​     Ahhh, the seventies - the decade of the Martial Law, the Beatles break-up, and the birth of the expression “cool beans”.  It was a fascinating time to be alive in, considering the wonderful explosion of expression that happened during this time. The complexity of the decade will never be complete without the crazy fashion statements courageously donned by the kids of this time. Bell bottoms were at its widest, leisure suits looked very fancy, and the beautiful “Farah Fawcett” hair crowned the heads of many women, who, most probably have spent hours perfecting that feathery blow-out. This week, Reinvent helps you wear the decade to school. We trust that y’all would look blazin’ 4-sho !!!

✿Bea Ticsay✿
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collages were created using polyvore.com​

​     When we’re out for a day of splurging, we’re often stumbled with one serious question: Where should I shop today?  We most likely have a mental list of stores to go to and a subconscious order with which we plan to visit these stores. We hold on to our favorite brands like how we hold on to the handle of roller coasters when the ride is just about to begin. We feel a sense of security, a sense of familiarity because we know our brands already. What’s the deal with brand consciousness anyways?

​    Brand names toggle the way we live in each day. We are bombarded with TV commercials and billboards showing how a certain product works better when a famous name is attached to it. Our fashion choices are often affected by our preference for Brand X over Brand Z. In actuality, we pay extra for a brand’s name because a lot of times, impressions of luxury are attached to it. Brands are status symbols meant to portray that your means can afford a certain way of living. Even if two products evidently portray the same quality, you would tend to pay more for a product that is more known in a specific field. You could say that it is a capitalist mechanism to garner more profit. It is in brand names that a specific lifestyle is established so that a certain group of people will patronize them. Excellent marketing further enhances this. Let’s put the ‘sports” lifestyle at the forefront for example. We can snap an automatic list of brands that cater to people who are inclined to this kind of living – whether it may be leisure sports or professional sports. Moreover, brands develop niches that identify a certain subculture. Punk subcultures could be associated with Vivienne Westwood or the style savvy youth may be linked to stores like Topshop or Forever 21, for instance.

​​     But in being brand conscious, one tends to lose hold on the value of utility and on a product’s capacity to perform a certain job. As consumers, our main purpose in buying items is to look for products that cater to our needs. We are responsible consumers if we prioritize our search on a product’s usefulness rather than being oblivious to it. After all, it isn’t the brand name that does the job of meeting of our needs - it’s the product actual utility.

​     ​We close doors when we are inclined to being brand conscious. In fact, at some degree, we tend to be lazy when we trust too much on a specific product. We give up the effort to explore new brands that might pour out better and cheaper service than our go-to source. There will always be a variety of products in the market. As New Girl puts it, it’s always good to “dip our toes in the pool of possibilities”.
Ultimately, brand consciousness may come as a boon or a bane depending on what angle you look. At the end of the day however, brands are but names and clothes are but clothes – we wear them all the same way.

✿Bea✿​
source of header photo 1 |

I am obsessed with collars. It all started when Miu Miu, back in its Spring 2010 collection, released these très chic collars with prints of birds, dogs, and cats on them. But really, my love was all heightened when the coolest girl alive - Tavi Gevinson - started wearing them. The beautiful part of collars is that they add impact to one's clothing in the subtlest of ways. Here's a look through some significant collars throughout history as seen through the lenses of the contemporary fashion scene!

     Obsessions can be good or bad but most of the time, they can make a TV show or movie character very memorable. They not only make the character interesting and three-dimensional, but they also make their style very distinctive. Whether you want to be the following obsessed characters for Halloween or you just want to incorporate their style into your everyday looks, we got you covered with these outfit inspirations!
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      Sharpay may have been obsessed with herself and getting what she wanted (and she wanted it all) but we can’t help admire her cute outfits. Metallics, gold, and sparkles were her thing so show off your Wildcat spirit or step out in an outfit that screams, “Look at me! Don’t I look fabulous?!” with these ensembles. 
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     ​Are you addicted with dogs or all things black and white? Then why not take inspiration from this classic Disney character! Just make sure your fur is fake and your animal print is synthetic!
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     ​Helga’s love for Arnold was funny, creepy, and kind of relatable all at the same time. But her cartoon uniform might just be the perfect Halloween costume or date night outfit! If you’re usually in monochrome, well then step out of your comfort zone by wearing this bright color combo.  
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     ​The aforementioned character’s obsessions are fairly unhealthy but I think Elle’s fixation with winning and reaching her goals is something we should somehow emulate. Never let a boy get in your way of graduating from school? Sounds like good advice to me. But that’s not the only thing we should admire about her because just look at her smart and chic sense of style!
 
- Victoria Urrutia
collages made using polyvore.com

​     The whole business of fashion is a complicated one. I’m not separating fashion as some idea that is so alienated from any other form of business like food perhaps, but there is a whole sphere that fashion has to deal with that affects the way the industry moves – and that has to do with the idea of imitation. Imitation comes in different forms and in different degrees. It could go as simple as going along the lines of being “inspired” yet it could even go as far as copying or mimicking the entirety of a certain garment. Whether or not imitation comes in the severest or slightest of forms, it can be argued that it is necessary for the survival of fashion, as in trends. It can also be argued that, although there is a need for it, imitation may jeopardize the creative integrity of designers and clothing creators. To elaborate…

     ​I remember when Celine released its Spring 2014 collection, Pheobe Philo created these beautiful brush strokes on her garments.  The fashion community was literally captivated by how she made those prints work against her minimalist palette that a few months later the biggest brands in fast fashion were already making copies of those prints on different garment silhouettes.  A little beyond this time frame, bazaars were already selling shirts with this print for a cheap, cheap price – barely a quarter of the price I could imagine for Philo’s actual garment. Interestingly, Philo’s resort 2013 collection was kept a secret for a time and we could only guess that this mass-mimicking phenomenon might have to do with it. Here’s the deal with imitation: it destroys the opportunity for designers to reap the rewards of their creation. This does not only mean monetary rewards, but the honor of having the entire world know that such a person was responsible for such an idea. I could only imagine just how painful it is to see your work being worn by someone, yet that someone is not even aware that you’ve spent months conceptualizing even just a portion of the whole thing. 
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​     Imitation in the form of inspiration is a key to the development of fashion. When designers decide to imitate certain parts of another designer’s collection, one could see a sort of growth in a particular trend. Trends are necessary in fashion because it drives consumerism, hence profit. When trends are being developed, niches in fashion are created. Remember when normcore was all the rage; people went all out in dressing in their most “I give zero cares about what im wearing right now and im judging all for you for even placing effort on what you’re wearing” ensemble. When the trend slowly died, there were a few who stood by it. These few were able to identify themselves as wearing this certain style movement. Therefore; in a way, they were able to establish their own niche in our wonderful fashion ~world~.
Moreover, imitation makes fashion accessible to all classes. Rich people are not the only ones given the capacity to own the most beautiful Valentino shoes. Imitated goods allow those who could barely afford the actual garment to buy cheaper ones that fit their budget. Imitation allows people to look fashionable without breaking their wallets.

​Imitation is as morally right as one might think it so. At the end of the day, our perception of copying one’s work and letting others copy our own creative outputs rely on what we stand for. Do we make fashion for profit? for creative honor? or for the democratization of fashion goods and the dissemination of fashion trends?

✿Bea Ticsay✿

click photo for source