Style Struggles of a Student

As I'm sat here in my University room, locked up away from the mind-numbingly cold weather outside (big up Storm Emma) and wondering what to do with my time now that Uni has been closed due this unforeseen polar climate (YES, all my assignments are done!!!), I have decided that now is the time to splash my 3am thoughts onto a page and contemplate on life. It's some deep stuff.

Let's begin.

I have always liked being slightly avant-garde when it comes to my style, I never like to be wearing the same things as others and I like to keep my wardrobe diverse and versatile at all times. I also must admit that I'm a slight hoarder with my clothes, so I have a lot of vintage bits (thanks, Grandma!) and other items that I haven't had the heart to throw out. At the end of the day, history repeats itself and the same goes for trends in the fashion industry. It all comes back around someday. It's not that I turn my nose up at the clothes that seem to appear everywhere, in fact, it's the absolute opposite. After all, the high street items are just copies of the trends from catwalks, so they're still genuinely fashionable and credible pieces. I just hate turning up to an event only to find 2 other people are wearing the exact same thing as I am that I bought from Topshop earlier that week. Big no-no.

This being said, the main affair that I wanted to address is the struggle of being a University student but also wanting to express myself through my style. It's a lot harder than it sounds to do these two things simultaneously. When I was in sixth form I dressed in such a way that I absolutely felt myself and that I could therefore be wholly experimental with what I wore. Clothes (and fashion in general) to me, is one of the most powerful yet comforting ways I choose to express myself and it's an aspect of my life that I find very purposeful. Further, fashion is the industry that I have forever dreamt of working in; hence the copious amounts of fashion sketches I have pinned up around my room and the very extra Vogue bits n' pieces I have lying around.

However, since being at Uni I have sadly become more complacent with what I wear, especially because a lot of my time is spent either studying in my room or attending lectures. When I'm in study-mode, it's imperative for me that I'm comfortable, otherwise I just get fidgety and distracted. When I used to come home from school, changing into loungewear/PJ's was the first thing I did the minute my feet stepped through the doorway. Therefore, I spend a lot of my time in baggy jumpers and leggings in order to make myself as comfortable and warm as possible (it goes pretty cold here in Bath). Don't get me wrong, my wardrobe is full to the brim with colourful bits and interesting pieces, however, I never find I really have the opportune chance to wear them. Shame.

I suppose I'm having this 3am rant because I just feel frustrated and like I am stuck in some sort of fashion rut, which I'm finding disappointing. In all fairness to myself, whenever I'm going out anywhere, I do like to be my usual, exploratory self with my outfit choice. Yet on the other side of the coin, I find myself living in leggings and sweatshirts day in and day out in order to remain comfortable, yet I'm left feeling unfulfilled and dare-I-say-it, boring. 

One could say I've had some sort of epiphany and having taken a step back and fully contemplating my comfort, outfit choices and my day-to-day feelings, I now recognise where I may be going wrong and how I can escape this vicious circle of student fashion. As I spend a lot of my time in comfortable, plain clothing to study in, I've made it my mission to invest in some lounge/house wear that actually makes me feel confident and fulfilled in myself. It may sound like I'm being profoundly over-dramatic (#confessionsofateenagedramaqueen), however, I really do believe that making this small change will make me feel less disappointed in myself and more like my usual, creative self.

As I'm reading back on what I've just written, it's given me a great impetus to stop falling into this trap of complacency and to well and truly wave goodbye to this apathy. This post is the written-down equivalent to me shaking myself and pointing a stern finger at my reflection in the mirror and now that it's in black and white and shared onto my blog, I now have ZERO excuses not to realise my epiphany. 

I hope this makes sense and to any of you that may be experiencing the same rut, let's endeavour to get out of it together.

Goodnight.