VII. "Fashion is not about utility..." - The Devil Wears Prada

Thirteen stores later and I finally have in my possession, the September 2011 issue of Vogue.

*Woot woot*

“Woot - exclamation, informal (especially in electronic communication) used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph:”

                                                           (Oxford English dictionary - Online)

I am probably the last person to spend money on - well, pretty much anything. However, this particular issue of Vogue is a worthwhile investment; Yes, $4.99 for a magazine is an investment.

This year it is 758 pages of beautifully inspired Fall fashion - a production of amazing pictures of designers’ brainchild on models who have mastered the art of their body and possess the knowledge of how every muscle of their biology flexes, and who with the direction of the skilled photographer, move amongst the backdrop of well-researched locations where locals’ lives are lived, but for that moment simultaneously act as the medium by which the designer’s point of view is communicated to the potential consumer/admirer all over the world.

Within these 758 pages are also short and well-written blurbs that I collect on occasion, laminate, and then use as dorm decor.

I am currently on page 500.

Fashion is an amazing and for the most part, an ethereal experience.

* Note: I am about to disclose a facet of my personality that no one besides my parents and my brother know, mainly because, like most family members, they will not judge, not only because we share blood but because the reasons behind this trait are well-grounded.*

I won’t step into a large shoe store claiming to carry a myriad of different shoe designers without cringing. I make enough moaning/whining noises until I force my parents to leave out of annoyance.

I hate walking into wholesale shops like Costco.

I absolutely detest the idea of buying clothes from a place where you can buy food, diapers, and garbage cans - I.e. Target, K-Mart. In the same vein, I cannot imagine buying  clothing from a place in which you can also buy a lawn mower - I.e. Sears.

I think Mayor Bloomberg is awesome - mostly because he outlawed all Wal-Marts in the five boroughs of New York City a couple of years back.

God bless that man.

As a complex human though, I refuse to spend twenty dollars or more on a blouse.

You have to understand  - all of my new wardrobe (from the past ten months), is under forty dollars/ piece. The most expensive article of clothing I own, (besides winter coats/jewelry/shoes, if that counts/ and purses), is a Free People dress which was a pretty good price all things considered. I am the ultimate Sale shopper. No joke. I walk into a store and walk straight to the marked down sale section. I give myself a limit before I enter a store - I know the lowest Urban Outfitters goes is around $10 so I tell myself, “You can only buy something that is $9.99 max.”

Homies, I bought a gap black blazer for $15, shorts for $8.99, a sweater for $11, and tights for 0.97 cents (all from the GAP), over a two - month period. Buying quality clothes is possible so long as you wait for a sale. (* Cited from years of shopping with one of the most stylish people I know, my mom- do not tell her I said that because… because - it sounds way too suburban. There, I said it -)

But, I think there is a level of integrity that one must have when it comes to clothes for two main reasons:

1. To pay respect to the designer who put effort, thought, and themselves into the garment itself, and

2. To respect yourself enough to know that the clothing you wear is a representation of yourself to the world and is also a way for you to be in control of yourself - to dress according to how you feel or according to how you want to feel.

Fashion is an amazing experience because it is practical.

Fashion is minimalism - simplicity in terms of cohesiveness is essential.

Fashion is New York, and I’m just living in it.