Fashion: A World of Risks Worth Taking.

A few months ago I was home visiting my parents and looking through old photo albums. As I flipped through page after page filled with snapshots of my Mom and Dad celebrating holidays and more interestingly in my opinion, taking photos of each other on regular days out of the year, I was struck with a very powerful thought. If you're going to keep photos of your life, why not make it as personalized and representative of you as possible?

A few fashion "misses" that I smile looking
back on. [Grandfather Mountain: 1991 with
my Mother]

More specifically, if you're going to take photos, represent yourself visually as you want people to see you. At this point in my life, I am 23 soon to be 24 next week. I am unmarried and have no children. My days are spent working in healthcare, dreaming of my future, and hoping to make the most of the priceless "20 something" years of my life. My fashion reflects more of a fun and daring approach to life because that's how I'm currently living. I believe in the concept of classics never going out of style and admire Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn's impeccable tastes. However, I like to play around with classics and add modern twists to them that reflect my youth, my personality, and well, me. As the time passes and my life enevitably changes, so my fashion will follow. Having photos that show where I have been and where I currently am are so valuable to me. Fashion, for me, is an important means of self expression as well as an outlet for creativity.

Taking the risks to try new things and not just getting stuck in the jeans and t-shirt comfort zone is something that I greatly admire my mother for. Seeing how her personality and taste have spanned the course of so many decades via her photographs inspired me to take more time and effort into planning outfits that are worth lasting as long as the photographs of them do. Maybe I'll look back on some of them and laugh...what was I thinking wearing head to toe denim?! The point is, that when I look back it'll be worth looking as well as discussing.

In 2004 at age 16. Trying on anything I wanted at The Limited

In 2012 at age 23.

Fashion, even for those who don't concern themselves with it, is an evolution. Everyone's style will inevitably evolve to some degree. Some more than others.  For me, I look back on older pictures not with disdain but with a memory of where and who I was at the time...and how far I have come since then. Ultimately, in a world where most risks you take have the potential to inflict damage or harm, the fashion world is a place where the risk of self expression should never be discouraged.