Around the time I started high school, I figured it was high time I had a pair of rainboots. Now, at this point, I had lived in numerous states where rain was a constant (especially during summer). I had gone through two different hurricanes and several tropical storms in my poor beat up non-waterproof/resistant shoes. I lost at least one pair almost every year and spent a lot of time with cold, wet feet.

Don't turn and look at my parents though. It wasn't their fault. Everytime they asked if I needed or wanted a pair, I had some excuse why I didn't need them. And if you're raising a rather independent kid, then you already know how difficult getting them to do something they don't want to can be. So, they just waited me out on it. Eventually, I did get the hint and decided I wanted a pair. What really changed my mind was when I kept seeing everyone else's rainy day outfits with their little rainboots. As a bit of a fashionista, I needed to be able to do the same.

So I asked for a pair for my birthday and for Christmas, among other things of course.

It was the one item of clothing I was certain they would go for the safe route on. After all, I just needed boots that would keep my feet from getting wet during a storm. Simple enough. I was sure I was going to get a pair of regular black boots. Until the day came and I unwrapped a pair of cherry red rainboots covered in paisley. 

At the time, those boots seemed like the absolute bane of my existence. I was in high school and to be cool at my high school, you wore neutrals unless they were a pair of really expensive basketball shoes. 

Those are my favorite pair of shoes and I have often found myself looking for excuses to wear them. They make me so happy to wear, and I love showing them off because they are one of the few items of clothing in my closet I can say are really me. I was wearing them recently when I started thinking about what led to the development of my own creative voice. I started asking a lot of questions:

How could I look at a pair of seemingly obnoxious boots and piece together other items of clothing I already own to make the boots seem like a part of a whole? Why do these boots make me feel happy when I wear them? Is it the satisfaction of being acknowledged for having something unique that matches my personality? Is it the joy of knowing I created something special and fun? What conversations can grow from just looking at what someone's wearing and asking what inspired it or where they got it from? Do all clothes have stories?

I believe that fashion is one of the many forgotten forms of play seeing as it is so commercialized these days in the teenage and adult worlds. But dress up will always be a great go to game. So that's what this is:

A series exploring the cross-sections between fashion and play. We'll jump into a number of topics from clothing crafts to self-expression through clothing to different ways dress up spans ages and cultures. So stay tuned and keep an eye out for posts with the logo you see above and RPRB in the title!