Hello fellow fashion lovers, allow me to reintroduce myself! My name is Yahri Shavers and I am a senior fashion business major this year at Columbia College Chicago. I strongly identify with naps, neutral colors and the power of positive energy. I am so happy to be back with CollegeFashionista for a second semester. Fall is my favorite time of the year for so many reasons. The weather cools down, football season begins and the city gets so pretty! My wallet usually takes a hard hit during this time because Steve Madden releases new boots, Zara sells some killer outerwear and all of a sudden I feel that I need every MAC Cosmetics lipstick ever made. I will try to keep it together this year for my checking account’s sake, but no promises.
Being that I am graduating soon, I am beginning to think about what attracted me to the fashion world in the first place. To put it simply, fashion is my favorite form of art. I love that one’s choice of adornment stands to say so much about a person. Whether at a job interview or on a sports field, what you wear can affect how you are perceived and how you perform.
Moreover, during my time in college I’ve come to appreciate that fashion is more than just how a person dresses. Fashion is history; fashion’s largest innovations are in response to a change in world events. Fashion is sociology; how a trend trickles down or up is nothing short of an interpersonal observation. Fashion is psychology; how brands profit from selling a particular lifestyle to their market is purely a play on cognitive reasoning. In sum, fashion is the study of the necessary and noble pursuits, but in a space where creativity is fostered and encouraged.
It used to make me wince when people frowned and said, “Why do you want to study fashion? Shouldn’t you do something a bit more concrete?” Now, I no longer feel the need to justify why I want to work in such a perplexing industry. Instead, I feel honored to be among the brave who followed their dreams. The dream of being a part of a community where people work to see what could be instead of simply what is.
