Willow’s World

Pre-pandemic Willow was exceedingly average in her sense of style. I did make an effort to dress well, but I ran into the small problem that I did not own many pieces of clothing that I actually enjoyed wearing. A lot of what I owned was handed down to me by my older sister, whose style was very different to mine, or purchased during the lovely developmental years of junior high. Needless to say, the pandemic was the kick in the behind I needed to upgrade my personal style. 

 

A few blogs ago I wrote about my favorite Youtubers. They have been a source of inspiration in both finding my personal style and convincing me to dive into the world of thrifting. I highly recommend thrifting over traditional retail shopping for many reasons. Thrifting is affordable, sustainable, and differentiates one from the sea of other people wearing the same sweater from Brandy Melville. I began thrifting in the spring of last year, at an event called Illinois Vintage Fest. 100+ vendors gathered in a muddy field in the middle of New Lenox and sold wannabe hipster teenagers like me vintage clothing. 

 

That event kickstarted my self-labeled style upgrade. Over the past year, I have realized that attempting to adhere perfectly to trends is exhausting and costly. What I find works best for me is to cherry-pick elements from popular trends and make them my own. This is the method I have used to solidify my closet staples. 

 

My first closet staple is bandannas, which started out as a bit of a happy accident. The cool Pinterest girls of the internet inspired me to take the plunge and try out my hand at styling them. I absolutely loved them. Other than their superb functionality on bad hair days, they are basically another accessory I can use to give some visual interest to my outfit. I have received SO many compliments on them too. My personal favorite bandanna experience though is definitely the number of different names people have called them. From head scarf, head wrap, doily, and head napkin, bandannas have both shielded my greasy hair from the world and given me a chuckle. 

My second closet staple is corduroy. Again influenced by the Pinterest algorithm, I caved in and bought my first pair of corduroy pants at the opening of a new vintage store. They were purple AND flared, I couldn’t say no, obviously. Thus, my corduroy obsession began. Corduroy in itself is a trendy fabric, but the larger “funky pant” movement has really carried the pants into a new era. No longer are just jeans, sweats, and leggings the norm. Corduroy is both a more comfortable and interesting option to good old blue jeans and looks just as put together. Since the purple pair, I have acquired 3 new cords in all different colors. My closet has never been more colorful, and I love it. 

Years ago when the only shopping I did was at normal stores, I was often scared to try out new colors because I didn’t want to feel like I wasted my money if I bought a forty or fifty dollar item and never wore it because I didn’t like the color. Thrifting allowed me to try out new colors without worrying about wasting my money. I began incorporating green into my wardrobe because it was trendy and I thought it would go with a lot of my existing pieces. Green has become a new core color in my closet, I am never looking back! 

Looking back at freshman year me admiring all the cool outfits the seniors were wearing, I think she would be proud 🙂 

 

Tik-Tok has been all the rage in the past 2 years. I resisted downloading the app at first because I feared I would be sucked into a deep dark hole of Tik-Tok addiction, especially during the early days of the pandemic. After lengthy soul-searching, I have come to the conclusion that I simply prefer long-form content. Instead of Tik-Tok, I spend a lot of my time on the internet immersed in the world of Youtube. Today I present to you my guide to the platform. 

Fashion Commentary 

If I am in the mood to watch half-hour-long videos of people critiquing the latest haute couture runway shows and red carpet looks, analyzing trends, and more I can always count on these channels to deliver.

• Haute Le Mode is my favorite channel to watch for reviews about runway shows and celebrity fashion. If you want to feel like you are “in the know” about all things fashion, this is the channel I recommend. The brutally honest reviews are also highly entertaining. 

• Mina Le is the channel I always turn to for reviews of the costuming in the newest TV shows and movies. Oftentimes costuming in Hollywood gets pushed to the wayside, Mina’s channel perfectly highlights all the work that gets put into creating costumes that enhance world-building and character development. 

• ModernGurlz provides really insightful opinions about trends, the evolution of fashion in film & TV, and iconic fashion moments throughout history. 
• MAIAZINE is a relatively new channel, run by a super cool 18-year-old named Maia who had recently revived this channel. I first found it through a video interviewing FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) students about their outfits. She has tons of other cool content though, and her editing is fantastic!

