simply sydni

    i am in love with us.
  
I have always been in love with us; With the human condition. I am fascinated by the things that make us tick; The burning  type of passion inside that causes our palms to sweat, our hearts to shiver, and our bones to ache. I am always so eager to ask somebody what they love. It is in those seconds when those three words are spoken that time seems to come to a still. You can see the heart race, the eyes widen, and the  vulnerability begins to set in. We tiptoe around this sentence, careful who we share this very fragile part of our selves with.
​     I want to look into eyes flickering with light when they tell me about their very fist love. Hear the crack in their voice when ​they tell me about how it broke their heart. I want to put my hand to their chest and feel where it ripped open, and hear the laughter in which mended the wound. Humans cease to amaze me. How quickly we can fall. How strong we can rise.
​     I just love us. We are messy. We are clumsy. We are fragile. We fumble around, with no direction, trying to find a purpose. We are all just winging it, because there is no instruction manual to this chaotic mess we call life. We have no idea what we are doing, yet somehow everything still seems fall perfectly into place.
​     Humans are misunderstood creatures. Some look like art, and some look like they have been living in a war zone. Some of us will break. Absolutely shatter. Sometimes with no hope left... but there is always someone who comes a-long looking to make stained glass.
​     We are not perfect. We don't always have it all together.
​     We are human. And I am in love with us

When you first hear the word fashion, I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is the idea of ditsy models strutting around in 1,000 dollar clothes.
   I spent my high school years reading out of Vogue magazines and trying to convince my peers and teachers that yes; I can read a fashion magazine and be an intellectual human being; yes fashion is a place for creativity, culture, love, and art to mix; and yes there are articles in these magazines that are more meaninginful than "what to wear to the beach this summer". I strongly believe that fashion is so much more than clothing on a model, or a beautiful window display; yet many still believe that "fashionistas" are shallow, un-educated, and lack understanding for the "bigger issues in the world".
     One argument I hear a-lot is "how many people can actually afford  Haute-Couture? It's just a scam to get people to buy overpriced clothing" to which I respond "how many people can afford a Picasso painting? Not many. Yet there are still millions who go to museums to admire his artwork." Even though many can not afford a Picasso,  people still appreciate his contributions to the art world... especially since  he jumpstarted the cubist movement. Just as his art can be admired, many can look towards the early designs of Coco Chanel and see how themes of empowerment and activity are shown in her designs. My point is... just like art, fashion is a platform for the big issues that are going on in the world. For example Chanel was one of the first designers to push women equality saying that yes!! women can wear pants, and men's hats.
Whether you currently realize it or not, fashion makes an impact on millions of people every single day without them even realizing it. You are constantly being bombarded with images of clothing on instagram, in magazines, on the side of buildings, etc. Each of these articles of clothing are making a statement, some more subtle than others. Take Diors 2017 collection featuring t-shirts with the saying "we should all be feminists". This t-shirt comes in at a hefty 750.00, extremely unreasonable... but it's not about the t-shirt, it's about the statement it's making! Dior has one of the largest platforms in the fashion world. Millions see these campaigns every day, and it's raising awareness about human rights... not the fact that you are not able to afford it.
Fashion is very dynamic, and once you decide to look beyond the mere surface of tweeds, and suedes; you will understand that Fashion is something much more complex. It is an expression of culture, time, and how we evolve as a society through the years. Yes I will admit that sometimes fashion can be used to merely make yourself feel beautiful (and what's wrong with that?), but once you really look past the surface you will be able to understand it's influences, current events, messages, and history.
The next time you are making fun of the fashion industry, please remember that fashion has major impacts in people's lives and our culture as a whole. There is so much more than what meets the runway.

I love sitting in the passenger seat of your car. My hand Pressed to the window, as the vibration of the cars  buzzing past us races through my fingertips.
I love the sound of the radio. How it was so quiet that we couldn't quite make out the lyrics. When all that fills the air is a soft, statiky melody on loop.
I love the warm sunlight that comes through the bug speckled window, cascading over your lips. The sound of small breaths as you quietly try to mouth the words to your favorite song.
I love sitting there with my feet up on the dashboard, watching the world race past in a blur. The cotton candy colored sky stained with patches of orange, and yellow.
I love how the pink glow from the open sign gently tints your freckle kissed skin; as we stand in the empty parking lot of the gas station. The electricity buzzing through the fluorescent lights above us.
I love the tingly, static in the air. The kind that's so faint, you really have to concentrate to notice it.
But most of all, I love the familiar sound of your voice. The way it was trembling as those three small words escaped your lips.

 I'm in love with us.