Personal adornment is not the most important factor in a person, but it can represent a variety of different things to other people. The way I dress is comfortably, but fashionably that also suits my personality. I am pretty aware of fashion itself because I read fashion magazines and I am usually always up to date on fashion senses and fads. From looking at current styles that are “in”, I choose the ones that look the most comfortable and that fit my personality best. My personality makes sure that I am not too open, so that I do not show too much skin and expose myself. I like to keep things to myself and not share my entire life with everyone around me, unless I trust them enough. My parents have always told me respect my body, so that I do not choose the wrong type of clothing that would misinterpret my personality when others are trying to identify who I am exactly as a person. I make this choice of dressing comfortably and wearing clothes that do not show too much skin, because I still have my morals and I promised myself that I will never lose my dignity when I am wearing clothes or doing actions. I choose my attire everyday with pride and I would never regret wearing anything I didn’t want people to see.

There isn’t anything wrong with body piercings or tattoos, but my parents completely disapprove of both of them because they say “you’ll ruin your reputation as an Asian”.  My mother doesn’t let me get any more piercings other than my ears because she says that I’ll have too many holes in my body which is ugly. My best friend also convinced me not to get a belly piercing because she says that when I get pregnant, the hole will stretch and will look ugly. So that influenced my desire to get a body piercing. As for tattoos, I’m really debating whether or not to get a secret tattoo that I will hide from my parents for the rest of my life. My parents say that tattoo ink “dirties my skin” and makes my skin look dirty all the time. My parents don’t really understand the reason to get a tattoo, but I choose to because I could have a very important aspect/time/symbol tattooed into my skin that will stay forever. For example, I was thinking about having a koi fish tattoo because koi represents courage and strength.  I will have that symbol to always remind me to stay strong when things are hard or when I need to have enough courage to do something.

Over the years, I can certainly say that my adornment has changed greatly. When I was in middle school, I did not know how to dress to express, only to impress. During that time, I had always wanted those big branded clothing such as Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, just to fit in with the other girls. But then high school came and then I changed my looks. I started to wear make up on my face and comfortable clothing such as sweaters all the time to make myself feel good and look good. It was a way to make myself less insecure. Now college is here, and the weather is cold. My attire everyday only consists of stylish, but comfortable boots, sweaters/coats and beanies. These types of clothing were in style and were a few of the most comfortable attire that one could wear.

The community also sometimes influences my choices on what to wear. I look around campus while walking to classes and notice what people wear. That is how you can also find out what style you like in different people. I think to myself, “oh, that looks really comfortable” or “that’s a cute outfit” and I follow along with what my peers wear. But some of my friends go to parties and dress with minimal coverage on their skin. I know what is appropriate and what is not, so I choose not to copy what they wear, even if it is in style for parties. But mostly in Eugene, there are many different styles of adornment because most people I see wear clothes to represent their culture and value as a person. People’s attire can mainly be based on their personality, because people usually are representing what they love, such as their culture, sport, and fraternity/sorority. The other sections of the population that adorn themselves have piercings or tattoos. Overall, Eugene has such great diversity.

As I am waiting outside my classroom, waiting for my class to start, I notice a girl who is sitting across from me. She has earphones in and is nodding her head up and down. I’m assuming she’s nodding her head to the rhythm of her music. Her attire is very interesting; She has bright clothes underneath her dark layers. I feel like internally, she is a very bright person, is outgoing and likes to be creative. But the darker colors on the outside represent that she wants people to know she is mellow and composed. It’s either that or she’s trying to keep herself warm from the extremely cold weather. But I also notice that she has paintings/drawings drawn all over the converses. I think she is a very creative and artistic person because the designs on her shoes were very detailed and intricate. Her hair was full of highlights and streaks which looked like she had some glowing personality shining out, just similar to her clothes.

Another person I see sitting next to me in class is a girl wearing a lot of cosmetics on her face. At first, I think she thought of herself as insecure which was why she wore so much make up, but it could just make herself feel better about herself. Then I examined the clothing she wore. It was mainly the clothes that you would see on Vogue magazine or some other fashion magazine. It looked like she dressed to impress people. She looked like she was 21 years of age by the way she dressed in such confidence. When she turned her head, I saw a tattoo on her neck with roman numerals. I think that date could be a very important day that she wants to remember forever, and I respect her for that. I believe her values are that she does not care what others think of her, she does what she feels is right to her, but at the same time, she knows her morals.

Last person I see as I walk home, is a young gentleman who looked like was in a hurry for class. I think he was an international student from Asia because he was speaking in Chinese to another friend beside him. He dressed in adidas clothing, nike shoes, but had a thick frame of glasses. By the way he dressed, I think his attire was to express that he was very comfortable in how he dressed and that he wanted to learn. Like, I feel he doesn’t care about what people think about what he was wearing, as long as he was learning. He was carrying an economics book with him as he walked and started opening it while he walked. I’m guessing he had a test for the class. But this shows that he was very focused in school and took things seriously for academics.