Here’s part two of my favorite minimally styled looks from NYFW! I’ve really been loving this season so far. Between all the structured coats and high-waisted wide-legged pants, it’s safe to say i’m obsessed.
Diane von Furstenberg, photo courtesy of Vogue.com.
NYFW is officially underway, and many minimal designers are starting to emerge. One of my favorite trends is the statement coat, and there was absolutely no lack of them on the runway. Below are a few of my favorite looks from the first couple days of Fashion Week.
Anybody who knows me knows that this pink is my color.
Cushnie et Ochs, photo courtesy of Vogue.com.
Happy 2017! It’s been a few months since I’ve posted, but I’m no longer putting threads & such on the back burner. It’s just as important as my homework and has such a profound effect on my life. Today’s post will be a minimalism + life update.
As I’m approaching a year since I’ve adopted minimalism, I noticed I’m buying less, spending less (food not included), and spending smarter. Ever since I began my minimalism journey, I knew I wouldn’t be one of those people with a capsule wardrobe. I mean, I’m going in the fashion industry. I obviously love clothes. At the same time, I’m determined to only grab quality pieces.
I’ve made a couple reckless purchases, but I’ve also purchased a couple grails/staple pieces. I’m slowly purging my closet even more. At first, I purged things I never wore. Now, I’m getting rid of clothes that fit me poorly. Even though I still like the items I’m getting rid of, I know it’s better in the long run. What’s the point of being stylish if your clothes don’t fit? I’ve often settled for clothes that didn’t fit because I thought it was too unique to pass up, or the method of returning it was a hassle.
I’d like to think that I’ve gotten a bit more organized while I’ve been on this journey. I write in my planner every day and make a strong attempt to adhere to my to-do lists and schedules. I’m one of those people who does almost everything on a whim, so developing a solid routine has been a struggle, but also rewarding.
My minimalism journey started off as investing further in my clothes, but I realized it applied to the rest of my life as well. It taught me not to settle for less because it seemed convenient. I’m starting to feel less sorry for myself because people are doing better than me.
I like writing, but I don’t dedicate enough of my time to writing about the things I love. I’ve started to despise writing because it seems like I write about the least interesting topics for my classes and it’s quite draining. Rather than sitting around and ignoring my calling, I’m encouraging myself to write.
As NYFW commences, keep your eyes on threads & such. I’ll be reviewing my favorite shows and focusing on brands with minimal clothing. Following fashion week, I’ll be writing more frequently. I can’t wait to see where threads & such goes in 2017!
This post is especially for my creatives. I’m sure you guys can relate to my problem.
I recently revisited my journal, which I haven’t opened or wrote in for over a year. Here’s part of the last entry I wrote:
“Burnout is a rare, but common form of artistic expression. Never mind. It’s not rare. It’s hard. When you feel uninspired, tired or when you’re just over it–what do you do? Are you still an artist?
Are you still a “creative”?
Am I really as creative as I believe? We’ll see.”
It’s funny. I wrote this because I believed it was appropriate at the time. A year later, it still applies, but in a different way. I really haven’t been giving my site that much attention because there’s a certain direction I want to go in, but it’ll have my full attention again in due time.
I recently registered for Spring 2017 classes and I realized my time in college is running out. I only have (after Spring 2017) two more semesters until I graduate! Again, I’m only 19. It’s such a wild concept that I’m still trying to grasp. With graduation looming in the background, I still sometimes struggle to accept the major I picked. I truly love my major and minor. It perfectly aligns with my calling and I enjoy a majority of my classes.
Contrary to popular belief, being a liberal arts major isn’t easy. Being a journalism major isn’t easy. Being any type of creative major isn’t easy. It’s not “just writing”. Things that come naturally aren’t always easy. You have to have a strong background in grammar, editing, and syntax. As journalism changes, I have to adapt. My major doesn’t just teach me how to be a writer; I’m also gaining knowledge in audio and video as well.
Graduating scares me as a journalist, and especially as a fashion journalist. The market I plan to pursue is one of the most competitive. But here’s something that I’m trying to learn:
Everybody’s journey isn’t your journey.
