Super Size Me

I can proudly say that I have completed the compact challenge with ease. I will admit I am not the most fashionable guy, nor the most concerned about fashion or my appearance. However, this class has inspired me to get into the fashion scene more so than I have been in the past. Whether this is a positive outcome or not has yet to be decided. I understand that the compact challenge is supposed to fight consumerism, but I am being compelled to redo my wardrobe. However, there is one major problem with this. For a person of my size (and people significantly larger than me), being fashionable can be a sizing nightmare.

I won’t lie, I will get uncomfortable if I go shopping at a mall in a shop like Guess or Pacific Sun because unlike the majority of the people I see shopping and working at these stores, I likely have a waistline and torso twice the size of their own. It is very hard for me to find clothing that fits me well… And when I say “fits me well,” I don’t mean giving me a double XL shirt that looks like an apron on me and calling that a “fit.” I am constantly reminded of my size through the availability of clothing that is consistently too short, too wide, too long, to large, and in general, non-form fitting.

One of the main reasons I stay away from fashion is because it is such an exclusive entity. I don’t need gatekeepers to tell me what I can and cannot wear. I don’t feel like being told I don’t fit the mold because my chest is too wide or my butt is too big. I am my own mold and the rest of you don’t fit me! So why then, should I pretend to care what I look like when shopping for clothes is like trying on 4 fingered gloves. The fashion industry rejects me and people like me. To get clothes that fit me, I have to spend extra money simply because I don’t “fit in.” There needs to be greater integration of sizing and a greater availability of these items. “Plus Size” clothing categories need to be eradicated, and then integrated into regular clothing lines. There is no such thing as “plus size.” To promote this clothing line is to say “you are too fat to be considered by fashion, but here is a clothing line for you anyways so you can feel good about yourself.”

As we find ourselves within an economic recession, clothing retailers are beginning to halt production and sales of “plus size” clothing. According to the New York Post, “Ann Taylor stopped selling plus-size clothes in its stores this spring. It now offers those clothes only online.” If this isn’t the biggest “Fuck You” I’ve ever seen, now people with more voluptuous physiques will be confined to their homes when shopping for clothes, effectively eliminating them from the realm of fashion and the process of trying on clothes and finding the right fits.

I will not cite any sources from the readings because all the readings do is promote this class-based institution, and being a person who perceives himself as a class-less chameleon, there is nothing in the readings that support my views or arguments about fashion for a more diverse world.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06012009/news/nationalnews/stores_ditch_big_size_duds_171902.htm

http://www.anntaylor.com/home.jsp

Jesse Kailahi Blog #6

The Makeover Myth

Taylor Swift's most recent single "You Belong with Me" has a music video that mimicks like half of teen movies from the 80's and 90's: geeky girl with glasses has a makeover before the "big dance" and steals the super hot quarter back from his slutty head-cheerleader girlfriend. (For examples see: She's All That, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, ect.)

Our society tells girls that looks get guys. Not your personality, not your ability to tell a great joke, not your artistic skills: the way you look dictates whether or not you will find love in your life. Now, by college I hope that many of us have had life experience that proves otherwise. But the media and advertising use this concept time and time again. And why? To make you buy stuff, duh! I mean, sure Taylor is getting rid of the glasses, but she has to go out and buy the mascara, hairspray, lipstick, push-up bra, and dress to in order to "transform" herself into someone this jock would actually date. And that's a lot of product (and profit for the companies).

As Kawamura states, fashion occurs when a value is added to clothing (5); but what happens when we believe that the clothing we wear will change our lives? Or, maybe, do we think that all fashions will change our lives?

As we learned in "Designers: The Personification of Fashion", designers play a more important role in creating an image about the person who wear their clothes, rather than in the actual clothing production. Chanel created the image that women who wore her clothes would be more independent, liberated by the shortened hemlines. But were the women liberated before they bought the clothes and therefore identified with the fashion, or did they buy the clothing expecting to be liberated?

We use fashion to non-verbally communicate to the world about our identities. Whether it's wearing ethnic dress to express cultural pride or donning plaid and safety pins to express a rebellion from society, we can communicate through our style. But what we communicate does not always reflect our true selves.

I'd like to use this last blog as a sort of PSA to girls (in this class and everywhere). DO NOT THINK THAT CLOTHES WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER. Yes, there are those girls on campus who dress so freakin cute and they look happy all the time, and gosh darnit, don't you just want to be them? Well, news flash people: They got issues too. And just because they wear cute clothes, doesn't mean they get good grades, or have good friends, or have enough money to buy lunch. Because I bet they don't have money to buy lunch, because they're broke from buying new stuff all the time. And I'd much rather buy food, eat it, and be happy than buy clothes, stress about not having any money, and fall asleep in class because I'm so hungry. I guess that's why I'll never be a model or like "cool". But I do have some good friends, who appreciate me and all my dorky habits, and they don't mind that I don't always shave my legs, or pluck my eyebrows, or wear stupid trendy shit like day glow hot pants. So, just take a moment to remeber that you have a lot going for you besides the way you look; so get that monkey off your back, stop listening to the t.v., and don't buy clothes to make yourself look cooler anymore!

