On this Thanksgiving, I am Thankful For Fashion...

In honor of Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the season, I will go out on a (superficial?) limb and say that I am thankful for fashion. Even though you are probably a style junkie like me, you may be a sort of person who does not focus on the materialistic side of life during Thanksgiving. I am the same way...HOWEVER, fashion is what has helped me come out on top during rough patches in my family life, my love life, my friendships, and my career balancing acts. These, my stylista friends, ARE the important areas in my life. So with fashion as my therapist, day in and day out, I say thank you. (Cheers with my morning coffee!)

Designers, boutique owners, stylists, magazine editors, retail buyers, visual merchandisers, and the good 'ol retail associates who open and close the stores (and hope that one day it help them move up the management ladder), continue doing what you do. All of your work is so very important in this industry.

And I, myself, strive to be a positive guide in an individual's life. I will work to continue to provide a person with assistance in shopping on a budget and helping him or her realize that fashion is not just for the rich and the skinny. When you focus on what looks good, what feels good, and what creatively and artistically expresses who you are....Well, that is when you will feel the same joy I do. There is nothing like turning to fashion for a release and a sense of sanity.

Here are two of the ways I began achieving clarity as a kid, which I believe has greatly contributed to who I am today:

Collages: After bookcasing all of my favorite magazines (I still have the very first issues of Nylon and Lucky!), I would rip them open and create collages! From covering my school binder to covering the walls in my room, pictures of Gwen, the trends I wanted to try out, the bands I loved, and the awkward-yet-beautiful poses of models always made me feel secure. No matter the type of "drama" high school presented to me, I loved knowing that in my room -- in my world -- my energy was committed elsewhere. I would even tell people that I would be friends one day with this person and hang out with that celeb, and in more ways than one, I am still experiencing such greatness.

Thrift Stores: Although now, at 28, I have a difficult time truly finding what I'm looking for at a thrift store or vintage boutique; I will always appreciate second or third-hand fashion. While most people I know, and KNEW during my days as a "thrift-store junkie," it was all about finding unique masculine and feminine pieces that you couldn't buy in a "regular" store. While I always swore that I would never pay more than 5 bucks on jeans (my mom still reminds me to this day), I took on the same mentality. But what I love the most about hand-me-downs is the stories that exist with the pieces. I always wondered what the guy looked like who owned these jeans or the type of woman who may have walked miles in these sandals...at 15, my approach towards shopping at thift stores was "whatever catches my eye." And that can be very therapeutic, because it allows you take your time and take in the fabric, quality, style, and color of a piece. I am thankful that my mom would drop me off for 2 hours at the "Quality Thrift Store," while I shopped with 2 to 3 bucks to spare. I knew that I needed time to soak it all in. I am thankful that I appreciated the merchandise in a special way.

So I ask you: How has fashion influenced your life? These are just two areas that are very dear to me, to which I am happy to share with you. (As for my start in writing about fashion -- that's a whole new blog post!) I am sure these ring a bell with you and your own growth in an industry that may just very well judge a book by it's cover. But we all have a story inside those books -- no matter what anyone says.

Photo Credit: http://www.superstock.com/