Fashion Friday: What is Fashion?

Fashion is a vague topic to cover, and I will divide the topic into 6 parts.  We are going to find out the what, who, when, where, and why’s of fashion to have a better understanding as to why it is so popular and influential. I am also going to share how fashion is being approached here in the Philippines. Let’s start from the very basic…

I. WHAT IS “FASHION”?
Fashion is a general term for a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body piercing, or furniture. Fashion refers to a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style with which a person dresses, as well as to prevailing styles in behaviour. Fashion also refers to the newest creations of textile designers. (Source: Wikipedia)
I will define fashion as one’s individual taste in clothing, his own self-expression, and an extension of his character. One can be plain (just t-shirt and jeans) or over-the-top like Tessa Prieto-Valdes with her costumey-taste. There are different fashion styles that I can’t even begin to count as numbers wouldn’t figure. Some examples would be vintage, girly, punk, ghetto and rock. We can mix and match, add accessories, jewelries, pair it with a nice bag and a good pair of shoes and we’re good to go.

There are 3 main categories of fashion. The first one is called “Haute Couture” or high fashion. This category in fashion is custom-made which means the textile is measured exactly to the person wearing the dress. The dressmaker uses expensive fabric and materials that’s why Haute Couture is very expensive. The second category is called “Ready-to-wear” or RTW which is not custom-made but high attention to detail is applied in choosing the cut and fabric. RTW’s are presented during Fashion Week by famous fashion houses. The third category is called “Mass Market” which caters for a wide range of customers. Mass market values quantity over quality so machines are basically used to create a lot of clothes without careful consideration of the cut and fabric and are sold at a very cheap price (like the ones in Divisoria).
Fashion industry is the business of fashion. It satisfies customer demand for apparel under conditions that enable participants in the industry to operate at a profit. 

Here are the 4 levels in fashion industry:
1. Production of raw materials – the source of fibers and textiles as well as leather and fur.
2. Production of fashion goods - either by designers, manufacturers, contractors and others.
3. Retail - the sale of clothing, shoes and accessories as well as services.
4. Advertising and promotion – where fashion models play a vital part.
(Source: Wikipedia)

In the next Fashion Fridays to come, I’m going to share the who, when, where, and why’s of fashion as well as fashion here in the Philippines. I hope you learned something from this article though it’s mostly from Wikipedia. :p I just actually chose the parts that are relevant from different fashion topics in Wikipedia and combined them here so we concentrate on the interesting parts and throw the boring parts. Next Friday is about people in the fashion industry. From level one to four, we are going to find out who is who in the real world of fashion. So, see you next Friday readers! :)

Thingamajig Thursday!!!

ABOUT ME(as of May 23, 2013):


Hi! I'm "Q", I'm a free-time blogger (the term just popped in my head as I was thinking of a more appropriate term other than a 'blogger' who blogs all the time and a 'part-time blogger’ who’s committed to blogging half of the time). :p TEEHEE. Sooo, you can say I blog just whenever I’m free and inspired so I can write honest and quality reviews and experiences. No strings attached. J I’ve been blogging since high school (around 2^nd year in 2006) and have had numerous blogs since the first one. I’d start a blog, and then forget about it. Haha I stumble upon them at times and whenever I do, I’d laugh at all my grammatical errors. Lol I’ve always wanted to write since I was a kid but I never thought of committing to it until it became a powerful tool in advertising and marketing (which by the way, my major is Marketing).

Right now, I have 3 blogs of different subjects so that readers don’t get mixed up. They’re in different hosting sites too so I can compare which one is the easiest to use. My first blog started in 2011 (okay, I started another blog all over again just like all the other blogs I started in high school but this time, I will not forget about it). :p  It’s a personal blog, like a diary or journal where I can dump all my emotions into and some places I’ve been to or is listed in my dream vacations. And oh, it’s still active up to now. (Improving!!!) CHOZ. I named it “my wtvs.” (a name most appropriate for my dumpsite). I’ll do my best to post articles here for Techie Tuesdays, Wandering Wednesdays, and Thingamajig Thursdays. You can find this blog here: http://queeniefly.tumblr.com SHOOT! Disclaimer: this is not my first and only tumblr account but this is the only tumblr account I am using right now. ;)

My second blog is called “Q for Cucumber”. I changed its name after deciding to use its old name “Quintessential Q” for my other blog. This is not my first and only WordPress blog but right now this is the only WordPress blog I’m using and updating. It started just this month when I read a book by Robert Kiyosaki and got extremely inspired that I was able to write a decent article about financial literacy. The purpose of this blog is to raise financial awareness among people who hasn’t realized the value of money and how to multiply it instead of just spending for commercial products and food, paying debts and bills, saving and even to just get by until the next pay day. This blog also serves as an online self-help and motivational tool for people who has ideas but has never decided to put those ideas to something feasible. Here, I will feature entrepreneurs and their success stories, write about money-making ideas, and other inspirational thoughts. Since the name sounds yummy and refreshing (‘cucumber’), I decided to add a little refresher to it and I hope people who landed on my page for this purpose would read something about money matters too. :p Ye, my food reviews would fall under this site as “food” is defined as “any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body” and therefore matches my tag line, “Health and Wealth”. You can check this blog at http://qrfr.wordpress.com …I’ll be updating and posting something new to this blog every Spotlight Saturdays and Savory Sundays when I’m free and inspired (fingers crossed). :p 

