Hi there, it's Jo again! I have been so honored to have the opportunity each week to sit down with individuals who help us continue our goal of creating authentic connections with customers and community members. At Clothed In Gold, we hope that we can use fashion as a way to not only empower, but educate and inspire our followers. Staying true to fashion, our guest for this week's Education Monday feature embodies the individual Clothed In Gold strives to provide accessible fashion for. The past couple weeks have been illuminating and extremely educational to our entire staff! Our company has been so fortunate to be connected to individuals who are such strong advocates for the fashion industry and use their platforms to speak about issues deepest to their hearts. This week is a special week in the series.
Today, Clothed In Gold sat down with Jenna Sassenrath. Jenna is my life long friend and biggest support system. She has been the inspiration behind so many projects throughout my life, and Clothed In Gold is no exception. Today, I had the opportunity to have a phone discussion with Jenna about her collegiate career path and how it drastically shifted from her original dream job. I always appreciate Jenna's vulnerability and candor and I hope by reading her journey you will fall just as much in love with her too! When Jenna first moved to our town in 8th grade, I have a vivid memory of her carrying around a sketch book. Jenna wasn't the type to draw portraits, flowers, or random doodles. No, when I met Jenna she was obsessed with designing outfits. When people hear that someone is designing and drawing outfit ideas in the 8th grade, most laugh it off as a silly hobby and don't take these aspirations seriously. They dismiss the art and often don't even take the time of day to appreciate what is being created-- even if it is to appease and encourage a far off dream. But I took the time to look and listen to Jenna's dreams and sketches, and let me tell you they were (and probably still can be) very attainable. She had fully thought out ideas, patterns, designs, pieces, and even swatches of fabrics for each page. I was memorized by someone our age who already was years ahead of everyone else. She had the drive, the talent, and the ambition. I vowed to stay in her corner and always encouraged her to show me new designs as she thought of them. It wasn’t until our recent talk that I asked her what happened to that dream. I mean, in the early years of high school we talked about her attending school in Rhode Island for fashion design and then one day it never came up again. I was so certain that was going to be the path she chose, so I was curious to find out why she didn’t. What I found out was absolutely heartbreaking. My biggest take away from talking with Jenna was that she didn’t see a space in the fashion world for plus size women, so she had to change her dreams. She explained that “For me, design had always been a dream of mine. I still create now, but it’s more of a hobby. What I would’ve given to feel like there was a space for me in design school. But I looked at what was being produced on the runways, the designers featured on TV at the time, and I just felt defeated. I didn’t want to show up with a portfolio of designs created for bodies like mine and be seen as a joke. So I just, you know, changed directions.” I had never taken the time to really think about fashion school and the change that can be started there. As a society, we are always so focused on advocating for change from corporations and retailers, that if the next generation of designers isn’t being taught inclusivity in their design courses, it will be like shouting into an echo chamber. We all want change, but we need to know how to attack it from the source and that source is fashion students. When I expressed this sentiment to Jenna, she laughed. “You know, I guess at the time nobody was pushing for body positivity and inclusivity in stores the way they are now. I never would’ve thought I’d be living in a world where bodies like mine are becoming “mainstreamed” and “appreciated” for just existing. I LOVE that there is becoming more and more fashion for my community and one day I would LOVE to have the opportunity to learn the skills to turn my designs into real life creations.” She continued by saying, “I really do have hope for what is to come. Obviously we have a long way to go, but I recently read this article on Refinery29.com touching on this very topic. I had been struggling for so long with understanding why I could never put into words the choice not to go to design school. This article that I found did that for me and so much more.” I asked her if she ever regretted her design not to go. She told me, “No. I mean, at the time I was super sad my designs wouldn’t get to see actual creation but I am really happy with the path I chose. I still design. I am never going to stop designing. I recently designed my own wedding dress. That is one I KNOW I am going to make happen. It’s such a great outlet for me. I think if I went to design school at the time I would’ve, it would’ve been a space that brought me more pain than joy. Designing is supposed to be about joy. Fashion is supposed to be about joy. I am proud of my fashion and style journey. I am proud of the choices I have made. I like me for me, you know? And that is the greatest thing ever! I asked her if she would design my wedding dress and she said "As if we didn't already do that in middle school. Girl, I have it all ready with swatched and everything. I'll design and you sew. We make a great team that way!" And she was right. She always is. We do make a great team. It is always so refreshing to speak with Jenna. This was just a fragment of the knowledge and wisdom she gave throughout our conversation. Below is the link to the Refinery29 article Jenna mentioned in her story. Stay Golden
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/09/9983304/plus-size-fashion-design-classes-school-problem
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