Yes, even the person that you look up to. They may have completed six internships while in college, but you’ve only done two. That doesn’t make your journey less important. You can still be successful.
But it’s all up to you.
I try to tell myself that I’m doing enough. I’m only 19. I don’t allow others psychological projections to bother me. A woman at my school’s career fair told me that my dream of becoming a fashion journalist was too narrow. It bothered me that another Black woman tried to tell me that I should try and expand my dreams–I’m assuming it was based off of her own failures and insecurities. Her comment was not based off of genuine concern, but maliciousness.
Don’t feel discouraged when you see people doing similar things doing “better” than you. Take the plunge. Apply for that internship. Submit your work to a competition. Post your newest painting to twitter. The worst thing anybody can tell you is no. If they say no, dust yourself off and try again! It’ll be okay. You’ll find the place that’s the perfect fit for you.
To all my creatives: we will make it. The world needs us.
Shannon Stoudemire. 20. Originally from Southfield, Michigan; currently set in Mount Pleasant, Michigan at Central Michigan University.
SS: I’m majoring in broadcast and cinematic arts, which is basically film because I don’t want to go in the broadcast side. I realized broadcast news isn’t for me. It’s really structured. I couldn’t do it, as much as I thought I could. I was interested in making videos in 7th grade and I begged my mom for a camera because I used to watch YouTube videos of people singing music videos (which is super lame) but I was just like, “Oh my gosh. I wanna do this so bad.” I got a point and shoot camera. I started making videos and editing them and I was like, “Oh I really like this.” I did that until 8th grade (the lame YouTube video stuff), and then I stopped in 9th grade because I’m like, “I don’t know what I like to do.” In 10th grade I joined the newspaper committee and I started doing videos again. And I said, “Oh shit, I can do videos forever.” …I feel like it was my calling, almost.
SS: Well, I mostly give Deshia (the other half of Artist to Artist) all the credit because we were just sitting in our room doing our homework and we were talking about wanting to do something big, and we wanted to try out a website or something. She said, “We should start a magazine.” I was like well a magazine’s kinda big you know, we can’t just fill out a magazine. What about a website? We just did an outline of the website, and we did our first interview of these two guys who do music…We wanna learn more about people, what made them start, what they’re doing, why they’re interested in it, and be able to give them a voice in the community. We want to be faceless so this wouldn’t be about us at all, strictly the artist. We don’t want people to know that we’re making this at all. Strictly for the artist, by the artist–Artist to Artist. (This is when I had my revelation about the name.)
SS: I feel like the website has opened up a whole new future plan for me and Deshia (speaking for her too). Before the website, we wanted to do something that helped people in our creative fields. She majored in English and was going to be a teacher but now we’re like, “oh shit we wanna build this website up to be a magazine. Then, we wanna have a building where creatives can come in and have a free space to have a studio and have a creative space for people like us who didn’t have it before or don’t know where to start. They can have somebody help guide them.
SS: I’m really interested in analyzing films and stuff like that. I watch a shit load of Black director’s movies and they’re not as highly notarized as Stanley Kubrick or they’re so small where they’re hard to access. Then we’re almost stuck in the same genre, where they’re all dramas…Ava DuVernay just got $100 million, the highest budget given to a Black woman. She’s directing a normal movie that a white man would make and it’s super cool because who does that anyway? No one. It’s like, finally.
At Central, most of the newscasters are white. That’s just a lot in itself. All of the RSO (resident student organizations) are all white people. I was the only Black girl in one of the film society meetings at Central. I’m like, I know our Black community is small, but damn. (laughs) I’m a woman and I’m Black and it’s like I’m a super minority. I don’t think we’re well represented anywhere, especially within the creative field. It’s almost like we don’t exist. And it’s kind of shitty because there’s so many of us out there…I had no idea Black people were out here like this, because we don’t get the spotlight at all.
