Chapter 1: Watches

 Poster was made on Canva!

(None of these photos are mine)

    When I finally got a sense of my style, I started to get used to the pieces of clothing I liked and what type of style fit me the most. Overall, I’d say my fashion journey is doing okay. Do I have my “dream closet?” No, but I have a better idea of what I want, and I’m slowly working towards that goal. Honestly, I think I’m doing well. I’m carrying myself a bit better, I put more time into my appearance, and now I’m finally wearing what I want to wear. However, there was a problem; I found a lot of my outfits to be a bit bland. Yeah, I could match colors pretty well and find clothes that were comfortable and stylish, but my outfits were still uninteresting. After looking for fashion inspiration online, I realized what the problem was. I lacked accessories. At the end of the day, my outfit was never going to look cool to me because I was just wearing clothes, not accessories. When getting into fashion, you’ll quickly learn that accessories can always elevate an outfit. Accessories can make an outfit slightly bolder, more colorful, stylish, or whatever word you’d like to use. Accessories don’t necessarily make the outfit; they add the finishing touches. Even so, I know not everyone can just buy a bunch of accessories at once, so we’re going to start small. We can build our collection from the ground up, and today, I wanted to start with watches.  

    Now, before we start, I actually used to wear a watch all the time. Through my high school years, I had a Series 3 rose gold Apple Watch that my parents got for me. I would always change the band because when my style changed, the watch did too. However, a year after I graduated, I decided to get an Android phone. So, naturally, I couldn’t use the watch anymore. It’s still sitting on my shelf right now, actually. Now, we could discuss how Apple makes it difficult for people to leave the “ecosystem,” but that’s a conversation for another day. The point is, I missed wearing a watch. A long time had passed before I started thinking about watches again, though, but I think I know what happened. I started getting into fashion - my type of fashion - studying the styles I liked, and seeing how streetwear looked in different eras. During my research, one of the main things I noticed was that people in the 80s and 90s would always have something on their wrist, usually a watch. I mean, streetwear aside, traditional watches used to be popular in every fashion community. Some watches come in various styles, colors, sizes, and bands, each designed for a specific type of person. So, don’t feel like you have to get a watch with a certain style. Find a watch that you like. Also, I’m not saying dress like someone would in the 90s. I’m saying there’s nothing wrong with keeping up older fashion styles. 

    Another thing, watches don’t have to be expensive. You don’t need an expensive watch to “look cool.” I know there are popular brands like Rolex and…okay, I’ll be honest. I don’t know that many brands. My point is, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars for the sake of fashion. The other day, when I went out to buy my first watch, I didn’t plan on spending more than $20. Which ended up working out for me, because I found a nice watch that fit my style and was $11. Places like thrift stores, JCPenney, Walmart, and Depop have super affordable watches that are also nice to wear. There’s no need to be ashamed of affordability; watches are for everyone. 

However, I realized I haven’t actually talked about watches yet, just my history with them. Why should you wear a watch anyway? First of all, and I cannot stress this enough, watches look cool. Look, you can’t tell me that every single watch is ugly. As I mentioned before, there are so many kinds of watches with different colors and styles. I feel everyone is bound to find a watch that fits them. Another thing about watches is that they can elevate your style. Having something on your wrist, such as a watch, can make your outfit more interesting and stylish. Lastly, watches are just useful. Seriously, style aside, it’s convenient to just look at your wrist and know the time. You don’t have to constantly pull out your phone every time someone asks you, “What time is it?” Sometimes you have to reach into your pocket or your bag when you could just look at your wrist. There, less time is spent! Style doesn’t have to only focus on looks; comfort and convenience can also be considered. Also, I know having a watch doesn’t make that big of a difference, but little details like the ones I described can make subtle changes to an outfit. Plus, the more subtle changes you make to an outfit, the more your appearance will become fully elevated. 

    Now, I know I just rambled about watches for a few minutes, but you don’t actually have to wear a watch. Some people don’t even like wearing watches, thinking they’re a bit bulky or don’t look nice. Some people don’t like the way watches feel on their wrists, so I understand there’s a sensory aspect to it. That’s completely fine. My intention in writing this was not to force you to wear a watch anyway. My point in saying all of this was to show that accessories can help upgrade your style a little bit, starting with adding stuff on your wrist. Watches might not be for you, but maybe wristbands, bracelets, or copper bands are. When I was researching accessories in different eras, people in the 90s weren’t just wearing watches; they had a lot of accessories on their wrists. People who are into fashion today still have accessories on their wrists that aren’t watches. However, watches are the most popular, and I recently bought one. So, that’s why I decided to write about them. This journal is mostly for me to document ways that I upgraded my own style, potentially sharing them with others…but my style is not your style. If you feel watches aren’t for you, don’t wear them. Still, I have to admit it was fun to talk about watches. Thank you all for listening! 

- CD ★