In celebration of NY's Spring Fashion Week from a girl on a budget

Part I: Fame

When the holly trinity of fashion magazines arrived in the mail box, I could feel the beautiful weight of new designer looks, perfumes, other luxuries just waiting to be explored.

First, I started with W magazine. Even though Selena Gomez gets so much crap for her sining voice, I love her music; after all, she still finds herself performing live for huge events like the Victoria Secret Fashion show and SNL, so someone out there must see her talented. In all, it takes a village to make a star. There are countless behind-the-scenes stars for all these celebrities on the cover that we never even think of: make-up artists, stylists, hairdressers, photographers, managers, assistants, back-up dancers, choreographers, etc.

What I think is interesting is our obsession with fame. It's such a sought after state of being. The lives of celebrities seem perfect in every way. Perfect skin. Perfect smile. Perfect boyfriend. But when there is so much riding on one person's success, it's in the best interest of the studios who produce these stars to make sure that their star's stand out against the rest.

If you go back to one of my first posts, I was featured in a small fashion show. Everything was taken care of for me: my make-up, hair, outfit, photographer, etc. As a result, my team made me look ah-mazing because I was a representation of their hard work.

The beauty of fashion and fame is that you get to represent not only yourself, but the beautiful work of others. Of course, fame comes at the large cost of personal privacy and never being able to go out in public without being recognized, but for the most part I'm sure no one could argue that being famous lacks luster.

Part II: He Loves Me...He loves me not...

Valentine's Day has come and gone. Naturally, some girls are probably still munching on their oversized chocolate hearts while they leaning up against their oversized teddy bears. Meanwhile, some other people probably got a great deal on candy that is not 50% off at CVS. Either way, as a perpetually single girl on Vday, the way I choose to look at it is I can either loathe in my own self-pity or I can surround myself with equally as single friends as still have a good time. I choose the latter.

From a commercialized standpoint, you could argue that Vday is simply a cultural marketing scheme just to get people to buy more stuff that they don't need. From a overly the standpoint of an overly romantic girl with exceptional expectations, I could argue that Vday is just a disappointment waiting to happen. But no more! There's no fundamental reason to feel any less than great on Vday. I have nothing to prove by being in a relationship and neither do you. Naturally, hundreds of couples post their festivities on social media and that's so great for them. I aspire to find that someone whom I can take Pintrest-worthy photos with too, but until then stay cool. Things will fall into place <3

Part III: Fashion

Fashion, the drug of Millineals, stuffy rich people, hipsters, bloggers, journalists, and photographers. It's an industry of fleeting dreams, art, and culture. Though couture is only tangible for those who can afford it, brands like H&M, Forever 21, and Zara have made fast fashion mainstream. After all, the second I Instagram my #OOTD, it's already so yesterday.

As a self-proclaimed fashion enthusiast, the appeal of it all comes from the idea that fashion is an opportunity of self-expression. Of course, styles and trends go in and out, but now more than ever, fashion provides self-expression and individuality on a global scale. With the turn of fashion trends, society is making leaps toward acceptance and diversity.

Recall how 'nude is now a passé term for flesh color tones. Because 'nude' is not truly nude on every girl. Sport Illustrated finally features cover models with curvy bodies and Lupita Nyong'o was named The Most Beautiful Woman by People magazine. These are all positive signs that fashion and beauty if getting a reality check.

However, we still have a long way to go. Ever since I was a little girl, I would skim through fashion magazines with my mom. I even had my own subscription to Girl's Life and Nylon as a teen. What always stood out to me was the lack of diversity in the models. Occasionally, there would be one Asian model next to three Caucasian models in a campaign. Or one Caucasian model paired with one African American model. For instance, Yves Saint Laurent's newest beauty campaign features Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn; both are stunning, superstar models. What makes this ad different for so many other that I've seen is that both are equally illustrated in the ad.

But usually, fashion (or at least fashion in previous years) seems to be dominated by Western beauty. Now, there's nothing wrong with that if you fit the criteria; but if you don't then where does that leave us? Well, for me that left me soul searching and finding my own sense of beauty. I'm still on that journey, but I know I'm not alone.

Ella-Kol

For more articles on diversity in fashion see:

http://www.vogue.com/13382230/2015-model-diversity-in-fashion/

http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a18874/model-diversity-where-the-fashion-industry-is-now/

Got a beauty secret? Comment down below!