Wondering: Fashion & Guilty Pleasures

I thought more about that skirt exhibit I went to last year. I remembered feeling after the exhibit having a short-term obsession with skirts. I never wear skirts and all of a sudden I wanted to wear them. What made me feel this way?

One of my favorite things to do in New York City is just walk around. I could walk for hours looking at the many different people in New York going about their way. But most of all, I love to watch people in New York shop.

There’s a certain drive and energy that comes with New York people. It’s hard to describe. They have an unexplainable style about them—it’s hard to find that anywhere else in the world. What makes New Yorkers so “New York”? Does it come from fashion? Why is it that every time I leave New York I feel like I am missing something?

Fashion is no doubt an essential component of New York City. Sure, I love clothes, but I am far from being a “fashionista”. I don’t plan on what I’m going to wear in advance. I hardly buy anything unless I think I really need it and if it’s on sale. And I am definitely not willing to sacrifice comfort for fashion. Yet, there are hundreds of women my age in New York who would blow a month’s salary on a pair of shoes without a pinch of regret. What kind of pleasure do they get with these shoes? Why do they “have” to have them? And though society would say that these women were making “bad financial decisions”--why am I jealous of them?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the term “guilty pleasure”. I think everyone has guilty pleasures, whether they want to admit it or not. It could be a bad reality television show, greasy pizza, a person that you shouldn’t be with, or something as ordinary as shoes. It’s something you know you shouldn’t have, but you desperately want it. You would, in fact, do anything to have it.

When I started to think about fashion I almost immediately started to think about the word “guilt”. I felt guilty for liking and thinking about fashion. In fact, fashion is my secret guilty pleasure. I feel guilty when I buy something that seems too luxurious, but at the same time, I feel like I cannot live without that purse, those jeans, those shoes, or whatever it happens to be at the time of want.

The following are questions that I first thought of when thinking about fashion:
How did fashion evolve?
Who started it?
Who were the first designers?
Are designers “artists”?
How do designers make clothes “fashionable”?
Does fashion have to be expensive?

Later, I thought more about the people in New York:
What is it about fashion that can make a person obsess?
Is fashion worth obsessing?

Now, I would like to know the opinions of others. I have always wanted to ask these questions to people:
What is your favorite piece of clothing (it can be an accessory, article of clothing, shoes, etc)?
Why is it your favorite? What makes it special? What would you do if you lost it?

Right now I feel pretty confident about my topic. I still don’t have a clear focus, but I think once I start “webbing” I can tie some of my questions together. I’m really excited to learn more about this.

What I always wanted to learn...

I spent the past several days wondering again what I was going to want to research. My original ideas seemed okay, but there were holes in these ideas.

In Idea #1, I thought about doing birth order. This seemed great at first, but later I felt it wasn't something I wanted to follow through. Did I really want to read studies about the psychological affects of being a middle child? What if I suddenly got a complex about it? No, I don't want to go that road.

In Idea #2, I thought about New York City. I love everything about it. But what could I focus on? There's so many choices: theatre, architecture, people, lifestyle. I have a friend who recently graduated from Fashion Institute of Technology-- maybe she could give me some tips on what it's like to be in the fashion world? It seems like she is having a much more glamorous lifestyle than say, um, being a librarian would. I might want to explore this...

In Idea #3, I thought about the Food Network Channel. I was a Communication major in college so researching media trends is nothing new to me. This doesn't seem very challenging or fun to me.

In Idea #4, I thought about studying the life of Marie Antoinette--until I actually picked up a book on her life at Barnes and Noble and only wanted to look at the pictures. Maybe there's a reason why I don't like studying historical and political figures.

So far the best idea I have is Idea #2, but I think I would like to focus more on The Fashion Industry. It's not often that I have a chance to study something different and fun. The last time I went to New York there was an exhibit just on the history of the skirt. I was surprised about how much I learned on such a simple, ordinary garment. I am intrigued why people are obsessed with fashion, who makes the trends, the history behind fashion, everything. I think I could even interview my friend Noor on this topic since she works in the industry. Next time, I hope to have some questions in mind.

New to Blogging

I have to admit that I am quite intimidated by this assignment. This is my first "blogging" experience so hopefully it will go well!

I've been thinking and rethinking what I want to write about. Here are a few of my ideas:

1. Like Kathy I'm interested in birth order. I'm the middle child in my family (older brother, younger sister). I've always been interested in family dynamics.

2. I love New York City. I love the fashion, the people, the restaurants...everything. I was lucky enough to go see Saturday Night Live last year!

3. My guilty pleasure is watching the Food Network Channel. What is it about Rachael Ray that makes me adore her? Am I the only one addicted to their shows? How and when did "celebrity chefs" become so popular?

4. I saw the movie Marie Antoinette over the holidays and was fascinated by her. I never paid much attention in my history classes in high school and now I regret it a bit. I would like to re-learn that period in time.

I'll probably explore some more ideas this evening and tomorrow.