Alison Tanner

Blog #6

Simple Ways to Reduce Consumerism

So here we are at the end of the spring quarter. It was a good 9-10 weeks, and I learned a lot in terms of clothing and fashion. I never knew how much my love for shopping could have a huge impact in my life and the others around me. It's been 6 weeks and I have yet to buy one single unnecessary thing. Although, that's way past the 28 days this compact challenge has stated, it's something I want to continue on. Although, I probably will start going to the mall again, I most likely won't buy as much as I use to in the past. Not to hinder what this challenge is about, the point is, I am now able to have this mindset of not needing so much clothes.

So, I have thought of several ways to save money and not having to consume as much.

As you guys all know, especially with me being part of the Nike group, I am a huge fan of sneakers and shoes. I own several sneakers that go well over $300 each. That said, I think if you're in dyer need of an expensive shoe, go ahead and buy it. However, if you're going to invest so much money on a pair of shoes, after some wear on it, it'll most likely get beat and dirty or rip. My idea is instead of tossing the use to be expensive shoe you bought away, but take it to a shoe repair. I've seen some of the things these shoe repair shops can do, and let me tell you. They can make a shoe you thought you probably couldn't wear anymore, about 60% decent again. And that's better than nothing right? If you're going to invest alot, than treat it like the price you bought it for.

So there's been some study I found that, apparently if you washed your clothes and dry clean it, it deteriorates the clothing So my simple suggestion is instead of dry cleaning, try another method such as wet cleaning. It'll make your clothes alot longer, and you won't have to buy clothes and using the excuse of "because my old clothes are messed up". Another suggestion is if you really want to go shopping, at least go to stores that sell refashioned and reuseable clothes. Since we're all from California here, there's tons of stores that sell these kinds of things in San Francisco such as Still Life, Venus Superstar, etc.

So I know we all have alot of unused clothes we stop wearing. But why throw it away in the trash? Their still made from fabric right? Be creative! Take out those scissors and start cutting up these old clothes you may not be able to wear anymore, and make some accessories or even add-ons to your clothes you do wear. Who cares if celebrities or you've never seen people wore them before. But like Kawamura states "people believe that whatever they are wearing is fashion". So there you go. You be the trend setter, and stop being the trend follower. So you aren't creative enough? Then go to a tailor therapy shop, and take your old clothing there. They can fix almost anything, and their workers are so creative they will make something you think may be ugly, into something you probably pay $100 for.

So these are just a few tips for you guys wanting to try to continue this compact challenge, but at the same time want to stay "fashionable". You don't have to spend $1000 a month to be fashionable. It's all about creativity and utilizing the world around you.

Here are some websites to check out also! So on that note, everyone have a great summer, and remember that less is more. :)

http://budgetstyle.about.com/od/styleessentials/tp/save_money_on_clothes.htm
http://hubpages.com/hub/10-Ways-to-Save-Money-on-Beauty--Fashion

BLOG #6
TUNG VO

http://budgetstyle.about.com/od/styleessentials/tp/save_money_on_clothes.htm
http://hubpages.com/hub/10-Ways-to-Save-Money-on-Beauty--Fashion

Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashion-ology.

http://kodokloncatz.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/fashion_and_earth_yingyang.jpg

Dressing Up to Save!

So I work at the Segundo Dining Commons and have been to the other side of that dish wall, let me tell you, it is not pretty. It should come as no surprise to anyone that people frequently waste food. I do it myself all the time, food gets thrown away before finished or they just rot. I'll confess something here; I know what happens when you leave vegetables (vegetables = yuck) in the storage part of your refridgerator for more than 8 months. Lets just say if it wasn't for my memory, I wouldn't know what it was/used to be. According "Some Statistics on Poverty and Food Wastage In American" by Samana Siddiqi of http://www.soundvision.com/, Americans waste nearly 100 billion pounds of food per year. I think a large part of our waste comes from mindless eating. Food comes so easy to us, so mass produced, that we lose sight of what happens to all of it, despite how many people starve their days away.
That's why I am suggesting for everyone to start dressing up their food. As mentioned in "Toward a History of Appearances" by Phillipe Perrot, "The nineteenth-century bourgeoisie worked out an elaborate system of appearance, which reveals the importance it attached to clothing's signifying role as opposed to its functional role." The French reimagined themselves to a look of refinement, so can your food! I'm not saying you have to buy or learn how to make 5-star quality cuisine, just take your regular food and do something that makes it more unique. This way you appreciate the food more, and eating becomes less function, more emotion.

Janice Lam

Blog #2

Phillippe Perrot. "Introduction," "Toward a History of Appearances."

Siddiqi Samana, "Some Statistics on Poverty and Food Wastage In America" http://www.soundvision.com/info/poor/statistics.asp

Less is More and Influences

So I been thinking about the past couple of months and how our society is going into. The economy has been bad as many of us have known, and it's definitely affected us. Because of this economy, people have been consuming less, and it has shown. Before this compact challenge, (in which I use to go to the mall almost every weekend), the mall would look exactly like this in the picture to the left.