Fashion Girlies 

When I was trying to put a label on this category, I struggled. Obviously, fashion Youtube channels are not exclusive to just women, but I find that the majority of channels devoted to personal style and fashion are run by women. Unlike the previous category, these channels deal more with individual fashion. From styling guides, to come thrift with me videos and hauls, these channels have a much more “big sister giving you fashion advice” kind of vibe. 

• Alexa Sunshine83, like the handle might suggest, is a beaming ray of sunshine and a youtube veteran. Alexa has a really strong focus on second-hand fashion, so her channel is amazing for all types of content about thrifting, how to style thrifted pieces, and  (my personal favorite) thrift store mystery box videos. 

• Kaiti Yoo a recently graduated Brown student blew up on the fashion Youtube scene about 2 years ago during the pandemic with her “What different college majors would wear if they had proper sleep & decent fashion sense” video. These types of videos have become a hallmark on her channel as well as styling videos as responses to common complaints in fashion such as “it is impossible to dress warm & cute”. 

• Bestdressed aka Ashley is one of the giants of the fashion community. Known for her personality, styling videos, and apartment makeovers, Ashley quickly became an idol to high school and college students, all while being in college herself. She is easily my favorite Channel on youtube. 

• Laini Ozark is a new find for me but from her lookbooks, styling guides, and chatty sit-down videos, I became a quick subscriber. 

DIY Clothing

DIY has gotten a bad wrap on the internet for being poorly constructed garments made by middle schoolers wanting to at-home tye-dye their dad’s old T-shirt. While that kind of content did have its moment in the sun, the DIY youtube channels that are gaining popularity now focus on creating more sophisticated projects. 

• Micarah Tewers technically falls into this category, as she does create her own clothing, but the running joke behind her entire channel is that her projects are so advanced that most people watch her videos more so for her personality and to see the final product. 

• Jenna Phipps blurs the line between the DIY category and the Fashion Girlies category because she does a little bit of both! Jenna posts thrift with me videos, as well as tutorials of her sewing her own wedding dress, and knitting tons of different projects. Recently, she has had a strong focus on knitting, which inspired me to start knitting, and now I love it! 

• Withwendy is a super cool channel focusing on sewing projects, which, unlike Micarah, are actually meant to be followed. Wendy recently had a baby, so she has been making a lot of really interesting content sewing clothes which cater to this stage of her life, such as breastfeeding-friendly dresses. 

Internet/Pop Culture Commentary

Tik-Tok has led to the rise of discourse on important issues, especially in the spheres of influence culture, fast fashion, etc. These channels dive into issues that gain a lot of traction on Tik-Tok, to the point where they have become the topic of polarizing debates. 

• Tiffany Ferg knows how to make a video. Most well known for her “Internet Analysis” series, she takes a deep dive (40 minute long videos deep) about all types of trends, problems, and more, by really unpacking how things came to be, and what kind of implications they have on society. 

Lifestyle 

The lifestyle sector on Youtube has been through a dizzying amount of reinventions, which I won’t even begin to explain. Ultimately, the types of lifestyle content that I like to watch are people just documenting their everyday lives. The people that I regularly watch simply have cool lives and cool editing styles and that is why I watch them.

• Elena Taber is a young New Yorker who prior to the pandemic focused her channel very heavily on travel, which to me is a whole other niche on Youtube. During the pandemic, she pivoted the focus of her channel to document her life in New York, which brought forth my favorite series on her channel entitled “Beyond Your Block” where she explores the different neighborhoods of NYC, with people who live there.

• Nayna Florence is a student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. I started watching her videos about a year ago when I thought that I wanted to go there, and watching Nayna’s videos was essentially me living vicariously through her. Her channel is super chill and I still love watching her Edinburgh entries. 