SS: Stanley Kubrick is probably my favorite director because it took me three times to watch Clockwork Orange and it was so long and I was like so against it. I was like “Fuck! This movie is long, what are they getting to?” I finally got to the point where the plot built up and I had the patience to watch it. Besides all of it being cinematically beautiful, the color palettes being wonderful, the scenes flowing together, everything being intentional within the movie, the ending is like duh, wow! Kubrick is amazing. And then I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey, not even gonna lie it took me a few times to get through it. And when I finally got through it I’m like okay this guy is fucking genius and then I just started reading more into him and lightly researching him (not gonna say I’m some expert) but I just really respect his filming style. He was honest in the way he directed. He directed many films and had this mentality where he said, “I did this for me and the audience may or may not like it but whoever likes it, basically they’re the real ones and the ones who know it’s not for them.” And that’s why he made stuff like Full Metal Jacket where he knew they would be box office hits and then he had the other non-conventional films. I just think that style of doing whatever you want and understanding what makes a good piece of art is amazing.
SS: Harmony Korine, the director of Kids I watched his other films Gummo and Julien Donkey Boy and his work is weird. He’s a weird guy. If you watch Kids, it’s basically nothing without the message. If it didn’t have the plot of AIDS, it would be about nothing. Gummo is literally Kids with no plot no message. His directing style is amazing. Julien Donkey-Boy is really beautifully made–cinematically very pleasing. All his films have little to no dialogue, almost like they’re unscripted. They’re supposed to be like real life, like someone is walking around taping. Julien Donkey-Boy threw me so off guard and made me cry. I was so drawn in and I started bawling my eyes out because everything transitioned and was edited so perfectly. It was so smooth and I’m like this guy’s a genius.
SS: Lately, I’ve been looking at the trends on twitter with photographers with the pale backgrounds–pale pink, pale blue, you know. (Me and Deshia) notice trends and try to stray away from them or not give into the hype so we’re not following the wave. I try to stay inspired by analyzing other people’s art and the artist who started the trend and seeing the people outside the box and they made that happen, they did that all on their own. I’m not about to hop on that wave but I put some of the ideas I have that are random and sporadic and try to make something to be my own so I can be my own brand…I like to be inspired by people who aren’t in the wave and trying to analyze people who are and see what I can do differently. I like to watch short films because sometimes they’re really weird. People are out there making really cool animations that don’t get a lot of attention so when I find a cool one I’m like, “Oh my gosh these people are weirdos but they tell a good story.” It’s not popular and it’s super cool to watch…basically I’m just trying to create my own eye in a way. I’m trying to figure out my own eye. I don’t have a specific style yet.
SS: I wouldn’t say it’s hindered my growth at all. It’s helped with interviewing skills. I feel like you’re a good listener when you’re introverted. Joining newspaper in high school opened me up so much. I wouldn’t have thought that I would do any videos where I had to walk up and ask a random person a question–that’s very hard. I never thought that I would be that person. Just going to Central and joining clubs by myself or doing things because I like to do them has actually helped me grow as a person tremendously. Even just sitting here with you and asking you questions has helped me be comfortable with it and my personality and who I am and just staying true to myself so I’m not morphing to people’s ideals or thinking I need to act this way to be successful. It’s helped me understand that it’s okay to be introverted within the creative field. Some people just naturally have that “people personality” but that was never me. I used to question myself so much, like why can’t I be like my bestfriend who’s super extroverted and can talk to anyone. It took me a long time for me to notice that people like me and my personality. I have friends. A good amount of friends.
SS: My bestfriend is a major in the medical field. I see her doing homework–math and science and stuff like that. I could never even imagine doing that. She brought up how much time [she puts in her] medical stuff, creatives are putting into their work. I talked to a fashion major and she was like people dump down fashion like it’s nothing. You’re doing a bunch of fun stuff. It’s not like medical degrees where you can go home and study–she said she has to spend countless hours in the studio and she’s barely at home. We’re putting in the same amount of time and effort (at least those who are passionate about it). If we don’t do it, who’s gonna do it? I don’t like when people dumb it down.
You can find Shannon & Deshia’s work at artist-artist.com
Twitter & Instagram: @shanpearl_