Rediscovering My Love of Fashion
Fashion was one of my first loves along with writing and pop culture. I found it in just about every one of my interests. I would watch and rewatch shows like Project Runway, Kimora: My Life In The Fab Lane, and The Hills. I still make it a regular practice to watch The Devil Wears Prada for a little inspiration boost. There's no question about how I discovered fashion being that I was glued to fashion magazines and shopping catalogs long before the internet was a mainstay in our home. Fashion has always been about more than clothing. It's the lives and stories behind every collection at the history of the times in which they were created. In a time when the most famous fashion houses have been around for centuries, it's safe to say that investing your time in their knowledge would not be wasted.
My childhood was full of dreams and binders of sketches and collections. After watching That's So Raven, I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer. So much so that my grandma bought me a sewing machine, to this day, I still regret donating it when replacing the bobbin led to it sitting on a shelf for years. When I realized that most designers started at fashion schools like FIDM, Pratt, and FIT, I set my sights on one of the best- Parsons: The New School. I spent the next few years helping with community and church fashion shows and learning what I could about the industry. I even did a book report on the youngest fashion blogger at the time, Tavi Gevinson. As a girl from north Florida, it was a bit of a fashion desert and I struggled with finding opportunities.
In the meantime, I discovered exactly how expensive school would be. Out-of-state tuition to any fashion school in New York City would be around $50,000 per year plus the additional $15,000 for a suitable place to live. We were a middle-class family in the south and not even a scholarship would have covered a fraction of the cost. So, I set my sights on state schools. I recall visiting UCF during my junior year of high school and having a full-on breakdown when I realized they didn't have a fashion department. So I did what I'm sure every fashion-school wannabe did and studied marketing thinking that would be a great way to get in with the right people. Wrong.
After "adulting" through two jobs with little to do with fashion and making YouTube videos in my spare time, I met my husband. We moved to Japan in 2020 and I found myself without a job and with a lot of time to think about my future and what interests I had left in the wayside of growing up. While I never fully gave up on my love of fashion and dreams of being in the industry, I casually watched other creators share their outfits and experiences at fashion weeks. After realizing I had so many opinions and commentary on the subject, (to my husband's surprise), I decided to shift all of my content to a fashion focus. With New York Fashion Week coming up, I'm taking all actions toward that goal. All dreams deserve the effort of at least trying. I tried being a general businesswoman in other fields, but my heart brings me back to writing and creating content about fashion. I believe it's what I do best. So, I will be sharing my thoughts, advice, and tips about how to improve and learn more about the industry. There's no time like the present to start.
What dreams have you put on hold? Which deserves to see your effort?
Trick Question: All of them.
xoxo Jayla
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