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Life through the eyes of a fashion guru
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This is the City of Trees – not the city of Chanel. How do the true appreciators of everything culture survive in a place with more farms than Fendi?
Answer – we improvise. True addicts turn to every alternative source to find their fix.
My all-time favorite is the bible of runway lovers: “Vogue.”
I’m a proud long-term subscriber. French, Italian, whatever – “Vogue” is “Vogue,” and any true appreciator knows that the beauty of it has nothing to do with the written words.
It’s the pictures – the sheer artistry that provides my high-fashion fixes.
I’ve also come to appreciate the age of technology, since it makes high-end merchandise available to my longing eyes, even if my college-sized wallet prohibits purchasing such glorious wonders of fabric.
I’ve also learned that the work of designers isn’t impossible to replicate – hooray for trendy thrift stores.
I’ve found that this technique, this skill, this resourcefulness is as needed in other aspects of life as it is in the appeasement of my apparel addiction.
One thing my 20 years have taught me (and yes, I know it sounds silly to be offering life advice at the age of 20) is that it’s very rare that something you really want or need is handed to you.
Nearly everything worthwhile takes a while, and a lot of work. Usually you find more dead ends than open roads, and you have to learn to look for new avenues when the one you thought would work doesn’t.
I was fortunate enough to have this idea instilled in me from
the very beginning. When I was still in elementary school, my
family moved.
While our house was being built, we needed a rental home for a few months, since residing with my grandmother made for an atrocious living situation.
However, a rental near my sister and I’s new school was nowhere to be found.
My Mom started calling homes that were for sale and asking if the owners would mind renters for a few months, and after a few dead-ends we got lucky.
I didn’t really appreciate my Mom’s resourceful ways until I started looking to move out of my apartment last month, and every sign said “For Sale” instead of “For Rent,” or was more apallingly awful than brown belts paired with black shoes.
A little resourcefulness and my roommates and I had a beautiful new townhome. It was exactly like she’s always told me, “change is inevitable, struggle is a choice.” Thanks, Mom.
The same holds true for every aspect of life. I’ve watched many friends go through life-consuming relationships, followed by devastating breakups, followed by a complete loss of their old friends.
They had to become a little bit more resourceful, a little more daring, than they were pre big-time-relationship, and now they all agree that they’re happier now and have a bigger circle of friends than ever before.
Out of a job?
Identify your resources and get going.
One of my best friends was laid off last month, and a week later she had a new, much more exciting job because she hit the pavement, read the newspaper, searched the Websites and talked to everyone she knew.
Yes, these examples do sound as if they’re from a self-help book. But in order to survive, you have to write your own self-help book. Sometimes it seems like everyday is the equivalent of snapping a high heel on the stairs before going to the senior prom.
Find some Super Glue or staples and get going.
Sheree Whiteley
