I live in a small town in New Zealand called Hastings and for all the years I have lived here, there is one thing that I couldn't help but notice: fashion is a dead art in Hastings. Perhaps it is still alive in the older generation (I doubt it) but it is for sure absolutely murdered in mine and maybe even my parents'. One could blame this on the lack of clothing stores around because there is only so much you can buy from Cotton On and Factorie but for me, that is a cowardly move. Fashion doesn't mean constantly having to revamp your closet and going on shopping sprees each time you have an important event, rather it's the art of picking different styles from what little (or lot) you already have and working from there. Of course, I should be the last one giving advice on containing your inner shopping addict but I recently, I've started to restrict myself whenever I see a sale- not that full price deters me from what I want. 

I Love Hastings, I really do but I'll also be the first one to say that teenagers (mostly) need to realise that they can't wear the same things all year round. Everywhere I go, not matter what time of the year, all that the 15-18 year olds are wearing are jeans-usually ripped-, nike shoes and a graphic tee with a black Kathmandu jacket if it's cold. I understand that that's what 'in' right now; looking like the girl/boy next door but I can guarantee you that the rest of the world has already moved on from the phase and it's time we do too. Yes, we're basically in the middle of nowhere and to make matters worse, our seasons don't match with either Italy, France or America which means we Follow Trends that are literally 'so last season', we're also pretty behind on keeping up with them in the first place. Don't misunderstand my words and think that I'm saying something along the lines of "only follow trends and don't be original" because trends are meant to be a guideline to what looks good that year and since us teens are so obsessed with pleasing others, we might as well use them for their purpose. And can we also break the curse of the monochromatic colours while we're at it? Nowadays, every single teenager I have come across wears either black, white, grey or nude and I'm heavily guilty of doing the same. Sure, these colours go with everything and add to the whole I'm too cool for you vibe, however when you look around and see everyone wearing the same tones, you'll realise how boring it is. Personally, I would love to see some burgundy, royal blue or a dark forest green, especially because it's winter now, I would also love to see teenagers move on from the retro, girl/boy next door look and explore something new like vintage, bohemian, classic and exotic. I feel like I could go and rant on this topic for very long but I'll force myself to stop before I offend more people and instead, carry on with the rest of this look: