I have always loved informing people what it's like to go to school for fashion because it's so interesting. I normally start talking about it when people tell me fashion is a “BS” major. It’s absolutely not to be quite honest. I’m probably not the first or the last fashion major to hear that, but in my little confession list, I wish to educate people on what fashion majors really do and go through.
Confession: There’s a ton of work.
Going in as a design major with sewing and illustration skills to a non-portfolio based school, I thought it was not going to be difficult. I was very wrong. I can honestly confess that I’ve gotten more work in my fashion classes than my General Education classes. For example, last semester I was required to do a 10-page paper on a hat. Yes, a hat. The longest paper I ever wrote in my composition class never exceeded 6 pages. I've come to accept that I will most likely find a second home at the sewing lab, and will spend most nights calling major related friends to form a study group to pass any non-hands on class. But at the end of the day, I learned so much from the tons of work I received over the past semester and a half, and I know I have a boat load of work ahead of me before I finish school.
Confession: The work isn’t the easiest or the safest.
I’ve been told by ignorant people that fashion is easy — it’s not. It’s one of the most time and energy consuming majors there are on my campus. I cannot tell you how many nights there are design majors, including myself, that would stay in the sewing lab from 11 a.m. on a Friday to 5 a.m. on a Saturday, or would spend most of their school nights sewing, draping, working on flat patterns, etc. I know so many merchandising majors who stay up those same hours working on projects for buying and retailing, or working online to create their very own store or studying to make sure they know what they are talking about for a presentation. Some work is tedious like pinning a paper pattern to fabric. It can also be painful like accidentally pricking your finger instead of catching fabric — at some point we get used to it, and it doesn't hurt — and sewing your finger(s). God bless you if you have ever done this. It looks painful.
Confession: Fashion bothers us sometimes.
Don’t get me wrong, I love fashion. However, there are times where certain trends bother us. For example, just the other day my roommate, also a design major, went on a low-key rant on how fake hip front pockets or fake back pockets annoy us. Like, where can I place my hands or my phone?! Certain designers we don’t like take a liking to just certain trends. Just because it’s considered fashion doesn’t mean we always like it just like the rest of the world.
Confession: We hate being stereotyped like most people would.
Yes, I design and sew, but that doesn’t mean that’s all I know and breathe. Just because someone says they’re going into the merchandising concentration doesn’t mean they’re shopaholics. We don’t just breathe fashion. We know other stuff too. We know math and conversions. We know the science of how a fabric is made. We know how to write and make a presentation. We are not stupid. So please next time when you think of stereotyping a fashion major, just don't.
Confession: Our major doesn’t define our future jobs.
Just because I am currently in fashion design doesn’t mean I will be a famous fashion designer for a huge brand name; I could wind up being a textile designer instead! Not all merchandising majors wind up being buyers or store managers. There are so many different jobs out in the world that we could find that has to do with our major but most people would never expect.
Confession: Please don’t tell us how to design.
This is specific to design majors. It may not seem like it, but when people trying to “help” you create a design — just stop. We have an idea of what we want to draw that is up in our minds. We may be currently editing it in our minds, and you don’t realize. If we draw a blank, Pinterest will instantly become our best friend again. It is one thing if we ask a design major on opinions and for critique to make a design better. Honestly, it can hinder our thought process on how we would like to execute a design.
Overall, I hoped by reading this you've understood just a little bit more about what it is like to major in fashion. Quite frankly, this is just the surface of it. There's so much more in this major. It can get crazy. It may be a pain, but we love it in the end after all the stressful nights, the countless times we've poked our fingers with pins and needles and called our classmates in tears about not understanding something in regards to a 10-page paper that our fashion professor wants in it. Confession: No matter how much we say we hate fashion or that we're going to drop out, we, most likely, don't mean it because we are so in love with fashion that it becomes a part of us and without it, we won't know what to do with ourselves. We can't imagine a life without fashion because it has shaped our lives — whether we like to admit it or not.
These are (some of) the confessions of a fashion major.
