WHAT DOES YOUR OUTFIT SAY ABOUT YOU?
Fashionable Asians! is Ricepaper’s very first street fashion series on…fashionable Asians in Vancouver. Unlike any other street fashion blog, however, we seek to find out the deeper meanings behind these fantastic outfits. Is your outfit saying something about your cultural identity, your mood, or the weather? What can we learn through the fashion of trend-trotters walking down the line between one home neighborhood and another across the Pacific?
It was none other than an ordinary day for the RP team, having a serious journalistic meeting at the neighborhood McDonald’s, when a neon blaze near the kiddie corner suddenly caught my eye. Could it be? We had found our second Asian fashionista behind the glass wall of a McDonald’s playground!
An altogether colorful fashion medley.
Name: Rika
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
R: I am actually from the Philippines. I’ve been in Canada for a few years now.
I’m noticing that you have something very colorful going on in your outfit.
R: Yes, my outfit is pretty colorful today [laughter].
You’re definitely tapping into the pastel and floral trends with your style! Please give us a breakdown of your outfit.
R: These shoes are obviously from Toms, and the top and shorts are from Forever XXI. My clothes are usually bargain buys! This shirt actually belongs to my mom… and the backpack is from a store in downtown Vancouver.
What a great mix of new and old. Now I can’t help but be drawn to your awesome ‘do. And your green contacts! And your earrings. Please tell us a bit about them.
R: [Laughter] I got these piercings from when I was following the scene trend. I bleach my hair myself, and my eyes…yes, they’re colored contacts.
How long have you been bleaching your hair?
R: For a pretty long time.
So you’ve bleached your hair blond and are wearing green contact lenses. Do you think that this subscribes to a more “Western” beauty ideal or appeals to a more Filipino aesthetic?
R: I’m not sure. I think that this is more attractive for me, so that’s why I’m going with this look.
I see. Would you wear this exact same outfit if you were on a trip to the Philippines?
R: Sure, why not [laughter].
A closer look at Rika’s style.
Early this summer, florals and pastels enjoyed a big comeback as major trends. And Rika’s outfit did an awesome job of putting them together in a unique and eye-catching way. But in my interview with her, I just got the sense that she was wearing what she was wearing simply because she found it pleasing.
Sometimes I feel like trend-following is way too overrated. When we say that we’re following certain trends, what do we mean? Some people understand it to mean that we are being pulled around by social situations and are subscribing to magazines and celebrities without consulting our own preferences and needs. But I’m on the side that disagrees. Trends can be vehicles that we use to be more confident with our innate aesthetic tastes. And those aesthetic tastes can be completely individual, and have nothing to do with whether we’re less of “this” or more of “that.”
So what are your favorite trends from this season? Hope you’re excited for the next shipment of trends in time for back-to-school (noooooooo!).
Article by Julia Park