Many years ago I moved from Taiwan to attend college in Boston. To all those around me I exuded excitement, but only I knew how terrified I was. That wide-eyed 17-year-old wanted so bad to achieve her dreams, to make friends and to fit into a new country.
My story starts out like many others, and with time, I hope that who I am and what drives me, will come out in bits and pieces in later entries. Nowadays people can hardly guess I grew up in a foreign country, and have an even harder time believing I experienced culture shock when I first came.
How did I overcome this? 1. Open to criticism, and 2. paid a painful amount of attention to what made me different.
I committed to change my accent, the way I talked, and the way I acted. These were all surface things I was willing to give up. However, when a family friend told me it was time to change my wardrobe, I was offended. Strange right? Seeing that it was the most surface out of all the things.
I didn’t grow up with much of a budget for nice clothes, so what goes into my closet always went through a selective process to express who I am, and to walk with that pride everyday. Some of my pieces are on trend, while others are odd and vintage. I am proud of my collection, the stories that go with the choices, and the sense of personal style that has developed. Still my family friend was right, I had a new home, and I had to figure out how to play nice with my surroundings while not losing ‘me’.
Since then I have grown to incorporate various clothing styles while being weirdly me. I enjoy bringing inspiration from my travels and environment to my wardrobe, so with that I'm here to share my travel inspired fashion choices.