• Damon Dominique is the person I want to be when I grow up. He originally got his start on Youtube through a shared travel channel called “Damon and Jo”. As things go, the friendship fell apart a little bit, and Damon started his own channel, documenting his life in Paris, traveling to NYC, Venice, etc, and chatting about life with his friends. He is seriously cool, and if I could recommend any video of his, it would definitely be the pilot episode he posted for a TV show he hopes to one day host called “Around the World in 80 Dates”

I was going to make this all one blog post, but I have another full page of channels I would like to talk about, and a 3,000-word blog post seems a bit excessive. So I’m going to stop here. Part 2 is to come. Like, comment, subscribe, and hit the notification bell if you haven’t already 🙂

 

 

A meditation on finding the balance between preserving an individual sense of culture and assimilating into western standards of living, Adrienne Su’s poem “After The Dinner Party”  employs a humble pair of chopsticks to embody the tension the speaker feels in these warring ideals. 

In the opening stanza of the poem, the speaker describes “napkins, corks, and non-compostables” being discarded. With the title of the poem in mind, the reader is likely meant to envision the end of the dinner party, guests cleaning away the corks from wine or champagne bottles, soiled napkins, and other items of no value such as “non-compostables” to be thrown away. In lines 2 and 3, the speaker reveals that her “friends have mistaken [her] everyday chopsticks for disposables”. Here the speaker observes that her friends have misjudged her chopsticks to be of such little value they couldn’t possibly be used on a daily basis. However,  there is no malice in the intention, considering the speaker’s choice to characterize the event as a “mistake”. Yet, this small action creates a divide between the speaker and her friends, who fail to understand the utility of the chopsticks.

By “helpfully” discarding the chopsticks “alongside inedibles: pork bones, shrimp shells, bitter melon,” the speaker’s friends genuinely believe they are aiding the speaker by tossing out the chopsticks among the valueless food scraps. Despite the disposable nature of the chopsticks, they do not fit exactly in either type of garbage: they are not quite fit for the non-compostable trash, (“corks and napkins”) and are not quite fit for the “compostable[s]”. The chopstick’s lack of a concrete place to be discarded may reflect the speaker’s own personal struggle between wanting to please her house guests and feeling a sense of loss for her chopsticks. 

Stanza 3 provides a description of the chopsticks. Similar to their humble purpose and outward appearance, they are plainly described as “off white, wooden, warped from continual washing-no lacquer, no ornament.” The repetition of “no” emphasizes how truly ordinary and forgettable the chopsticks are. Despite this, they continue to be a fixture of the speaker’s routine. The divide between the speaker’s intimate understanding of chopsticks and her friends who mistook them for trash continues in lines 9-11, in which the speaker states “anyone who thinks these chopsticks are disposable doesn’t live with chopsticks in the comfortable way of a favorite robe, oversized, a bit broken”. Here, the speaker draws a parallel to an everyday object more commonly known to the Western world, a bathrobe, to illustrate the reasons for which the speaker uses these chopsticks. These lines serve to demonstrate the sentimental value that certain items carry despite having flaws. The speaker’s object is merely one that is not as well known to her friends, possibly alluding to a larger lack of cultural understanding among the speaker’s friends. 

The end of Stanza three and the opening line of Stanza 4 describe the “thin paper napkins, plastic forks and non-compostable takeout boxes” which are often used to package carry-out food from restaurants. It is likely that the speaker is referring specifically to takeout from an Asian restaurant since another variety of cuisine would be unlikely to include chopsticks in their takeout boxes. Furthermore, a takeout box such as this “constitutes the chopstick’s natural habitat to many I hold dear.” Here, the speaker reveals that the pair of “everyday chopsticks” she uses are reused utensils from these takeout boxes. The people that the speaker holds dear are most likely her family members since these people are very accustomed to chopsticks being provided with their meal. Unlike the speaker’s dinner party guests, the family members of the speaker share the same cultural traditions, and therefore the speaker feels comfortable maintaining “with family or alone” that “chopsticks aren’t disposable”. In fact, the speaker’s family members likely also reuse chopsticks from restaurants.

