: my freshman thesis for my Honors College was on this subject in part; it was titled "An Analysis of Streetwear, Fast Fashion, and Sustainable Clothing," and I will be doing research with my school on Luxury Goods next semester; therefore, I have done some research on the subject and do actively still look into the topic. So I kind of have some reputability, yuh. Three: I UNDERSTAND GUYS THAT FAST FASHION IS AFFORDABLE I GET IT I REALLY DO. like we all want to buy clothes and stuff so we can have more, but I will get into it soon why it just is not sustainable for our environment upon other things. But I do want to acknowledge that I understand the PAIN!!! With that being said, without further ado, lets talk about fast fashion.

When I say fast fashion do y'all know what I mean? The first one you should think of is Shein. We're gonna use her as the prime example for this, but I think we should also firstly define fast fashion. Essentially, the fast fashion model and structure targets consumers and current fashion trends to continuously cycle out and in new products; it banks on the idea of trends going in and out of style and being discarded frequently to make room for new trends. Basically, these companies WANT you to participate in micro trends to get you to continuously buy more and more clothing. Let's dive EVEN deeper. Initially, there were eight traditional seasons. Think seasons as in NYFW. However, these fashion retailers made a calculated approach to stimulate sales, and the seasons, as of my paper in with information from a source in 2016, reported that there are now 24 distinct seasons. THINK OF HOW MANY TRENDS AND CHANGES THERE ARE. The number of seasons TRIPLED. That is so crazy to me. Now let's connect the dots. With there being so many trends, what are they encouraging: fast consumption and production. The products made from your favorite retailers like Shein, and even Zara and H&M are all ready to go as soon as possible in preparation for the next wave of trends. Not only that, but the price is lower to increase sales for the consumer that is being targeted, and of course the quality of the product is not as good why??? LETS SAY IT. BECAUSE THE GARMENT WILL BE THROWN OUT IN THE NEXT MONTH WITH THE NEXT SEASON!!!! You picking up what i am putting down?? they purposefully make these garments s*** so that you have to repurchase more and with new trends it doesn't matter throwing something out because its not in style. Think of how many times you have done that.....So think of the structure as this and I will use myself as an example (this is the only example I could think of, not that these will necessarily go in and out of style):

Julia sees cute motorcycle boot trend

Julia: OMG I WANNA BUY THAT NOW

runs to shein

finds it for cheap and buys it

gets the order fast

Julia: yay i love my boots

*sees someone wearing ballet flats*

Julia: wait i need ballet flats more than motorcycle boots

Julia throws out motorcycle boots and buys ballet flats on shein

cycle continues

Lo and behold, the fast fashion structure is created. Now again, we acknowledge that fashion trends tend to work in cycles coming back, but girl, i know you didn't keep your skinny jeggings from aeropostale did you??? thats what i thought. Now that you have some background, let's think of the impact. Now, yes it is nice to have a lot of clothes, I love clothes obviously and I would love to have one of those huge wardrobes filled with vintage pieces. But how many of those do you actually keep right now? That are good quality? How do you think the prices are so low? Where do all your discarded pieces of clothing go after a trend is over? AHA!!! our issue arises.

Remember this -> Fast fashion model: products will be purchased fast, be diverse and affordable, and last for short periods of time with changing trends.

Okay lets think of the discarding of pieces. Again, from my paper, in average, and this may have changed, Americans throw out sixty-eight pounds of textiles PER PERSON PER YEAR and buy only sixty four items of clothing. You get what I am saying there, that s*** adds up. OVERCONSUMPTION. Next, fast fashion, such as its production process, has a huge carbon footprint to the point that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) literally deemed the actions of the production process hazardous, so they HAD TO MOVE OVERSEAS! That is why production is primarily in China, a country that is known for not having strict laws or policies regarding this, which leads to its thick air pollution, water pollution and land degradation. I won't go too in depth in that with statistics or science behind it but you get what I am laying down. Production of these garments=bad. Some production even resulted in drinking water in China becoming so bad from hazardous waste sites that 190 million people became sick. BRUH. Now girl, how do you think these prices get so low??? hmmm, it's not the little price fairy :) No, in underdeveloped countries, workers are given jobs with unacceptable working conditions and small wages, working 14-16 hour days seven days a week, which potentially increase during peak season. Because their wages are so low, THEY CAN'T REFUSE OVERTIME. like girl you thought your overtime was bad at Applebees when you had to stay 5 minutes after close; think of these, often, women and children, CHILDREN, working for that long in poorly ventilated conditions breathing in toxic substances and enduring physical and emotional abuse. yeah girl, Appleebees aint that bad. Not only that but half the time these buildings LITERALLY BURN DOWN. In 2013, Rana Plaza collapsed killing 1134 garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. But do you hear about this?? no become economic gain is obviously more important for these corporations.

Soooooo, do you get my point now? One, we are specifically targeted by these companies because of our habits and have fallen into the trap :) Two, our overconsumption has DIRECT impacts on the world environmentally and socially. Now, me blogging this is not to make you hate yourself and your life for consuming. Girl i bought stuff from there before I did research. Like I still buy stuff from Zara and H&M from time to time. It is genuinely so hard to invest in new sustainable pieces because they are often soooo expensive, so I truly get that. I think that is something these companies need to consider when advocating for change, and yet, I understand their production costs are probably higher so its hard to lower prices. So that is where we get stuck my friends. The option I propose, Thrifting. Share your clothing. Invest in pieces that will LAST through time. I get it, we are going to consume clothing. Just be more intentional.

Also, if you ever wanna read my paper, I will gladly send you it!!