The last blog I just started last week (and accidentally signed up for because I wanted to learn about Google AdSense) is about the most common subject we could ever imagine in blogosphere—beauty and fashion. HOORAY!! (at least now you realize I’m a girl) :p To make the common even more common, I’d be posting beauty articles, make-up reviews, services and some fashion articles. But ‘common’ doesn’t mean I’m no different from all the beauty and fashion bloggers. Of course I have my own opinion too that are not biased, honest and read-worthy. I’ll be making tambay on this blog called “Quintessential Q” whenever I can every Make-up Mondays and Fashion Fridays, see it here: http://queeniefly.blogspot.com  

This is another fresh new start for me but I’m hoping to find loyal readers and followers. J LEGGO! xx

In Raising Financial Awareness

AS A SELF-CONSCIOUS, JUST-GRADUATED-FROM-TEENAGE-YEARS YOUNG WOMAN, WE SHOULDN’T ONLY BE AWARE OF HOW WE LOOK PHYSICALLY, HOW TO PUT AND BLEND THE RIGHT MAKE-UP, STYLE OURSELVES OR POST A SELFIE AND THE BEST DUCK FACE YOU COULD EVER POUT ALL OVER THE INTERNET. WE SHOULD ALSO BE FINANCIALLY AWARE OF WHERE OUR ALLOWANCES OR PAYCHECKS GO TO. ARE YOU A ONE DAY MILLIONAIRE SPENDING ALL YOUR MOOLAHS SHOPPING EVERY PAYDAY AND BROKE FOR THE NEXT 15 DAYS? ARE YOU A BREADWINNER PAYING ALL YOUR DEBTS AND BILLS AT HOME WITHOUT ANYTHING EXTRA TO SPEND FOR YOURSELF AND/OR YOUR GIRLFRIEND?  DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE BEEN TOILING AND JUST MAKING ENDS MEET? IT’S LIKE PUTTING OUR HARD EARNED CASH IN A POCKET WITH A HOLE ALL OUR LIVES!

MY FINANCIAL AWARENESS WAS BROUGHT ABOUT BY A BOOK WRITTEN BY ROBERT KIYOSAKI CALLED RICH DAD’S RETIRE YOUNG, RETIRE RICH. IT WAS RECOMMENDED BY A DEAR FRIEND WHEN I AND MY FRIENDS VISITED HER AFTER HER SURGERY. I IMMEDIATELY READ THE FIRST PART OF THE BOOK AS SOON AS SHE HANDED IT TO ME AND I GOT HOOKED! AFTER VISITING HER, SOME OF MY FRIENDS AND I WENT TO BONIFACIO HIGH STREET TO HANG OUT A LITTLE. I COULDN’T GET OVER THE BOOK AND SEARCHED FOR IT IN POWERBOOKS. WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO HOME, I STILL CAN’T RESIST READING THE BOOK AND STAYED IN THE BOOKSTORE TO READ SOME MORE. AT HOME, I DOWNLOADED THE E-BOOK AND FINISHED IT OVERNIGHT! THE BOOK WAS VERY ADDICTIVE AND ENGAGING THAT I CAN’T WAIT TO READ THE NEXT STEP TO GETTING RICH!

WHILE READING THE BOOK RICH DAD’S RETIRE YOUNG, RETIRE RICH, IT MADE ME WRITE A LIST OF THE THINGS I LOVE AND HATE. AND MY LIST GOES LIKE THIS:

LOVES:   

PEACE OF MIND; BEING STRESS-FREE   

ACHIEVING GOALS I’VE SET FOR MYSELF  

BEING PRODUCTIVE

GETTING FIT

TRAVELLING

EATING AND TRYING OUT NEW RESTAURANTS

GOING TO THE MOVIES

MAKE-UP, FASHION, PHOTOGRAPHY

BLOGGING/WRITING

TAKING CARE OF MYSELF

HAVING LOTS OF MONEY

HAVING AN EXTRA INCOME

HATES:

FEARING; WORRYING

NOT MAKING A STEP TO REACH MY GOALS

GETTING BORED; NOTHING TO DO

NOT BEING ABLE TO WORK OUT

NOT BEING ABLE TO TRAVEL

NOT BEING ABLE TO EAT OUT

NOT SEEING A GOOD FILM

NOT BEING INTERESTED IN ANYTHING

BEING LAZY TO WRITE

FORGETTING/NEGLECTING MYSELF

GETTING BROKE

NOT BEING PRODUCTIVE

IT MADE ME REALIZE THE THINGS I REALLY LOVE AND MADE ME WANT TO GET AND DO ALL THOSE THINGS WHILE ALSO REALIZING THAT I HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE SITUATIONS I HATE. IT MADE ME MOVE. AFTER MAKING THAT LIST, I WROTE SOME OF HIS STRONG WORDS TO BE PUT ON MY VISION BOARD SO I CAN SEE IT EVERY DAY. HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS HE SAID IN THE BOOK:

“THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU HAVE IS TO CHALLENGE YOUR OWN SELF-DOUBT AND LAZINESS.”