In the final stanza, the speaker comes to terms with her personal dilemma of choosing between keeping in touch with her culture and assimilating to match the behavior and tendencies of her guests. The speaker wonders if she “can make peace with the loss of utensils when breaking bao with guests”. Bao is a steamed yeast-leavened bun, traditionally filled with pork, and originating in Northern China. They are a Chinese cuisine that is generally well known among people in the West. The speaker shares a dish with her guests that are part of her cultural identity, while still adhering to the mainstream idea of Chinese culture among Westerners. The speaker’s comfortability with losing her pair of chopsticks reveals that she has also made peace with losing a bit of her cultural identity. The speaker will be like her friends, “not digging in the napkins and corks’ ‘, meaning that she will not cherish her chopsticks in the same manner as previously, but instead purposefully choose to dispose of them, like her party guests. This choice perhaps reflects the speaker’s longing to separate herself from her culture and blend in with the mannerisms of her friends.   

The last two lines of the poem present a solution to the speaker’s personal conflict. Instead of keeping a pair of reused chopsticks, or throwing them away completely, “compostable chopsticks are the answer: everyday and disposable”. The italicization of “and” emphasizes the duality of the speaker’s sense of identity. Much like the chopsticks, the speaker does not fall completely into one category or the other. The speaker still feels a strong connection to her heritage (everyday), and still assimilates into western culture (disposable). 

Despite the seemingly mundane premise of the poem, Su expertly references the greater cultural value of an everyday item to create a compelling storyline that explores the dichotomy between an individual’s assimilation and cultural preservation. 

During the pandemic, redecorating interior spaces proved a great way to make the most of time spent at home. While the more ambitious opted for a complete overhaul, my attention turned to my closet doors. Inspired by my lackluster zoom background, the doors became a canvas for an assortment of physical memories and mementos. I am here today to take a deeper dive into the stories behind some of these items. 

Monet, and some more Monet. 

During the summer of 2019, I was lucky enough to take a trip with my family to Paris. The top floor of the Musee d’Orsay is legendary in the art world, housing an impressive collection of impressionist art. The works of Edgar Dégas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet grace its walls alongside Claude Monet widely considered to be the Father of Impressionism. Perusing the gallery, I approached a crowd gathered around a Monet of humble proportions. Two young college students made sketches in small notebooks, and a hipster couple discussed the piece in the manner of an art critic. I loved the delicate poppies and tiny house nestled in among a cluster of trees in the background and wanted a copy. But I must admit that my purchase was largely fueled by the cool, “knower of art” feeling I got when standing amongst the crowd.

So I might be a faker. But it inspired this idea. I’m “developing my taste in art” 🙂 

A year and a half later, when the Art Institute announced their Monet exhibit, I knew I had to go. It was lovely, even though I annoyed my family by spending two hours in the galleries. Alongside Monet’s famous gently hued stacks of wheat, a vibrant depiction of a charming Italian seaside town named “Bordighera” caught my eye. I felt proud that I was pulled to the piece, not because of the people standing around it, but the composition itself. 

A Butterfly in Ohio 

Every year, my family traverses endless miles of corn and cows and visit my family in Columbus. To shake things up in a year deprived of travel, my dad and uncle arranged a stop to Put-In-Bay, an island in Lake Eerie. Think of a Florida retirement community, add twenty bars, and drop the temperature of the water about 10 degrees. That’s Put-in-Bay. Most widely known among Ohio natives as a budget-friendly spring break destination, Put-in-Bay lacks some of the finer cultural destinations of major metropolitans. However, the island does have some redeeming qualities, namely a butterfly house, complete with kitschy island-themed decorations, and butterflies from around the world. I felt bad wasting a glossy brochure I was handed identifying each species. I hauled the brochure all the way home, snipped out the butterflies, and tacked them onto my closet doors. 

Travel & Leisure

By way of some yearly subscription, My father had built up a generous credit to use on magazine subscriptions. It was nearing the end of the year, and the credit operated on a “use it or lose it” basis. Needless to say, the mailbox soon filled up with piles of magazines. Most of them were the type of Magazines exclusively read by nice elderly midwestern folk, and gathering dust on the coffee table of a Dentist’s office. Flipping through the stack one day, I discovered Travel & Leisure. Admittedly, I am not the jet-setting and fabulously wealthy demographic of the Magazine, but I enjoyed immersing myself in the escapism of the international travel articles and accompanying photos. I grew into the habit of cutting photos that I found particularly beautiful or inspiring from the magazine when it came time to recycle the monthly issue. 

