My Fashion Journey

Tuesday, 3.10.20

Lately, I noticed that I seem to be thinking about fashion a lot. First, I recently felt like watching my Devil Wears Prada DVD again, in which I got as a gift from my mother and her friend Krysia because they told me it is similar to the novel I self-published, The Sand Dollar, in September 2016. I got excited and watched it, but I thought the scenes didn’t flow very well. I eventually bought the novel used at college book sale. I enjoyed reading the novel because it filled the gaps in the movie, as well as it was entertaining and fun to read. 

Then, yesterday, while browsing on Youtube, I felt like watching the September Issue documentary, which was about the production process of Vogue Magazine’s September Issue, which is known to be very thick, much thicker than all the other issues, as well as usually thicker than other fashion magazines. 

Then, I started reminiscing about my fashion past, which is mostly outlets, fashion events, LA fashion garment district, and annual big sales. During my 20s and 30s, I subscribed to a fashion magazine, usually one magazine per year, depending which one I am interesed in for that year. I mostly liked Mademoiselle, Glamour, Vogue, Allure, Nylon, YM, and Marie Claire.  I have also browsed in JANE, but that magazine didn’t last long. When I used to travel with family, I even bought a Vogue Magazine from each country as a souvenir for my Vogue Collection. I also had a yellow tank top and shorts with VOGUE on it in black from Rio. I remember that my first year in the dorms, everyone got a little certificate based on their personality, and mine was Miss Vogue because I was into fashion more than most college students. But I don’t know what happened to my certificate. It was lost somewhere. During my second year in the dorms, I got a certicate, mostly from my second roommate at the time, which had Best Messenger because writing down detailed phone messages. (I would probably have made a good Assistant Editor in some magazine, but I live in OC, not NYC or LA). 

I recently realized that my iconic fashionable stylish items are from St John Annual Campout Sale–which is usually on Black Friday, Karl Lagerfeld Sales at Saks Outlet, Neiman Marcus sales when I worked one Xmas holiday at Neiman Marcus wrapping gifts, as well as browsing in Nordstrom Rack, Bloomingdales Outlet, and Saks 5th Off Outlet. 

I have had a lot of fun with fashion, since my 20s, which gave me ideas and inspiration for my first novel, The Sand Dollar. (I have always wanted to write a novel, but I didn’t have a story before. So, my fashion hobby got me started on my writing career by helping me be more creative). I initially got into fashion when I browsed the pages of Vogue, and I liked the photography. I guess I was more into the photography than fashion, although I pursued fashion before photography because no one would buy me a 50mm camera. I ended up buy my 50mm Minolta 5000 film camera after graduating from UCI with a BA in Social Science in 1987. I used my camera to take fashion mannequin photos to express my interest in photography and fashion. 

I added this selfie at Bloomingdales promo event. It is my second selfie posing inside a huge pumps, but each pumps was painted in different colors and designs. One of the salegirls actually took the snapshots.

I am now waiting for the next fashion chapter in my fashion journey….