“IT IS YOUR SELF-DOUBT AND LAZINESS THAT DENY YOU OF THE LIFE YOU WANT.”

“IF YOU WANT TO BE RICH YOU NEED TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GOOD DEBT AND BAD DEBT, GOOD EXPENSES AND BAD EXPENSES, GOOD INCOME AND BAD INCOME, AND GOOD LIABILITIES AND BAD LIABILITIES.”

“IF YOU STOP LEARNING, YOUR MONEY WILL SOON GO TO SOMEONE WHO HAS CONTINUED TO KEEP LEARNING.”

“THE PEOPLE WHO WIN FINANCIALLY ARE THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO DO MORE AND MORE WITH LESS AND LESS, NOT THOSE WHO WANTED TO BE PAID MORE AND MORE FOR DOING LESS AND LESS.”

“WHAT YOU THINK IS REAL IS YOUR REALITY.”

IT JUST HIT ME. THE BOOK MADE ME AWARE OF THE POWER OF LEVERAGE AND IDENTIFIED ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WHY THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE POOR WORK HARDER, WORK YEARS LONGER, STRUGGLE TO PAY OFF DEBT AND PAY MORE IN TAXES IS BECAUSE THEY LACK A VERY IMPORTANT FORM OF LEVERAGE… AND THAT IS THE LEVERAGE OF FINANCIAL EDUCATION.WHAT IS LEVERAGE ANYWAY? WIKIPEDIA DESCRIBES IT AS, IN FINANCE, LEVERAGE IS A GENERAL TERM FOR ANY TECHNIQUE TO MULTIPLY GAINS AND LOSSES. COMMON WAYS TO ATTAIN LEVERAGE ARE BORROWING MONEY, BUYING FIXED ASSETS AND USING DERIVATIVES.IMPORTANT EXAMPLES ARE:

A PUBLIC CORPORATION MAY LEVERAGE ITS EQUITY BY BORROWING MONEY. THE MORE IT BORROWS, THE LESS EQUITY CAPITAL IT NEEDS, SO ANY PROFITS OR LOSSES ARE SHARED AMONG A SMALLER BASE AND ARE PROPORTIONATELY LARGER AS A RESULT.

A BUSINESS ENTITY CAN LEVERAGE ITS REVENUE BY BUYING FIXED ASSETS. THIS WILL INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF FIXED, AS OPPOSED TO VARIABLE, COSTS, MEANING THAT A CHANGE IN REVENUE WILL RESULT IN A LARGER CHANGE IN OPERATING INCOME.

HEDGE FUNDS OFTEN LEVERAGE THEIR ASSETS BY USING DERIVATIVES. A FUND MIGHT GET ANY GAINS OR LOSSES ON $20 MILLION WORTH OF CRUDE OIL BY POSTING $1 MILLION OF CASH AS MARGIN.

ACCORDING TO KIYOSAKI, THERE ARE THREE THINGS WE SHOULD SPEND TIME ACQUIRING IN ORDER TO BECOME RICH. THESE ASSETS ARE REAL ESTATE, PAPER ASSETS, AND BUSINESSES. I TOTALLY AGREE. REAL ESTATE RAISES THEIR VALUE OVER TIME WHILE PAPER ASSETS AND BUSINESSES GROW. I DON’T HAVE TO SPEND ALL MY LIFE WORKING AS AN EMPLOYEE WHEN I MYSELF CAN EMPLOY SOMEONE TO WORK FOR ME AND EVEN EARN MONEY WHILE SLEEPING!

THE BOOK MOVED ME TO BE FINANCIALLY CURIOUS AND CONSCIOUS. IT MADE ME HUNGER FOR FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE. IT MADE ME THINK TWICE OF MY PURCHASES AND THINK EVEN MORE ON HOW TO MULTIPLY MY EARNINGS. THERE ARE A LOT OF WAYS TO MULTIPLY GAIN, WE JUST HAD TO HAVE A CAPITAL AND THAT’S WHERE LEVERAGE COMES IN. THAT IS ALSO THE PART WHERE WE HAD TO CHALLENGE OUR OWN SELF-DOUBT AND LAZINESS.

MY FRIEND FROM AN INVESTMENT COMPANY INVITED ME FOR AN EXPLANATION ON HOW INVESTING WORKS AND HOW YOUR MONEY CAN MULTIPLY WHILE YOU’RE ASLEEP. THIS IS THE START OF MY CONTINUED LEARNING. IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT I AM COMPUTER LITERATE, IT ISN’T ENOUGH TO EVERYONE. WE SHOULD ALL BE FINANCIALLY LITERATE. WE SHOULD ALL CONTINUE TO LEARN. IF YOU WANT TO TAG ALONG, JUST SHOOT ME AN EMAIL! THE TREASURE HUNT GAME IS ON.

-Q.

QUEENIERAFAEL@GMAIL.COM