This Time It’s Personal
July 28, 2011 by Arash Mazinani
Filed under All Content, Ladies
It’s frustrating sometimes when you want to write a blog post but you don’t know what to write. I try to seek inspiration and although I do have a post in the pipeline (my trend report) a lack of time to dedicate to such a post has made me put it back. So as I often do, I aired out my frustrations on twitter. I got a response from the awesome Fee from make up savvy to do a post about myself. I know when I did a rare outfit post a while back a lot you requested more, unfortunately I’ve not done any more yet… but I promise I will do soon!
Fee suggested I talked about who I am a bit more, which is a great idea. I have in fact already wrote a mammoth introduction to who I am on my about me page… but it’s hidden away under the like ‘my fashion time line‘. So if you’re looking for a kind of Arash 101 that’s the best place to go. Here’s a little snippet to get you started;
“When I turned 14 I started attending a local youth club with some of my close friends, we used to go hang out, play basketball and eat sweets. I used to be really particular about the clothes I wore, everything had to be branded as I was socialising with girls now, trainers from the market were out, Nikes were in. You could see the influences from basketball and Hip hop in what I wore, everything was baggy, in fact it was just way too big for me and most of stuff I chose were sports brands. But I wanted to look good that was the key thing, I wanted to impress the girls with what I was wearing, I made sure everything I had was always fresh and clean and I was always colour co-ordinated.”
As you’ll find in my fashion time line I worked at Harvey Nichols, first on the ladies shoes department and then later as a personal shopper. It was an awesome experience and really that’s where I developed my fashion knowledge, prior to joining Harvey Nichols I had a vague idea about fashion but wasn’t as interested in it as I am now. In fact I sometimes wonder how I managed to get a job there, I had to ask my sister to name me some trends because I honestly didn’t have a clue. For those of you from the US reading and wondering what is Harvey Nichols, it’s basically a luxury department store, I guess similar to Bloomingdales.
So I guess that’s a little bit more of an insight into who I am… if you want to know any more definitely read my time line or just ask me a question in the comment section. Apology’s again for hijacking the weekly ladies blog post…
Well done, & so nice to read more about you Arash. I love Harvey Nichols!
Sometimes when we need inspiration we tend to make it quite complicated- what better than to write about what we know: ourselves! Seems even in your youth there were bits of fashion and a sense of colour. Stay inspired my friend.
Yeah definitely, you can’t go wrong writing about yourself. I really need to start taking notes though when out and about as I come up with idea that I then forget about.
It’s so interesting that although people often start out with different styles from where they end up, it’s often an interest from teenage years that develops into a real passion for fashion!
I remember rejoicing as I joined 6th form: everything was super matched (nails, dress, handbag) and as short/tight as we could get away with – or else very sporty, or else gothic/rock. Looking back, I could have predicted my friends who share my interest in clothes. It’s similar with music and food, too!
It’s why it’s so important to encourage teenagers to take pride in their passions. The papers hating them all the time is so prejudiced and can only result in some giving up and acting down to their stereotype, rather than aspiring to be stylish, talented etc’.
Interesting what you said about the youth’s acting down to their stereotypes particularly since shortly after you wrote that the streets of England were full of angry youths doing just that!
Loved reading more about you! This was a wonderful post. I know exactly the feeling of wanting to write a post but not knowing quite what to write. I’ve started keeping a little ideas file, and that’s great to help me brainstorm some of my more researched, informational posts, but sometimes I just want to do something a little more off the cuff and that’s where I’m stumped. Writing about yourself is a brilliant idea because, for most people, it’s an easy topic and for the readers it’s certainly of interest!
I love that you got into fashion so spontaneously. I have no idea where my interest came from, I was the anti-fashionable girl growing up. I couldn’t even be bothered to keep my hair brushed! It’s funny where life can take you, you just never know.
I think I’m going to have to join you and start making a note when an idea comes to me.
It’s so great getting to know you a little more! My story is similar — I wasn’t obsessed with fashion like I am now until I started working at Ann Taylor.
Thanks for your comment Stephanie!
Nice to read about your background Arash. It’s funny but I also had hardly any clue about fashion when I started my first job in this sector, and it was in a multibrand indie store, with tons of brands and labels, big ones!, and I had to know them, breathe them essentially. Faked it like a trooper at the start, but then little by little I made fashion my business and now I am so much savvy in that sense than back then, I was just a half-baked cookie!
Harvey Nichols must have been an interesting place to work at, really curious to hear more about that experience
Yeah it certainly was, I learnt a lot about fashion but also retail as well, which was cool and met a fair few interesting characters along the way as well.
No apologies necessary! It’s so nice to learn a little more about you.
You can hijack the ladies’ section anytime. It’s great reading more about you.
xo, f
The House in the Clouds
Thanks Fabienne!
We all get writer’s block! I’ve made a habit of noting ideas down b/c it seems like as I’m walking about my life of course I’m bursting with inspiration but the second I sit down to write something….BLANK!
It was lovely to hear about more about you. I too was swept up in hip hop culture. I used to wear humungo jeans and these midriff tops big door knocker earrings. Oh geeze. LOL. Thank goodness there are no digital images of this.
Ha Ha yeah my sister used to wear the huge door knocker earrings!
Fabulous! I love it when bloggers open up and share about themselves. It helps us understand you better
Thanks for commenting