My flair for clothes

I see myself as an person who is an individualist. I am a person who does not follow the crowd even though I associate myself with many organizations. I know that people that follow the crowd often become followers and do not use their own logic whenever a problem occurs. They share the same mindset with other people without having a will of their own. I find this a problem and that is why I thrive to be in control of myself and all of my decisions.
One of the decisions I have made is about clothing. In an urban area like Cleveland, there are a lot of people who see the influence of the Timberlands, the long white tee, and the expensive jeans that are worn very low for the men and the short skirts, stilettos, and purses of women. In high school, it seemed to me that everyone wanted to rock that style regardless of whether you were a senior or a freshmen. Freshmen would see the stars of the sports team wearing the style and emulate that on a regular basis. When I was in high school, I was never the fashion aficionado but I never followed the crowd and wore something that I could not find stylish or identify with. Do you know what I wore in high school? For my time in high school, I wore khakis five days a week. Khakis were my thing and I rocked them out like how most students rocked out Timberlands. I switched between brand name and non-brand name shirts and I felt comfortable with whatever I wore. There were a couple of people who did not follow the mold of your average dresser, mostly young women who were trying out new styles.
Now that I am in college, I have more of a flair for clothes. Part of the reason is that I wanted to cleanly break away from the image of a long white tee and Timberlands and other fashion styles that became popular in the urban area. The other part of the reason for this is that I did not have a job in high school; now, I am working whether it is for Parker or at Ohio Wesleyan. I have the money and the ability to allocate some time for personal hygiene and to style myself on my own. Like most grade school students, my parents brought most of my clothing whether I thought the clothes were stylish or not. If the clothes were cheap and were of the right season, then those were the clothes I wore. I have a sense of what to wear and what not to wear now. The atmosphere is totally different than in high school. People come from everywhere and their style is influenced by where they came from. It is rare that a group of people on campus are wearing similar clothes. Each person is different and this is symbolized in the clothes they wear.
Over the summer, I did a bit of shopping particularly right after I got done with the work week. I could stop in to all different kinds of stores. One of my favorite stores is Eddie Bauer in Beachwood. There was so many bargains for the clothes that I wanted whether it was pants, shirts, or even socks. I ordered clothing from here about four times during the summer break. I also went to a clothing parlor in Cleveland Heights to buy non-brand name clothes to save some money. I did buy some fancy stuff including a limited edition Ohio State Championship Leather Jacket and a Microfleece jacket with my Greek letters stitched into it. All of these clothing items I have combined into my daily repertoire and I feel very comfortable about the selection I have made in my purchased clothing. I am still developing my taste but now I know that I can mix whatever I see fit for me without any parental involvement or relying on what I wore in my past. I budget my money whenever I have to and order whatever I think will benefit me for now and maybe the future if I want. I always get complemented on my style of clothing nowadays- from my suits to my shoes. People are fascinated by my taste in clothing selection. I am glad for my individuality.




Realizing that clothes really do make the man,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10