Tumbleweed

Inspiration of the day: Alexa! Who else!

How is it that at a certain time and place, some girls are just exactly "right" in their attitudes and styles and thus become style icons and examples for thousands of other girls? I absolutely don't think that there is something like an "it" factor, it really is about cultures, styles and memes evolving to a point where there is room for a certain type of girl to become hip, and then that girl emerges to become an icon. I find these things very interesting to think about: a sort of more intellectual approach to fashion as a part of popular culture. If we look at Alexa, I guess it is aspirational for girls nowadays to be

• skinny
• low maintenance
• tomboyish
• girly and spontaneous as opposed to sexy and serious
• a bit quirky and alternative
• fresh faced

It seems that  there is still a big emphasis on youth, but a realistic type of youth. Britney Spears was the Lolitatype too, but she had big ass fake boobs. Alexa looks like a real girl. A real skinny girl, but still real. And she does not seem to dress for men to like her, she just puts on clothes she loves herself. I ADORE women who dress independently instead of following the rules set out by society (and "the male gaze"). 

Rant coming up.

Why the hell should my first thought when getting dressed in the morning be "what should I pick in order to look as attractive as possible for the opposite sex"? Is that our only priority in life? It really bugs me how appearance is everything in the world. When someone is asked to describe a girl they know, they immediately start by referring to the way she looks. Is that really the core of human being? Is that what life revolves around? I refuse to live my life dictated by the expectations of other people.

People often tell you they think fashion is sooooo superficial and all that crap, but I don't agree at all. To me, fashion is something that has allowed me to dress for ME rather than for THEM. I just pick and choose ideas and inspirations to construct my own image and my own personality. It helps me to express my individuality, to put the things inside of me on the outside, for others to see exactly what I want them to see, and not what THEY want to see.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't always this self assured. Not in my life and not in the way I dressed. But with age came confidence, and that confidence that I am a cool person and that I deserve to be treated with respect is something that definitely guides the way I dress. I don't need to live up to this unrealistic standard of what the ideal girl should be like, I should just be the best me I can be. For that exact reason I don't feel inhibited from putting on weird clothes. I don't untag on facebook either, by the way. Who cares if some pictures aren't that flattering? Are we all supposed to look perfect all the fracking time? How ridiculous is that, when you stop to think about it? Appearance is so trivial. And beauty standards are completely arbitrary anyway, so why bother keeping up? I am a grown ass woman and I can decide on my own what will influence me and what won't.

Fashion can be very empowering. But only if and when you OWN your own life and your own choices. I see a lot of young girls blogging with all kinds of limitations on their freedom. Ideas in their mind about how you can't wear black with navy, or how short girls shouldn't wear maxi dresses, or that their hair isn't perfect, they have big pores, small boobs, not enough money to buy that perfect purse, and so on and so forth.

I won't lie to you: you probably don't have perfect hair. And yes, your boobs are probably small. And maybe you'll look weird when you wear plaid with floral. Those are all "facts", and you can't really change those facts. But whether you let those "facts" dictate what you do and what you don't do: that is up to you. That is something you control. So many people are not really in charge of their lives, and they don't even realize it. Can a person even really be happy if they don't choose how they want to live their lives themselves?

Making silly faces can be very empowering too, you know.

dress: etsy

tights: Zara

socks, longsleeve top: H&M

cardi, blouse: Pimkie

Gosh I need to learn when to stop typing. VERBAL DIARRHEA MUCH


PS: I just started a Tumblr as a personal inspirational picturedump! Check it out for, well, inspirational pictures and stuff! Link is here, and in my sidebar.