Seasonal Collections by Consumer (Part I)
I look into my closet and find too many random articles, not enough of something or too much of another item. I look into my refrigerator and find food I am bored of. I need to change it but I cannot do it altogether and very quickly. It took me years to collect the things I have now and for the dishes I can make - it took me years to develop a sense of timing and budget saving skills that I rely on. I cannot get rid of most of them, but what I can do is invest in future purchases to reinvent what I can until I slowly see a new change in my boredom.
Closet: Theme, Location, Key Pieces
Location is in a four seasonal temperate climate with evergreen, deciduous, and vegetation that are typically sandy brown, brown, and green. The grass can be colorful in stem. The birds are camouflaged, mostly, with slight accents of color. A bad weather day consists of typically grey thunderstorms, snowstorms, and as of lately, windy days.
Themes are important to me, in my occupation, I am in the presence of teenagers and need to appeal to professionalism and safety. I am also a student in a younger generational career-oriented pace in IT fields. I am beyond the care and attention of priming a youth for adulthood. My mother did not encourage make-up and I withstood it in my 20's to preserve the youthfulness and damage that makeup can have on skin. I am in my late 30's now and still have days that I prime (primer, light powder foundation, slight eye shadow, conditioner mascara). I was also heavier to condition my muscles as an athlete regardless of daily activity, this would go up and down, depending on the occupational role. I recommend taking this route if you plan on coasting in your later years - don't fret on being fat, take advantage of the shape to contort style, user-friendly product research for age, technique in grooming, and the ability to recover! Youth is recovery from trial and error, use it before you realize it.
I was a sweater and jeans with Nike shoes and stayed in the athletic department much too long to admire. I became a liar in style, but the mentality remained. Key pieces during this time range on the type of lifestyle you lead. I recommend transitioning into professionalism and staying in college (no breaks)! You will be busy, so the relax look usually works here.
What I want now, going into my 40's is a career-oriented appeal that is layered for two different looks throughout the day without going home. I still enjoy working out and find gym spaces in my search through big buildings, employment, and leisurely pleasure. If I could get rid of a sweater and put on a spare set of walking shoes to enjoy it, that would be all I need in my trunk space. Yes, I recommend packing extra clothes, emergency kits, and cash in the vehicle for those moments - especially when you do it frequently.
Key Pieces:
1. A Sweater that can transition into a wrap or tucked shoulder look in a shrug style wrap.
2. A hat that won't fall off in windy days.
3. Leggings that pull higher up, mid waistline with a secure knit spandex. Transitional color, not black.
4. Jewelry I can wear differently per ensemble. A thin necklace into a wrapped bracelet or a cross-shoulder/cross-body accent.
5. Booties for shoes. I can walk in these any day, as long as they are comfortable enough.
6. An extra long t-shirt or a dress shirt. Not cotton. Solid color. I pin these in different places to contort the shape of it for a different look. It works on skirts too.
Diet:
I recommend purchasing an e-book or a hard copy book of recipes. The current cookbook I am going through is from Chef Ramsay. He did a book on his stunts with marathon prepping, conditioning, race day and after. I could relate and have bad muscle cramps and habits that develop during these. He has pointers on dishes that are surprising, affordable, and new. It is called "Gordon Ramsay's Healthy, Lean & Fit." I have been slowly building the pantry for the dishes in ingredients. Dry first and then when ready, plan for the meat to be fresh. **It is a difficult thing to keep meat in the freezer, if I could recommend this to my younger self - stay away from putting meat in the freezer and eat it fresh with purchases day of or near cooking time.**
As for outside purchases, keep it minimal. For those that struggle with that, pick out 2 places and stick with them. There are so many diners, cafes, walk-in dining options that are just as fast with their service. If I could recommend a couple:
1. Bona Fide Juicery - for a young male, perhaps away from home, try the Bone Broth for your cup of coffee in the morning. It also helps seal your stomach in, according to recent studies on gas, bloating, stomach cramping in both male and females. Average budget here if you like to spend is one item per visit. The quality is very good, vegan shop products (grass-fed, organic, etc.) so limit what you can do so you can support more days of the week. [Time management can be an issue to, so if you find very little time to seal the gut, go big on one day.]
2. Put in the search queries "Herbalife Shake Near Me" to check out the flavors and coffee options they provide. It is a filling purchase; you can buy a shake with Herbalife product and be satisfied for 4-6 hours typically. Energy from tea is surprisingly alert without an after effect of grogginess. These can put you in a budget constraint if you don't plan wise. I would suggest 2 to 3 times a week (average is about $10-$13 a visit) if you aren't an Herbalife proactive user. This means, you buy the shakes for home (which can also save you money) and follow a routine with product for actual weight loss results.
