PHASE 1: I WEAR EVERYTHING
I don’t know anything about clothing until I was in grade 8. Before, I used to wear everything my mom bought me. Literally everything. Even if it’s tight or loose, it’s colorful or just plain, I wore it all. At that time, what made me interested was just rubiks cube and studying (just a little bit). I think maybe it’s because all of my friends also didn’t care about what they wore either, so there’s no judgements like “That’s a terrible fit!” or “Are those pants a little bit too tight?”.
PHASE 2: HYPEBEAST MODE
When I was allowed to use my phone was also when the “hypebeast” trend started. All of my classmates started talking about the new OFFWHITE jacket or the new Yeezy line coming out next week. Some cool kids in school showed off their luxury Louis Vuiton or Gucci fits (but I don’t even know if they’re real or not honestly). Like everyone, those hypebeast fits really caught my eye. They looked so dope at that time, imagine wearing a pair of Nike Offwhite’s and walking along the school hallway. Everyone got to look at it, that’s a $2000 pair of shoes. But where could I get that much money to buy a pair like that? My parents can use that money to pay all their fees. But I got jealous when all of my clothes looked cheap, not as cool as my friends. I remembered the time when I saved up to buy a pair of FAKE Oreo’s (I couldn’t even afford to buy a fake pair). However, I was still super happy when I got that pair, I was so excited that I slept with it everynight. Although they were fake, I kept all the box and everything, kept them in the best condition as I could.
PHASE 3: I’m getting older
When I got into high school, I soon realized that this was not really what I want to wear, I just want to wear it because everyone liked it. I love something subtle, something that is not too flashy or colorful, but it has to be something different. Beside the reason that I don’t have that much money to afford designer clothes and hypebeast stuff, I got sick of those things as they look all the same to me, same design, same unreasonably high price, and their materials were awful. I started to develop my own sense of style, researching about different brands. I like something different, something that had good quality but still had an affordable price. That’s when I opened my own online thriftshop with my friend. I love thrifted clothing, they are unique, their designs are really something else, like vintage Stussy or band tees. I found a lot of old tees from the 90s, and some of the graphics haven’t faded away. The material is also very good, Old Champion or Fruit of the loom shirts have a thicker fabric and do not easily wrinkle like all the fast fashion clothes right now. The form is incredible, since in the past people used to wear something baggier, with a more neutral or subtle color like dark green or old navy. And we don’t have to care much about the price, because I usually spend 50.000 VND for a shirt, that means $2. What’s cooler than wearing something that people have never seen before with an absolutely affordable price?
I love researching about stuff, especially clothing. It’s much more meaningful to know the origin of what you are wearing and understand the value of the item, right? I think, by the way I learn more about the culture and the history of clothing, exploring different designs and fabric and stuff, I learn to appreciate what I have more, even if it’s a pair of Onitsuka tiger Corsair that none of my friends know, or a vintage John Lennon tee from the 90s with bunch of holes and stains.
