Fashion is Identity
Growing up I had a lack of participation in wanting to learn about my Chinese culture. I found myself wanting to be more western and not learn Cantonese and this is due to me being born in Canada and societies and influences in the media lacking Asian representatives. Now, I am trying to intergrade myself back into the culture and would like to start incorporating things from my Asian culture into how I dress. For example, my grandparents have given me a jade bracelet which is a piece that is important in the Chinese community as it symbolizes luck, grace, purity, and elegance. So, I would like to start adding jewellery and wearing more traditional Chinese pieces to express myself. I want to show people that it is okay to dress different and that fashion has no rules even though society likes to perpetuate that it does. That it is best to be unique and have fun with what you wear as fashion is an art.
What I learned about myself
How Fashion Has Impacted Me
Fashion is an art. We get to play with it and mix different patterns, colours, and materials together to form a piece. It may seem that in society fashion has rules, but that does not mean we need to follow them. Throughout my life, I have gone through many different style changes in my wardrobe. Growing up, I have always loved being “fashionable.” I loved getting to dress up in fancy outfits and wear colourful clothing. While I have gone through many style changes, one of the most dramatic stages was grade 10. I not only changed my style from being bubbly and fun it became the opposite as well as my personality. During that time, I had faced a lot of changes which now I do not believe even matter to what issues are happening now but at that moment it had felt like a drastic change. This drastic change made me have a new routine and a change of mindset. I was more negative especially towards school. I think I wanted to grow up in this time and seek more independence than I ever had before. The way I chose to express myself in grade 10 was interesting, I can reflect on myself being rebellious through clothing. I had dyed pink strips in my hair and wore a lot of baggy clothes with black eyeshadow under my eyes. It is a very dark time to look back on considering how my personality altered the way I dressed. However, it also is interesting to see how I changed my appearance based on the emotions and mindset I was in at the time. This is a key factor in fashion showing how we feel and how we are overall. Fashion is important in my life because it helps shape a story for others of who I am.