3. Authentic Mexican cuisine. The places that offer street tacos, cilantro and meat for tacos type of venues. The health scores here are good but the only thing I find disappointing are the to-go packages. Styrofoam. Eat there when you do dine.
I am still looking for reasonable prices for sample platters that can have a variety of what they serve. I haven't found many and I have been actively looking for a regional place to go to when I feel hungry or buying.
Goals: Find key pieces, keep searching for sample platters, and build pantry to cook dishes from Chef Ramsay.
Spring 2023
I have watched a couple of runway clips from YouTube on the fashion industries latest entries for this upcoming year. It appears to be shape and texture. I was a little disappointed on the shape entrances from a designer who used an insulated support for shape that had a backstory I wouldn't be too fond of. It appeared to be misled. I would have liked to see the inflation occur on the runway. I had a dream that if a model had gracefully fell, purposefully, and the smashed grass/rose bed on a front dress popped open into colorful or pumped-up petals as if to catch grace and grow its poise - draping open and letting the legs be seen while its pumped petals expelled outwards even more so in an activation that aroused the imagination. I would have been impressed then.
Another thing I noticed were strap bags, high steps, and a navy appeal. The location was amazing, atop this maze-like emptied pool that spectators/models sat around. It looked like a gauntlet they would each attempt to see who made it in and out. Amazing description of task for the weather, which appeared to be cold and windy, matching their ensembled threads.
One of the best one's I seen coordinated their model walks, personalities, appearance with their style of dress. It was like custom made suits for each of them with a similar pattern, color, that coordinated the entire show. I enjoyed the walking and models in this event. They could have gone for vintage furniture on the runway, sat down, and continued after some time, randomly. It would have been noteworthy on the emphasis of their personalities being highlighted for show. I could see the rhythmic movements and color guide style on this runway and watched for where it would have been better.
Researching fashion is enjoyable. I get these clips every so often when I am searching for dance routines from ballroom dancers. So elegant. Real dancing is tango in the wild, but ballroom dancing is skillful artists of body and light to attract an audience's emotion to be involved by each seat. I cannot wait to start dancing again. All sizes enjoy it, but we have to remain seated when it is not our turn to steal the show! They have a great opportunity to wear fashionable items that stress many features of a body.
Before you learn more....
Make sure to talk to your religious/spiritual leader on your participation. What you can or cannot do. This may be too intimate. It is still taboo to traditionalists. I would also encourage you to try traditional first before expanding into modern acceptance in public settings. There are cultural differences and normal things to you that may not be normal to them. Dancing is one of these intimate partnerships, even in learning, that need to have lines drawn clearly before you can involve yourself to learn in those environments. I enjoy my style and disregard many external features by being prepared in my own force of nature. Find yours before you research and change. Note the change and come back to it.
Examples of this are: I liked my style of dancing but after watching all of those videos of salsa, I got insecure of my tradition and over-exerted myself into somebody that was rejected or disapproved of. I was not welcome in certain places, and I ended up feeling like a loner in other places, unsafe.
Invent it, find it in your own natural right and region (climate, conditions, environment inspiration) before you learn another. If you came to it before you watched it, were inspired by another, then it is a natural dance you own already. If you learned from a relative, it must be traditional or family customs, that give you that identity. I am referring to your own style, movement, and acceptance of identity with what you can already do.
Do it without listening to music. Do it without watching the video for it. Do it when you are alone. Do it when you want to.
The beautiful components of femininity or masculinity are defined by those who just do what they feel is perfect in those moments. Your mind breaks so many barriers and holds when you search for these new mold-breaking movements. Go into a cleansing of media and perform for your adulthood.
Those that understand what no makeup, no pretty things in youth, no fun, no compliments, no attention, and not enough experience is in life - the more prepared you are to begin these studies. It is also the first claim in a subject undefined currently - in America. That is going beyond diversity (since that means the encounter of another cultural background and custom) into an American definition of modern (not mainstream) person. What would you call this? Try it first.
Good Housekeeping Quotes
Since this is an A/B Test for marketing strategies on types of consumers - This will have an updated post with results and modified summarization of statements in these sections of "Seasonal Collections by Consumer (Part I)" in "Seasonal Collections by Consumer (Part II)."