Why I Started a Fashion Blog (aka My Fashion Journey Thus Far) — Fearfully & Wonderfully Jo

SURPRISE!!! I have a fashion blog now!! This has been a long time coming now, and I honestly still can’t believe this is happening. The process it took to get here was very bumpy, and that was because of the voices in my head and my own insecurities/doubts, which was also tied to my insecurities/doubts about pursuing fashion as a vocational possibility. Sooooo imma just walk you through the thoughts that I wrestled with in my head as I began developing my passion for fashion (we love a good rhyme!!).

My interest in fashion + clothing began pretty early on in my life, which, in my opinion, was quite natural for a girly girl like me. I feel like many gals can think back to a time when they played dress up, donning poofy dresses and glittery tiaras. I definitely engaged in my fair share of “dress-up” and I even remember making my little brother dress up with me (Though I did get reprimanded pretty badly for putting him in heels yikes). But I loved being able to wear these beautiful outfits and I loved the confidence it gave me. It was as though putting on these pieces also gave me permission to put on a new persona. After I surpassed the age where dressing up was acceptable, I felt like I had lost my excuse to wear beautiful clothing.

In middle school, my idea of “style” came from what my friends wore or what was popular at the time (regrettably I did hop on the Aeropostale shirt bandwagon). I call that time period my fashion dark days because I honestly couldn't tell you if I genuinely enjoyed wearing those pieces or if I just enjoyed the attention I was getting because of the pieces.

It wasn’t until the middle of high school, I think, that I started developing my personal style. Or at least, becoming aware of it. I couldn’t tell ya exactly what changed (maybe it was starting a Pinterest account??), but something did, and I started to really explore what I liked and what I thought was stylish. It didn’t matter anymore whether or not my outfits were “trendy” or “accepted” by my peers. The only things that started to matter to me were modesty, comfort, and style (by my own definition ofc).

Going to college really accelerated my fashion “journey.” I actually enjoyed dressing up and styling my outfits everyday, even if I was only going to class that day. I found joy in planning all my outfits for the entire week and also figuring out various ways to style different pieces in my closet (the possibilities are actually endless). But at that point, it was still only something I considered as a hobby, nothing more than that. In fact, I didn’t allow myself to think of it as anything more than that, especially because of my identity as a Christian.

I knew of no one in my life who was Christian AND involved in the fashion industry, so I always assumed that was an “off-limits” area. Plus, I could think of so many Christian values that would clash with my interest in fashion. I had always been taught that my contentment and joy should come from my relationship with God. On the other hand, I always viewed fashion as a world where people really emphasized looking good and chasing after the next hot trends, in other words, everything that was opposite of Christianity. I had extreme difficulty reconciling my faith and fashion. Ugh but I just couldn’t shake the image from my head of how cool it would be if I could make fashion my career!

Sooooo I started researching to see if there was anyone out there who had successfully managed to be a Christian and a fashionista at the same time. And there was!! I found a couple Christian fashion bloggers who had written about the ways they merged their faith with fashion. I even purchased a copy of one of their books that centered around my exact struggle (this book right HERE if anyone’s curious!). Slowly, I began to be convinced that there was so much more to fashion than just the superficial. There are actually so many ways and reasons that faith and fashion can coexist! (I’m planning on making a post in the near future about the specific reasons why they CAN coexist).

There were some other events and people that reassured me that it’s ok to pursue fashion as a Christian. But for sake of length, imma just link another one of my blog posts HERE that’ll explain that more in-depth.

Once I felt I was ready to earnestly pursue fashion, I joined an on-campus org called University Fashion Group and also a textiles class called Apparel Event Production (basically an extension of the org) and that’s when all the opportunities came flooding in. The cool thing about this org is that they’re in charge of producing the annual student-run UT fashion show, and it’s a HUUUUGE production, and it’s something I absolutely LOVE being a part of! I was able to meet so many AMAZING people through the org/class and I was exposed to so many different aspects of fashion that I never knew even existed before. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to fit in because everyone in the org is so fuhreaking cool!!! But I can honestly say that I feel so at home and I feel so embraced by this community, which is something that pleasantly surprised me and it’s a major reason why I’m still pursuing fashion. (If any of y’all are reading this, A MILLION TIMES THANK YOU <3)

That brings me to the here and now! And to this fashion blog!! I guess I wanted to start this for three main reasons:

1. As an encouragement to express myself more often via the art medium of fashion. I can only hope to grow and learn as I dare to try new things.

2. To keep myself accountable. As I delve deeper into the world of fashion, I know that I’ll be tempted along the way to prioritize my fashion over my faith. But I never want that to happen, so I’m using this blog as a reminder to myself to always stay rooted in God’s truth, because it’s only by His grace that I’m even able to enjoy fashion.

3. To encourage others to look for ways that their passions can coexist with their faith. If you are also interested in fashion, hello fellow fashionista!! But even if your interest lies elsewhere, I hope this blog will be an encouragement to you and I hope that it teaches you a few things about how you can pursue your passions while also pursuing God’s will for your life.

Not gonna lie, it’s been a lonely process. Not having someone in my life who has been down this road before and who can tell me the exact steps I need to take as a Christian fashionista has been hard. It has forced me to rely on my gut instinct (holla @ my dood the Holy Spirit) when making decisions and it has forced me to be bold in those decisions, trusting that God can redeem any decision I make. But it’s also been an extremely fulfilling process. I’ve learned so much about just letting God take the reigns. I honestly still have no clue what I’m doing or where I’m going or even the direction this blog will go. But as long as God opens doors for me, I’m willing to step through and wait for His direction.

That being said, I’m not sure what this blog will look like. Very likely a lot of my posts in this blog will not be explicitly related to faith, and I’ve learned to be ok with that! It might evolve to include some beauty and lifestyle content, it might not, I don’t know. But at the end of the day, if I’m able to be an encouragement through this blog, and if I’m able to reflect my identity in Christ through this blog, then I’ll consider this a blog well done.

I hope you’ll join me and grow with me as I continue my fashion journey!!

MUCH LOVE ALWAYS,

~jo