Tag: style

Explore what the world of fashion is all about from the Native Perspective.

Blue hues spill into the windows, bouncing off the textured eggshell white walls, creating a nice, soft glow of cool serenity. The fly on the wall can’t tell where I end and the empty bed begins. I am fully embraced by the linen sheets I purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond when it was still there on Hamilton on the west side. Somehow, mornings always have a gentle presence to them. 

Slithering to the kitchen wrapped in slippery satin drapes. Thank God for coffee. Glaring with squinty eyes from the bright bulb somehow brighter than my actual overhead kitchen light illuminating the day-old papas con chorizo that will suffice for now. My cat side-eyes me as I pass by her food bowl. I know she’s antsy for some tuna as if she hasn’t eaten in weeks. “Today’s going to be a big day,” races through my mind as I head towards my closet door, oh shoot, what am I going to wear?

It’s safe to say all of us, each day, contemplate what we are going to wear: Depending on the occasion, dictates the challenge. The South Bay, in all of its glory, hasn’t exactly been placed on the top five fashion regions in the world, but we are full of culture that is rich and full of creativity and life. That includes our fashion. 

In my previous blog posts, I’ve accepted the challenging journey of setting out to define what our style consists of. How we dress articulates who we are and how we feel. It’s how we are perceived when attending the Culture Night Market or open mic night at Nirvana Soul and strolling down San Pedro Square. So, what is South Bay’s Fashion style? A crisp, bubbly flight of beer. In other words, it is a mixture of all sorts of things. 

How many pairs of baggy pants are currently hanging up in your closet? Why? Is it because you find them more comfortable? Or maybe you saw a friend or stranger walking down 1st Street in SoFA and thought, that’s a look. And let’s face it, we all want to look good while feeling cozy. The HypeBeast fashion aesthetic has always been a part of how we dress here in the South Bay. Throughout the years it’s been shifting and changing, and somehow we’ve managed to add more pockets. 

Streetwear in the Bay Area has always been about expressing who you are and what you represent. It indicates a lot about which community you grew up in and impacts how you navigate our communities. Today, streetwear has adopted an additional layer of identity and focuses on the internal world of dressing and how you feel. Sparking the motion of individuals to dress more authentically and as yourself, and if you don’t know who that is, I invite you to use your fashion style to figure that out. 

Conclusion:

Sans logo, screen printed shirts, and accessorized garments with metal hoops and pins are all elements that describe streetwear’s evolutionary state in South Bay. Wide pants, cozy oversized sweaters, and a drapery scarf or hood to go along with a kind of Balenciaga-like silhouette consisting of weird shapes with the accents of vintage thrift clothes and crossing the boundaries of gender norms in fashion. Androgyny has allowed us to rethink the way we are perceived, the way we are labeled, and the way we are confined to a box, which limits our perception of self-expression. 

We can no longer be restrained by the compounds of decades-old ideologies of community roles, and instead need to recognize our spiritual connection and dress up our auras to influence the people around us to practice authenticity as their new religion to create salvation for us all. I invite you to think about what the clothes hanging up in your closet or sitting in piles on your couch mean to you, and they may show the world who you are or prevent the world from seeing you. A lot of us are wanting to grow as people. Some of us feel we have to, and that can, indeed, be expressed in the exploration of what we wear.

Native Fashion:

Indigenous design is the original design language of America. Connected to this land and place of what we call Canada and the United States. -Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (Siksika Nation) Fashion Curator and Indigenous Art Historian

When you think of Native fashion, what comes to mind? Do you think of feathers and maybe regalia? Well, although this is a part of native fashion, it is nowhere close to all of what it consists of. Each Nation has its version and style of clothing, as well as its own technique for making clothes and garments. All of these techniques stem from traditional techniques passed down through generations. Today, we all have more access to different materials, which enables Native designers to create their own fashion designs with contemporary concepts. Through this blog series, I will be exploring how Native Fashion weaves together the different Native communities all over Turtle Island and diving deep into why it’s important for us here in the Bay Area.

What Do Your Clothes Say About You?

Fashion style defines and groups people together to form a distinctive culture. Fashion style has the ability to drive social change, represent a community, and deepen the connection and attachment to the land and people residing there. Walking downtown through the wide streets and sounds of construction of the next nine-story high rise. Vans and leather shoes pollute the sidewalks. Skaters in their wide-legged slacks and off-tone t-shirts. What does San Jose style look like? Does it look like anything? We live in a melting pot, “American Culture,” but many American cities have distinctive looks to how their citizens dress, so why not us? 

Defining a fashion style of a specific area can be a challenge. Since the start of the internet, people have been influenced by each other from all parts of the planet. Although this plays a factor, I still believe San Jose has the potential to have its own unique style. So I set out into the community to see what others had to say about it and what I found was fascinating. Let’s begin by thinking about why fashion style is essential. 

“I don’t feel a cohesive fashion community here in San Jose” -Araceli Vizcaino

What we choose to wear every day says something about ourselves to the world. It tells our story in an abstract way that provokes identity. “You don’t have to tell people who you are. Someone could look at you and tell which community you’re part of,” says Araceli Vizcaino, owner of Thrill of the Luxe, a vintage shop here in San Jose. We make quick observations about others around us, and what that person is wearing plays a significant factor if we deem them “okay” to be around or not. Because our fashion tells a lot about who we are. “Throughout history, fashion has been a way to identify people according to class, occupation, region, etc., but today it’s mostly used to define subcultures. Especially since our society is moving towards individuality,” says Fashion Psychologist Carolyn Mair. 

Fashion style has the ability to bring people together. Have you ever been on the street, and someone walks past you, and you have to take a second look and yell out that their outfit is “hella” nice, and it’s a whole interaction? If not, go outside in a kickass fit and see if anyone responds to you. It’s such an inclusive experience. “That’s how the vintage community is. It’s very much about who’s wearing the coolest t-shirt or even the coolest outfit. I think that is the unifying force of the community. Then you start connecting with people, saying that you like someone’s t-shirt and where did you get it? And from that interaction, relationships and communities start to really blossom from that,” exclaims Araceli. 

“Fashion echoes the depth of human self-awareness,” muses Carolyn Mair. Sometimes it’s tough to wear what we want to wear because of the responses we might get from others. I have walked around in a “fit” that was a bit wild, but I was feeling it, even though I had people respond to me negatively. This behavior is partly conducive to why some of us don’t want to authentically express who we are and how we want to dress. This can have a pessimistic effect on whether we choose to wear sparkly orange shoes or dull gray sneakers. Can we declare right now to keep an approachable mindset so that we can create a safe space for our community to express and showcase who they are? Allow others and yourself to feel excited about dressing up and contributing to the vibrant culture we have here in the Bay Area. 

Defining fashion is a slippery journey. There are so many different outlets that influence our sense of style—delivering a melting pot of ideas and concepts. 

What has stood out over the decades and in the conversations I’ve had with some local fashionistas is baggy clothes with a vintage feel. In my next post, I will define what San Jose’s fashion style looks and feels like. Please respond below and let me know your thoughts about how we can create a safe space to express ourselves through what we wear entirely. 

Share a time when you wore something you felt great in and how it made you feel and how others responded to you.