Alright, I’m torn. I’ll admit it. I can’t tell if everyone still loves velvet. Like, is it weird to still wear? Sometimes I feel a little tone def when it comes to trends being “in” or “out”. What can I say, I’m an anomaly! Anyway, the issue here is I have such worries, and one of them is that velvet is going out of style. That scares me. There’s nothing I love more than a good velvet-y moment. Like today, I’m wearing a long flowy black velvet dress and I feel like a witch. That’s really powerful how just one article of clothing can transform exactly how you feel about yourself, crazy, right? However, as the years have gone on, I’ve seen a distinct decline in velvet. Crushed or not, I don’t want that to happen. Even if I’m single handedly keeping velvet “in”, I’m ok with that. If I have to be the velvet martyr, so be it. I see lots of potential in this special fabric, that I’m just not ready to let it go.
When I first started heavily thrifting in 2017, I always found myself attracted to the velvet pieces! No matter what color, article, shape or size, they were always an eye-grabber. Can’t argue with that. Over my many years thrifting, I’ve found that velvet items have always been a constant within the thrift stores I’ve visited. Perhaps I need to do some more research, but was there a large fashion wave of velvet that recently ended? Is it coming back? Who knows! What I do know is that it’s both fashionable and important to me. I’ll never forget the day, I was at Forever 21 for god knows why, maybe during my senior year of highschool. I was digging through the clearance bin full of shirts, pants, miscellaneous earrings and so much more. I found these knee-high, blue, crushed-velvet, heeled, boots. These, right now would probably be a fashion crime, but at the moment were a relic. I remember they were about 4 sizes too small but I knew I had to have them. Given that it was Forever 21 these boots were no more than ten dollars. I bought em! Something about having such flashy boots just really spoke to my soul.
Later on, I remember I ordered a crazy, poofy-sleeved, blue, crushed-velvet, wrap top off the internet. Now that I brought it up, I wore this top for New Year’s this year. This top is so exquisitely perfect. The thing about velvet, crushed or not, is that it’s a show stopper! It catches the eye like no other. However, it’s not always the most practical to wear. As much as I wanted to wear this extravagant, blue, wrap top it wasn’t always appropriate. If I wore it to school people would surely think that there was some function I was going to after. However, when the moment hits and the occasion calls for something a little more shimmery, it’s velvet’s time to shine. Since 2020 had made me feel like a cow being sucked up into a tornado; when I got to wear this shirt on New Years Eve it felt like I was really starting a new year. A glamorous end to quite a horrifying year.
So, I guess what I’m really saying here is selfish, but, I really want velvet to stay in style. It means so much to me. I know what you are thinking, “Kelly, just because things aren’t necessarily in style doesn’t mean that you can’t wear them?” and I know that! I suppose I just want everyone else to feel as elated as I do when I wear velvet. Also, if anyone reading this is worried that wearing velvet is “too much” or they’re afraid to embrace their inner velvet aura, you must! We all must work together to keep velvet alive and well within fashion today.