Inspiration | Fashion...

"Outside of that there is the question of what do you mean by 'interested in fashion?' I think it's often used to mean an interest in shopping and dressing yourself 'cutely', which aside from antique malls I actually sort of loathe the shopping experience (malls suck). If someone is interested in sports though it isn't described as a homogenous group--someone interested in soccer isn't automatically assumed to be interested in baseball or football. Similarly fashion is just as diverse. Are you interested in personal style, or do you follow runway collections, or perhaps is it fashion photography that really inspires you? If it is personal style, do you enjoy following trends or do you like some particular sub-group like grunge or goth or vintage looks? Someone interested in trends is at a vastly different end of the fashion spectrum than someone who predominantly dresses from a specific past decade. This isn't to say one is superior to the other, or liking to shop is somehow more shameful than appreciating runway collections. The point is: fashion is actually a really broad, diverse term and not a proper description of someone's passion."

- Rebecca, Fashion or Something Like It

I post this quote because I think Rebecca discusses something that is very accurate. Fashion IS an extremely broad and diverse term. It used to be awkward for me when I'd explain why I like fashion because people DO assume that it just means shopping and dressing yourself "cutely" when it really is more than that. For example, personally, I'm interested in personal style, sometimes I like to see what trends are popular, and I'm definitely into the sub-group of vintage looks. Now, it's gotten easier for me to explain to people like my mom and aunties what I mean when I say I'm interested in and love fashion. I don't mean that I want to design runaway collections or work in the industry, I'm just interested in other things within the term of fashion. For those of you who don't follow Rebecca's personal style blog, The Clothes Horse, you should definitely take a look at it. It's a great read and she's kind of become a personal style inspiration to me since she wears a lot of styles and silhouettes that I'm fond of and wear myself. She's also a really fantastic writer and artist.
Anyways, I would still list fashion as in interest, it's just difficult to be more precise about it and I have a difficult time explaining things so there's that. And also, sometimes people laugh at me when I say it's an interest and automatically assume things about it. For example, from the way that I dress and my interests, people assume that I am a hipster and that I love shopping. One, I deny being a hipster because I don't ironically like things like that terrible film "The Room", or knitting, or being into someone like Justin Bieber just because. I genuinely adore the things I'm interested in and I'm offended that people just write me off as a hipster and sometimes even an MPDG because of how I dress, how I act, what I like, and my short hair. It sucks and I don't appreciate being depersonalized because of who I am. And two, I do like shopping but it all depends. I hate the mall, but I like certain stores at the mall. I love to shop through thrift stores, antique houses, and estate sales, but other than that, I am not a mall-loving shopper. Majority of my clothes have been acquired through thrifting and online shopping. 
Long story short, fashion is and always will be a broad and diverse term that can be difficult to explain to people as an interest because there is the need to be more precise but sometimes, that can be difficult too. Luckily, I've kind of pinpointed what in fashion I love and am interested in.

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