Family Legacy 

My maternal grandmother is quite the icon in my family. Hailed for her superb cooking, crafting prowess, (from hand-beaded Christmas ornaments to intricately painted Russian eggs), and artistic abilities. In the process of cleaning out my grandparent’s home after they had both passed away, my mom found an impressive collection of my grandmother’s sketches. There were hundreds, if not thousands, she had done throughout her life, each with a memo printed on the back in her neat handwriting. The one I chose for my closet doors has a memo on the back that reads:“ Ozarks, Dan’s cottage, 1996”. Dan refers to my uncle, and the Ozarks were the destination of a yearly family vacation. I imagine her sitting serenely by the waterfront sketching this drawing. Even though I have no memories of her, being able to look at a piece of her art every day is a nice reminder of the talented artist she was.

NYT Writing Prompt Number 237: Are We Losing the Art of Listening? 

Short Answer? Yes.

As a person who has been told that I have a lot of things to say, I found this prompt particularly compelling among the sea of other thought-provoking prompts. As much as I would like to say that the collective “we” of society have not let go of this crucial facet of conversation-making, of existence in general, (if “we” are really trying to be pretentious), I would be lying to myself if I did.  

Teenagers might be the most guilty of not listening. Growing up in a world of technology has created a landscape of phone addiction. I am not saying that Millennials, Gen X, and beyond have not harbored an affinity for their portable devices, they have, however, generally it is not the centerpiece of their interpersonal lives. My mom doesn’t know how half of the apps on her phone work, and she texts people to arrange times to meet in person. On the other hand, I have arranged the apps on my phone into neat folders of decreasing importance and regularly rely on texting and calling as a primary means of communication. My mom forgets where she puts her phone, and I am never with it, fighting the urge to check it in the middle of a conversation when I hear the buzz of a notification. 

It is socially acceptable to glance down at a phone during the middle of a conversation, expected even of teenagers. While there are occurrences in which notifications might take precedence over real-life conversation, the vast majority of those notifications are of meager importance. The moment someone takes out their phone during a conversation, their attention is diverted. They are no longer listening to the speaker, that is an extremely invalidating feeling. I can personally attest to the disappointment I have felt while talking to someone, pulling out their phone mid-conversation to look at a notification, putting it back, and saying “I’m sorry, what were you saying?” 

When I read this prompt, I immediately thought of a Ted Talk given by Celeste Headlee, a radio journalist, and public speaker. (Watch it here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vskiVDwl4 ) Her talk centered on 10 specific ways to have better, more meaningful conversations. Her most important tip is listening. Humans can interpret more information when they listen versus when they are talking, and thus the easier option is just to speak. In my favorite line of the talk, Headlee explains, “… it takes effort and energy to actually pay attention to someone. But if you can’t do that, you’re not in a conversation. You’re just two people shouting out barely related sentences in the same place.” 

I think that this quote gets to the core of the issue for me. I often fall into the trap of blabbing my head off in order to fill uncomfortable silences. If my blabbing sparks some interesting topic of conversation, I will be thinking about what I want to say next. The moment I do that, I stop listening and have become a person shouting barely related sentences. Such occurrences occur outside the realm of my personal life. One of the most glaring examples of the situation Headlee describes is Socratic seminars. Over the course of my high school career, I have yet to be in a Socratic seminar that feels like an actual conversation. People come in with their list of notes and page numbers and will find a place to insert their pre-prepared statement even if it only vaguely relates to the actual topic of the conversation. As long as it gets them their points they are happy. I fear that this is the trend conversations are steering towards. Less of a marketplace of thoughts and ideas, more of a podium to say your piece. The conversation is the vector of understanding and finding a middle ground. That is something that cannot be lost just because people find listening to take too much effort.