The Day I realized I'm a Fashion Girl

It was a rainy morning. Not yet one of those that the sun beat me getting up. 

And I didn't feel like really getting dressed like I usually do for work. No usual Whitney style, a touch of glamour, a dash of sophistication, and a whole lot of comfy. Nope, today was all about being comfy.

Thank goodness my job requires no uniform nor corporate wear. Therefore, in those first semi-conscious moments of my day it was decided that today was an athletic gear day.

So after a super steamy shower and teeth scrubbing, I jumped into my favorite pants, Lululemon black yoga pants I must have bought 2 years ago. 

I zipped up a "new" (clearly most things I buy aren't new since the majority of them are grabbed from the thrift, but they remain new to me.) terrycloth hoodie that happened to be by Juicy Couture. 

Slipped into my Coach jacket and stepped into my lace up Hunter Boots. Slid on my Betsey Johnson hat (today is not the best hair day) and... Suddenly it hit me.

That's a whole lotta brandage going on there. On a supposed very chill day.

When did I become SUCH a fashion girl that even my chill wear has a name stamped on it?

I made myself stop and think about it when I got home that evening. Mid my usual annual spring purge, I filled bags with barely used and virtually new brand name items, adding more to my self loathing.

I used to be the girl who would have made fun of girls like me now.

Did all of my thrifting and resale turn me into a label lover? Was I always a label lover? Or was it the fact that for next to nothing if could easy afford such brands that without the resale system I wouldn't have had in such quantities in my closet. 

Even worse, some brands, while I was familiar with them, I didn't realize how pricy they were because they were in such abundance at my local thrift. For example, I didn't know how expensive my favorite t-shirt company, Splendid, was until a recent Nordstom rack visit. And I was in sticker shock. Shirts I was paying, at the most, $8 for actually cost up to $50.

So maybe I'm a different type of fashion girl. The kind who loves something made quality and reliability, but refuses to subject her wallet, bank account, credit score to have it. Maybe I'm the type who would rather spend pennies on something used that double digit dollars for the same thing new. Maybe I'm the type who would rather set my own trend rather than follow the wave. Maybe I'm the type who would rather wear my mother's necklace or my father's watch rather than buying a new piece because I would rather have something of theirs than have something new. 

Well, I guess, that's not such a bad type of fashion girl to be.