It wasn't like this say a year ago. However, every time I go to the mall now, all I see are SALES, OUT OF BUSINESS, and alot of spaces to walk around the mall, due to the fact that there's rarely anyone anymore. So I pose the question, is this economy helping us consumers? The mentality of Americans have definitely change when it comes to consumption. Findings have shown that people are starting to move on to the trend of "less is more", buy giving away their non used clothing, and any unnecessary stuff they don't use anymore. Garages and work offices are more clean because of this. So in my opinion, this economy is in a sense helping us think about consumption in a way we never thought of before.

With people getting into this mindset of consuming less, it's more than just that. People are living more of a simplistic lifestyle, but minimalizing what they need. People have stated that they aren't trying to live a cheap lifestyle, but it's more that they realize what are "needs" and "wants". Because of this economy, people are now realizing and are able to distinguish this. Who knows, maybe having a bad economy now and then, can change alot of our mentality about consumerism, and we can get use to it even when the economy is back to normal, and still consume less.

So on to another topic that has caught my attention. Last week we watch Hip Hop Immortals, and it has got me thinking. Our young generation are so influenced by these celebrities and stars, and it has affected how we dress, and what we buy. If you think about it, what we wear reflects what these celebrities have worn already. If you saw your favorite artist wearing a clothing you like, most likely you'll go out of your way to the mall and buy a very similar style like them. We as consumers are imitators. Like Kawamura states in her book, "consumers are perceived as fashion victims who imitate fashion leaders" So I want to challenge the celebrities to be more green, hence making their fans be like them. You don't think, if say a very popular celebrity sported Eco-friendly clothing, alot of people like us won't start doing the same? I think it's up to the high uper echelon class to start this movement, if we want our world to be a better place and environment to live in. Even after finishing our research paper, I found that celebrities have so much influence on us. The reason why we buy Nike shoes is because guys like LeBron and Kobe advertise it, and it's a must have thing. However, if someone like Kobe Bryant were to start wearing ecofriendly shoes, wouldn't we all follow him? So although, I don't have a solution for this, I just thought it was maybe something interesting to point out. However, I don't think we can persuade celebrities to push for this, when why should they care? They make millions of dollars, and consumption doesn't affect them at all.

In conclusion, I like to wrap about that, sometimes having everything isn't everything. The way I look at it, the more simplier you are the better the person you are because you aren't a victim of consumption. When you realize this, you'll see how much extra money you save and that bank statement increasing dramatically. It's a very good feeling.

TUNG VO
BLOG #5

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/work/farewell-consumerism/article1162091/
Hip Hop Immortals Video
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/be-ecochic-green-fashion-week-460908
Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashion-ology.

The End of the Class, But Not Eco-Friendliness

As the quarter comes to a close, along with the academic year, the compact challenge ends. I suppose there is no academic obligation to this challenge anymore, although Professor Valverde did say at the beginning of the quarter we did not have to do the challenge – merely think about the impact of eco-friendly living on our lives and our expenditures. I tried my best to fulfill the criteria of this challenge, and change my fashion spending habits. I did not succeed 100%, but I think that overall I did pretty well and changed my spending habits a great deal. Philippe Perrot’s articles addressing the history of dress noted that particular societies dressed a certain way “because of certain values and constraints, such as custom, taste, and propriety” (Perrot, I really feel like this challenge has impacted me, and I will forever be more aware of eco-friendly and eco-friendlier consumer choices. I am glad that I could take something like this away from a class and apply it to the rest of my life.


Summer is coming up fast, and when the leases for everyone’s apartments expire, people will be moving into new places. I will be moving into a new townhouse with several of my friends, and for the first time in college I will be having my own room. I find that I haven’t been particularly decorative with my current room or my past rooms; I just put up some posters here and there and some picture frames. But for some reason, since next year will be my last year, and I will have a room to call my own, I want to really make it my own: add some pizzazz and really make it pretty and livable. Since this quarter has inspired me in an eco-friendly way, I thought, “Why not look at some eco-friendly decorating tips?” There are many websites and articles dedicated to this type of decorating. On the HGTV and the greenyourdecor sites, there are a lot of suggestions for ways to have eco-friendly decorations. On the greenyourdecor site in particular, there is also a list of the best online stores to buy green decorating items. I really like seeing all these ideas in one spot. While I might not be able to buy all of these exact things, as they can run on the pricier side, I am hoping that, with time, I can find some more college budget-friendly ideas.


Christine Vo
Blog 6

Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashion-ology.

Perrot, Philippe. “Introduction,” “Toward a History of Appearances,” and “Clothing’s Old and New Regimes.”

Images:
http://www.greenyourdecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/top10-vivaterra.png
http://img.hgtv.com/HGTV/2008/05/16/GH08-eco-friendly-kitchen_lg.jpg