At 12 years old, I would wander the mall and reluctantly buy some variation of the same Hollister shirt that I knew every other girl had. I would suppress my longing to create my own personal style and to use clothing as a form of expression to seem normal and accepted. I would look at my favorite fashion icons and think to myself: if only I could wear that without being judged. Guess what? You can.
Who are you?
Now that I am left to navigate my 20s, I figured it was a good time to finally figure out who I am. My life consists of multiple identity crises a week. When it comes to representing yourself and creating your own personal brand, you are left to wonder who you truly are and how others perceive you. We often do this by placing ourselves in one of the few main aesthetics that is going viral at that time. I’m sure that many of you went through a “VSCO girl” phase, or an “e-girl” phase or something similar. Our minds grasp on to any feeling of belonging and we clump into these little groups that we nest our identities in.
Lost in the Media
Now that we’re thinking about social media and fashion trends and fads, take a moment to assess how much of your personal style comes from these platforms and how much comes from your own taste. It can be difficult to differentiate your own personal style from that which is trending or that you are constantly seeing in the content you consume. Don’t get me wrong, getting inspiration is not a bad thing, but sometimes we get a little bit too caught up in replicating the perfect Pinterest outfit and aren’t allowing our personalities and creativities to make up our “aesthetic.”
What is an aesthetic?
In a technical sense, an aesthetic is something that is beautiful or pleasant to look at. It is something that represents a work of art. Society, on the other hand, sees this term as a description of the vibe someone gives off or a kind of category somebody would fit in. As I wander through my journey of self-discovery, I come to hate this term more and more. My love for thrifting has widened my fashion comfort zone and has allowed me to truly realize that what sparks my eye as an individual is quite different from what I would pick out at the mall. Not only that, but I can pick up a girly crop top on one side of the store and a baggy Harley Davidson T-shirt on the other. My closet became extremely diverse, and I was left to deal with the identity crisis that would ensue. How will I represent myself to others? How will I keep all these clashing pieces in my wardrobe? What do I like and what do I just feel obligated to like? Who am I?
Getting to Know Yourself
Here is a bit of advice that I wish I would’ve heard a long time ago. Despite what the Buzzfeed quizzes try to tell you, you do not have to push yourself into a box. You do not have to choose a single aesthetic to have a cohesive Instagram feed or create a personal brand. We as humans are complex creatures. We have different interests and different moods that fluctuate so quickly. What we wear and the vibe that we radiate should reflect who we are as people. They should not reflect who we are trying to convince others we are or who we feel like we need to be. Do not let the fear of rejection stop you from being your truest self. I am here to tell you that most of the time people are too focused on their own insecurities to notice that you are working through your own.
It is not the easiest journey, and it is one that I have been on for a while now but finding your truest self will inevitably bring you peace and confidence. There is something so freeing about not limiting yourself to a certain style of clothing, a certain genre of music or to a certain vibe, and I would recommend it to anybody. Push everyone’s thoughts out of your head and get to know yourself as an individual. Chances are, you’ll end up really liking the person you discover.