Dress to Impress
I find that there when it comes to how you choose to dress yourself, there's a fine line to balance. When you wear something because it makes you feel good and or because you simply like it, then I believe that's a valid reason to be wearing that outfit. However, the flip side of the situation is wearing dressing a certain way because you solely want to please others.
Miss Representation talked about how the image of a woman has been shaped by the standards of men and how the appearance of a woman is what people take note of first. Contradictory as it may seem, the fashion bloggers that I choose to follow are my way of countering these two unfortunate realities of our current world.
One of my favorite bloggers is YouTube star Stephanie Villa, also known as soothingsista. Her style, although occasionally girly, tends to be more androgynous. She mixes menswear into her outfits normally. She isn't the stereotypical girl presented in Miss Representation that wears a tight dress with the intent of peaking the interest of a guy. I appreciate her style because it's almost a way of rebelling against the norm that a girl needs to show skin to be attractive. I love how confident she is in her own style.
Another favorite blogger of mine is named Victoria McGrath, also known as Inthefrow. In contrast to Stephanie, Victoria's style is very feminine and tailored. She is usually more conservative with how much skin she's showing. I like that she's able to keep her femininity without sacrificing how much chest or leg is showing. On camera she comes off as extremely nice, but her style shows that she doesn't let others dictate her style. Her confidence shows that ultimately, she's the one in control of the clothes.
Sometimes I wonder if when I dress a certain way, am I conforming to the cruel realities of the woman's world that the film talked about? I find that on some occasions, I'm dressing for myself and others, that I'm dressing a certain way because I know the reality is that I will be judged based on how I look before what comes out of my mouth is taken into consideration. Both these ladies have tackled a world that is heavily based on judgement of appearance. They are on trend, but do not lose sight of their own style, and that is truly inspiring.
Miss Representation talked about how the image of a woman has been shaped by the standards of men and how the appearance of a woman is what people take note of first. Contradictory as it may seem, the fashion bloggers that I choose to follow are my way of countering these two unfortunate realities of our current world.
One of my favorite bloggers is YouTube star Stephanie Villa, also known as soothingsista. Her style, although occasionally girly, tends to be more androgynous. She mixes menswear into her outfits normally. She isn't the stereotypical girl presented in Miss Representation that wears a tight dress with the intent of peaking the interest of a guy. I appreciate her style because it's almost a way of rebelling against the norm that a girl needs to show skin to be attractive. I love how confident she is in her own style.Sometimes I wonder if when I dress a certain way, am I conforming to the cruel realities of the woman's world that the film talked about? I find that on some occasions, I'm dressing for myself and others, that I'm dressing a certain way because I know the reality is that I will be judged based on how I look before what comes out of my mouth is taken into consideration. Both these ladies have tackled a world that is heavily based on judgement of appearance. They are on trend, but do not lose sight of their own style, and that is truly inspiring.
This reminded me of one of my favorite shows to watch, Parks and Recreation. In the show, there is one character named Ann Perkins who goes through a series of boyfriends throughout the seasons. Even though as viewers we may not notice, it is pointed out later by another character, Leslie Knope that Ann continues to change herself for whatever guy she is with. She does this by what she is "interested" in and her style. For example, she starts to date a guy who is rancher and lives like a cowboy. Before you know it, Ann is now dressing like a cowgirl and "likes" to go horseback riding. She just wants the men to be interested in her and wants their approval. When Leslie points out to Ann what she is doing she realizes she has never been herself with a guy. Luckily, she changes her ways and acts like herself. I thought that it was an important message for girls watching the show. And just like you said, we should dress for ourselves and put out a message that we wants others to see us as, not dressing to match what they say about us.
ReplyDeleteI really like your point about it being a fine line. I often think about that line between dressing for yourself and dressing for others. Over the years I've tried to only wear clothes that I genuinely like, instead of something that I think will look good to other people. It's hard sometimes to decipher--do I like what I'm wearing or do I like that other people will like it? Still, I try not to think about other people when I'm getting dressed in the morning, because if I'm thinking about other people, then it's not really my own style anymore.
ReplyDeleteI see where you are coming from and there are so many women out there who do not let others determine how to dress. Unfortunately, there are also many many women who dress only to please others. In Miss Representation when they were following the 13 year old girl ( i cannot recall her name) who wanted to be a model. She said that she had to look good for other people. This mindset I think is very sad, because the majority of the people that you see during the day you do not even know, and you will likely never see again, so why are people so aught up in this idea that their entire world will be destroyed if they go out in sweats for the day?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of dressing for yourself and dressing for others. I always try to wear things that I know I like, but then I start thinking about other people. I start to wonder what other will think about it, or f they will judge me for wearing it. Most of the times, my thoughts always end up on thinking about other people's opinions, even if I really like what I wanted to wear.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point regarding dressing to please yourself and others. I find that I do this often. I'll pick out my outfit for the day based on my likings, but also because I'm not just going to go to school looking like a total bum (which is also c00l). When I wear something rather revealing, it's horrifying to see guys look at me in the hallway like I'm a piece of meat. A big part of why one is perceived like this is because of how sexualized women have become in the media over the past few decades. Females are now only seen as a sex object.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this and all the comments, I see how important of an issue it is to dress. The problem is how there may be one way that you want to dress, but because of media and social expectations, you end up dressing another way. This is like being told how to dress by males or even other females because the way you would currently dress isn't "appealing" to males. There are a lot of people who feel similarly about dressing and not being judged on how they look. I think that by dressing in your own way and disregarding the way that people expect you to dress is one way to fight this norm. When you wear what you want to, you don't follow what everyone else does. By doing this, you can make others see that wearing clothes you like is whats right and have others follow what you do.
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