Christmas

Update: I fixed two of my necklaces, including the one I mentioned two posts ago, with pliers-what an amazing tool!

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays because it's one of the few times that everyone dresses nicely without being asked to do so. The winter wardrobe offers many styles that people can pick and choose from to create their Christmas outfit. My sister went the ugly Christmas sweater route. Our baby cousin sported similar attire with the classic male sweater vest, while the kid cousin and I opted to wear dresses. I turned my regular neutral toned dress into a more winter outfit by adding leggings and a bow necklace, to represent a bow on a present. However, I’m not writing this post to talk about my own outfit, but to talk about my teenage cousin’s outfit. She had planned on wearing a gold and white striped sweater with a red cardigan, but when she put on the sweater, it didn’t fit her the way she wanted to: it was loose. She did not know what to do, but she found a gold belt of hers. I suggested she tie it on her waist, but alas she did not want to accentuate her waist. Then, voila, she had this brilliant idea to tuck the sweater in her pants and use the belt on her jeans. The outfit was not complete just yet. The finishing touch was a feather necklace that I gave her two years ago as a Christmas present-finally a gift of mine that I see being used! I might be biased, but the necklace turned that outfit from a 9 to a 10 by adding a defining and noticeable piece. Not only that but I was also amazed by how the ensemble came together from something my cousin hated to something we all loved with just a few simple accessories and a simple color scheme of red, gold, and white.

Fashion Shows

I never understood why certain fashion shows were so extravagant until I saw a fashion show at JMU's akdphi's Real Dukes Wear Pink Charity Ball. The fashion show was, to be honest, boring because it showcased everyday outfits that weren't revolutionary. That's when I realized that fashion shows need to be different in order to capture the audience's attention. Different doesn't necessarily mean avant-garde. Different just means something that's not seen every day, as in the case of many cultural show's fashion shows. For example, the Vietnamese Student Associations's fashion show consists of many beautiful traditional dresses or ao dai that one doesn't get to see on a regular basis. Today, I watched for the first time, the Victoria's Secret Annual Fashion Show and was blown away by the creativity of these designers. Yes, no one would wear these outfits in real life, but that's the point-a fashion show with just bras and panties wouldn't be interesting at all nor would it sell. Add in music and some pretty confident models, and bam! a real spectacle is born that actually lives up to its name, "show."

New Clothes, New Perspectives

This past summer, I posted the Facebook note, "My Fashion Journey" that started it (my fashion blog) all. Today I am writing a new entry to this blog to reflect on this past semester, and because I finally found the outfit to go with those pumps.

(Random anecdote about my day leading up to my package delivery)
Today, I freaked out during my PSYC 3005 exam because I didn't know which mean to use for one of the questions. After finally choosing a mean and sticking with it, I turned in the exam. I walked out of the lecture hall and quickly took out my laptop to check if I did use the right mean. Indeed I did. The sun shone bright on me, after hiding behind the rain and ice for three days-it's like Mother Nature knew-as I walked home confident in a college exam, a rare and special occurrence. The day would only get better as my Forever21 package would soon arrive but first, a home-cooked meal, another rare and special occurrence during this busy semester. Yesterday, I baked homemade brownies and a cookie in a mug as therapy for "failing" my PSYC 3480 exam. Baking is something I have done a lot more this year. I have grown to hate pre-made brownie mixes after baking my friend, Eugenie, made from scratch brownies for the first time. They are so delicious and even better with chocolate frosting, which I finally used up after having it since April. I have also baked several cakes from boxed mixes, and they were subpar. In the future, I'd like to bake more cakes from scratch because not only are they yummier but also healthier in that I know what ingredients are going into it. For dinner, I cooked red curry with shrimp, carrots, and potatoes. The shrimp were tanh or fishy like always, and I realized that my mom was right after all. In the future, I need to cook them with garlic before directly adding them into the curry, like the directions say, to take away the fishy taste. Just as I was preparing to wash the dishes, my package came.

I dropped the little bag with my necklace in it, so that might be the reason why when I put it on, it broke immediately :( I somehow managed to fix it using a trick courtesy of one of my classmates. My Chinese teacher's glasses were broken one day, and a student suggested fixing it with a paper clip. This is what I precisely did to replace two bent rings to rejoin a detached piece.

The outfit itself was bought on CyberMonday. I went in not looking for anything in particular, but then I saw this "Crisscross Bodycon Dress" for only $9. I was drawn to the design on the back (I'm a sucker for cute designs on the back) and the longer length of the sleeve because I don't own many long-sleeved dresses. I realized that this dress in navy would be a perfect pairing for my pumps. Because the dress is plain in the front, I went to look at necklaces. I saw a gold triangle necklace on a mannequin at Charlotte Russe, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the store. Since then, I've been looking for a similar necklace. After filtering my search, I went with the "Cutout Geo Bib Necklace ($5.40)," not exactly a triangle necklace but close enough.

This outfit is way more mature than any outfit that I have created, mainly because of the heels, but because I imagine wearing this outfit in more mature settings. I imagine not wearing it at a college party but on a date with someone or at an office party. This outfit represents what I have learned more recently.

I remember a couple of months ago, I tweeted that I didn't know why I'm staying another year at college when I could graduate this year. Kristina replied because "your friends, your family you made, the life you have built," and I didn't appreciate this until recently when I realized that I do have a lot of great friends that I won't be able to see as much after college. I just don't see it all the time because I have friends from many different friend groups. This issue has also resonated with me because someone told me that he hasn't made as many close friends at college as he did in high school, and this makes me so sad for him but grateful at the same time for the life-long friends I have made here.

Jongyeop has also helped me value the friends that I do have. He's told me that even though I might not talk with someone all the time, I should be happy that that someone is there for me when I need him. He's also told me to stop trying so hard to be friends with people. This hurt a lot at first, but then I realized that he's right: you can't force friendships. I've realized that I'm not going to be in friendship pictures with certain people because I'm not close with them. I do have friends that I can take friendship pictures with, but they're not in VSA, where all these friendship pictures take place. That's why I feel so left out, but I should know that I do have friends. This realization has made me much happier.

I've learned from my psychology classes that college students are so lonely because they feel like they should have more friends than they already have. This was true for me until these realizations, and hopefully I won't fall back into this. I've also learned that friends help regulate your emotions, which makes you happier because you don't have to work as much. This has certainly been true this year as my roommate and others have put things into perspective for me. Lastly, I've learned that if you don't have friends, you're going to die earlier, another reason to be thankful for having friends.

I've also gained new perspectives regarding romantic relationships. From my 16-year-old cousin, crazy right?, I've learned that romantic relationships take time to form. You can't expect something to happen right away. Yes, some relationships do happen right away, but those are the unexpected ones. You have to stop looking for love because the best things in life, like my friendships, have happened unexpectedly. This tumblr post puts this all into perspective.

Like my sense of style, my understanding of life continues to mature every day.