REINVENTION: RONNIE

Wedged in between days in the sandpit and biting five-year-olds, was the need for self-expression. Fashion, as a form of non-verbal communication, leads many in their quest to become themselves. There is something to be said about fashion and it's correlation to children. We rejected the "rules" of fashion, unless your parents were dressing you. Reinvention through fashion I find to be alluring, not in the way of causing crime and subsequently changing my identity, but in the power that it possesses. REINVENTION: the action or process through which something is changed so much that it appears to be entirely new.

Reinvention is reserved by society for female popstars to ridicule them for evolving and experimenting. This is our attempt to take away the demonisation. Like most people, the style you have in high school is not the style you have in your adult life. My discussion with Ronnie showcased her thoughts of evolution and her own reinvention.

Q&A

ME: How would you describe your style as a child?

RONNIE: Hmmmmm it’s hard to remember honestly, although I do remember my mum dressing me in a beautiful leopard print faux fur coat. That was STYLE. So I’d say my style has a child was pretty much like most kids, childish. But I did have hints of some awesome clothing pieces. Then when I turned 9, I decided to go to school in all black and wear black lippie, I loved it and despite the comments I got, I found out a lot more about me.

There will always be discomfort when one rejects conformity. The way that a personal style is created is cemented in trial and error. What is clear about Ronnie's style evolution is her desire to try different styles and that is relevant as she experimented through her childhood into teenagedom. Through the journey of this blog post, i became quite enamoured with the notion that we can connect with our past selves through clothing. It's mentioned in Gossip Girl and through my recent delve into Connor Franta's 2017 memoir, Note To Self, where i annotated the phrase, "All of your past incarnations live within you" which was found through an Instagram repost from Tumblr. Despite this revelation and the fact that i feel closer to my younger self, now more than ever, i still felt distant.

Ronnie and I have shared adoration for the 2000s doll line, Bratz, as we too are girls with a passion 4 fashion. THIS prompted the idea of giving my past self a call with, of course, the lip shaped phone. This photoshoot was current Ronnie getting in touch (cue rimshot) with her younger self.

Q&A : DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE DURING THESE FORMATIVE STAGES OF YOUR LIFE

Early primary school: Hmmmm okay well I was thinking about talking about when I was kid, very colourful

Young Teens: young teens, basic, wanting to match ppl on internet.

Late Teens: (now) I have my own style and I like to look at gothic/punk and alt styles.

RONNIE: After leaving my past schools, coming out, meeting new alternative people I learnt a lot more about myself and that prompted me to show who I really am (ofc with your help too hehe). Also to elaborate with being 14 and basic, I loved the “tumblr aesthetic” vibe back then. The American apparel type look and ofc Nike was very popular with school students and idk I just went with it i guess, it’s not that I didn’t like being “basic” sometimes but I always knew I wanted to go much further with my looks and over the years you can see you little changes start to happen whether that be my hair, or lipstick colour. But from a young age I always looked up to gothic styles, especially trad goths. I knew I could do cool things when I’m grown and I did

The discussion of past styles is vital to current style; we've got to start somewhere.

2007: Bratz were the top doll company and both Ronnie and I discovered each other in childcare. I watched her style evolve as we stumbled upon each other at the beginning of high school.

2015: gone were the days of funky outfits that can only be immortalised in Ashley Tisdale's 2000s red carpet looks and platform shoes influenced by bratz dolls detachable feet. It was now all about comfort thus, the trend of athleisure. In amongst this fashion trend, we found each other once more and truly immortalised this trend because in high school, no one wants to be an outcast.

2017-2021: Ronnie left our shared high school after a couple of years but each time i saw her her style changed. In retrospect, like all of us, no matter how different your style becomes, you keep parts from the past. In Ronnie's case; the colour she adored as a child, with the "basic" elements of black but with the overall aesthetic of her current style of gothic/alternative/punk.

SO CALL UP YOUR PAST SELF and you never know what you may uncover. Kisses xx

Thank you loves for reading this immortalisation of my dear friend and fashion inspiration, Ronnie. Follow her on Instagram @barbieclown. I thoroughly enjoyed both watching her evolve and writing this piece in dedication of her.