Riff the Runway 01
Notes on exploring personal style through research
When I purged my closet down to its most precious parts, I found clarity. I found my personal sense in this fresh life of mine. Some days, after believing creation came to an end, the burden of “nothing to wear” reared its deceitful head. Nothing to wear? Even though both of my closets lacked room for a new pair of anything. Unless I performed another audit? (Which I did eventually, but that is besides the point.)
Nothing to wear is a lack of inspiration, maybe a lack of references. It’s a challenge more than a fact of my life. To combat this thought, I returned to my place as a student, a place I hope to remain for as long as life is with me. I am a fashion girl, right? A fashion student, late registered but in attendance. I turned to the runway to find pieces of my wardrobe and to see how I could offer them a life redeemed.
Research is what I did— I do. Research and real-time application. I dutifully search through a designer’s archives or catch a collection at its release. I digest the images and find myself in the waistband of Dries Van Noten, or in the denim of Ralph Lauren, or the stockings of Jean Paul Gaultier. Sometimes I sense my color palette in Miu Miu. It is a research practice, really. A form of education and self-actualization. When I retreat to my studies, rather than some widely seen image on Pinterest or the globally circulated influencer du jour, I take a step closer to myself. My imagination switches on, self-fulfilled. My curiosity manifests my desire. I use what I have to create what I want—studied, honest, authentic. I embrace what I own, without leaning into consumerism to get me to where I think I should be.
The main benefit of this style of exploration is acceptance. As I embrace all of my pieces, the goodness, and the unfiled edges, I caress them with gentle polish, sanding away old shame or the little voice of comparative doubt, my style evolves, folds inside out, and becomes mine again. And my clothes, worn with repeated love, focused care, and inquisitiveness, become more mine, similar to the way that my eyes are mine, or my nose is mine, or my fingerprints are mine. Then, without self-reproach, I can recontextualize the same pair of pants through the lens of a collection from 1992 or 2018, or 2026, utilizing my wardrobe to its final fibers.
RTR 01
A scarf around the waist area.
A light colored trench + something underneath.
A layered knee-high + a white shirt
Ralph Lauren is like America’s Chanel
And New York Chanel for a New New Yorker
Miu Miu Daddy
And as always, una cancion para ti (a song for you)
Hasta Luego <3
xoxo
Sal
Uughhhh you are so fab! I love this so much because its art it’s real cultivation. Lately I’ve gone back to old magazine editorials and letting other things non related to fashion inspire me. So so good!
Sal. I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! This echoes so many thoughts that I have. And yes to "late registered but in attendance."