IWA #5: Fashion "Crime"

    
     Back to high school years, I have two different beautiful memories, which I think I might be different from many people. The reason was because I happened to leave Vietnam for United States in the middle of my high school, which was during my sophomore year. And to let you know, high school in Vietnam is counted only sophomores, juniors, and seniors here in the United States, and freshmen here are their last year of middle school. Even it was few years ago, but the memories are still here with me and now I want to talk about the time in Vietnam. Eventually, the situation happened during my tenth grade year, and it was when I was seen as a rebel who committed a “crime” against fashion.
   When I was first in sophomores, I was ordered to dress what called Ao Dai, which is the traditional outfit of Vietnamese people. It was a long white dress from neck down to our feet with white pants. Back to that time, I didn’t like to dress Ao Dai at all because I think it wasn’t neat and convenient for me to run around, to climb the wall, and to play games with boys. However, wearing Ao Dai is the traditional that every Vietnamese girl students have to go through, and to show what a girl is different from a boy. Moreover, it showed the innocence, the neat, and the tradition of my country. Also, girl hair was more likely to be long to show the girly personality, and to keep it neat we whether tight up neatly or straighten it. However, I often went against it in physically look, I cut my hair really short exactly like boy hairstyle because I felt like it was more convenient and neat for me to move around. In addition, I always wanted to be in boy outfits and join the activities that boys do, I often ditched wearing Ao Dai and wear uniform that boys wear everyday, which was the blouse and a pair of blue pants.
    Moreover, I always wanted the rain to happen so that we didn’t need to wear Ao Dai, and those days I can dress normal uniform and be myself because wearing Ao Dai put me in a situation that I am not born for it, such as walking slowly and acting girly. Sometimes I got caught by the teachers of not dressing properly and got kick out of class. However, I felt like doing it was to be myself and to have freedom; therefore, dressing Ao Dai was always my challenge. On the other hand, my parents talked to me and advised me to wear what school made me to because they didn’t want me to get caught and kicked out of school. Also, they wanted me to act girly like other girls at the same age. Although to some people it was a “crime”, to me it’s just the way I expressed myself. People looked at me thinking that I am such a boy in a girl body, and insane at some point, by the way I dressed; however, physical look doesn’t express all of the characteristics of that person. They shouldn’t judge a person by looking at them but getting to know their inside look.

IWA #4: Leslie: Born to give the gift of jams

    “Leslie: Born to give the gift of jams” is the website of Leslie Hall, an oversize white woman wearing tight pink clothes. She’s not afraid of her size, but shows the real her for everybody to see. Moreover, she’s a singer who sings hip-hop songs and dances. She proves that people can have fun even when they own a large size body or not good looking one. They still enjoy dancing and singing. They don’t need to care about what other people think or say. Leslie here represents the large size people who just wants to dance and sing to make their lives more simple and enjoyable. Leslie is a white female who feels confident with her body when she’s dancing although other people look at her with insanity. Therefore, her purpose is showing us that we should think of doing what makes us feel happy first before think of what others think of us because “to the world you’re just somebody but to somebody you’re the world”, meaning that although there are people who don’t like what we’re doing but on the other side a lot of people love it.
    Honestly, Leslie is a model for me in particular because I although not as big as her but I don’t have a gut to stand up and dance or fight with my shyness. However, Leslie is really good at doing that. She’s showing that we can do what others can, as same as dance, she means that just stand up and dance like others. We all are human beings, so we can do what other human beings can even we’re different from the figure to the personal. 
    Leslie sings a lot of songs and has many live shows that are interested a lot of people. I have watched few video clips of her singing and dancing; however, the first video that I want to talk about is “The Tight Pants/Body Rolls”. Although she’s oversized, she’s still wearing tight pants and dancing, twisting, and moving her body like a skinny girl. In this video, she’s standing right in front of the screen with her large body without fears or shyness. She is the one who owns the biggest body in that video but she cares nobody, she shows us right on our face that her body is huge and she still can dance and be a singer, a celebrity.
    The second video is called “How We Go Out Version 2”. The title of the song already tells us part of the song’s main point; it describes how girls hang out, at the club, shopping center, etc. She’s again wearing a pair of tight pants and shiny clothes to make her more noticeable, meaning that she doesn’t cover her overweight body but vice versa make everyone easier to recognize her body. She doesn’t care what other thinks about her; she’s going to the club and a lot of skinny guys surrounded her. She wants to point out that even her body is not looking good, there are still plenty of men chasing her. Moreover, she goes to shopping center dancing and singing. She wants to make sure that that’s how people go out, shop, and go clubbing. Furthermore, going out to her is something really fun and enjoyable, so she brings up nothing but joy and entertainment.
    Overall, Leslie Hall makes us feel that life is all of joy and happiness, so don’t give prominence to others’ opinions. Here, she’s clearly showing us that even her, a white female who owns a large body, not afraid of what people will say behind her back, she still sings and dances the music genre that mostly for the younger generation. She wants to break the rule and be who she is.