When I was in third grade I bought a shirt from Forever 21 that said something along the lines of Fluent In Fashion. Honestly, it was probably a hideous shirt, but it opened up this world for me revolving around the idea of what it would be like to truly be fluent in fashion. So, I created an imaginary blog in the notes app of my Ipad called “Fluent In Fashions” (sounds familiar right?!) where I would write about different outfits and aesthetics based on whatever YouTuber or actor in the shows I was watching at eight years old. Then, just a year later when I was in 4th grade my mom was starting her own businesses which included buying domains and building websites and social media, so she bought me the www.fluentinfashions.com domain and I built out the website, basically if you see some errors or design flaws cut nine year old me some slack! I vividly remember some of the posts from that age when I was obsessed with that “basic girl” 2015 aesthetic. Which, included writing all the time about Ugg boots and Lululemon leggings. Eight years later, today I wore to school mini Ugg boots and flare Lululemon legging. Fashion is a continuous cycle, between 2015 and 2023 I got rid of a pair of flare leggings because they were “ugly” and “outdated” and a year or so later Emma Chamberlin posted a mirror selfie in a pair of you guessed it, flare leggings. Soon after that everyone and their mother was buying those exact Lululemon leggings I had trashed just some time prior, pretty sure black flare leggings have been sold out on their website for the past two years. That single pair of leggings taught me the biggest lesson about fluency in fashion that I’ve learned to this day. Basically, fashion is a continuous cycle (ya sure everyone knows) and trends come and go in the blink of an eye, especially in the age of fast fashion companies. This is why it’s so important to truly reflect and honestly wait a few weeks before you make a purchase, especially a larger purchase that you see in the media because by the next month, everyone will be on to the next thing and that $200 shirt you bought will be “ugly” and at your local Plato’s Closet. Basically, the takeaway from my first blog post in almost 2 years is that if you love the trend and you will wear that trendy item long past its media expiration date you should buy it, but if you’re gonna get rid of it when everyone else moves on to the next thing it’s just not worth it. You don’t need to conform, fashion is SELF EXPRESSION!