Weekly Blog Post: The Fashion Disaster That Changed My Life

The Fashion Disaster That Changed My Life by Lauren Myracle

          Have you ever felt left out or out of place? Well, I can tell you I have and it is not a good feeling. This book reaches inside your heart and tells you that sometimes it's okay to be the person that's different. I love this book so much because it's relating and it might be a bit of a cliche, but it teaches you a lesson that everyone is perfect just the way they are. This book taught me the beautiful themes of uniqueness, friendship, and real friendship, insecurity, stereotypes, trust, love, and forgiving and forgetting.

          Alli, the main character, is the girl who's never been popular until the first day of seventh grade, when her mother's underwear is stuck to her pants. It sounds strange, but that's really what makes Alli so different from the others. I like to think of the "others" as people who think of themselves as normal and perfect. The truth is that everyone's crazy and unique in their own way; you just need to find a way to express it. I used to be a shy, shy girl until I realized that who are is who you are and nothing can change that. So what if I don't have gorgeous, designer clothes? So what if I don't put on make-up every single day? Sometimes being yourself is really the key to everything else since you know, being yourself is a part of believing in yourself. Alli shows so much insecurity that you would think that one insult could smash her down like a house of cards, but you can see that Alli is a real girl. The kind of girl that won't fake her feelings towards someone else and the kind of girl that won't act like a jerk just because she can. Alli portrays a girl that has flaws just like the rest of us and she makes me see that there's no point in trying to hide yourself; have no shame in yourself.

            Having friends is such a big deal to everyone and that's why so much so-called friends have such a remote relationship. Alli doesn't know everyone and she doesn't try to know everyone because well, not everyone will be her friend. But Alli does adapt a relationship to the popular girls: Rachel, Mika, and Hadley. When you think of it, being the friends of the popular people is such a great way to get yourself popular. But having a lot of these friends that you can't even share a secret with is frightening and that is why I only want one close relationship, not an innumerable amount of relationships.

          Friendship of course, relates to trust. When you can't trust someone, you probably won't be able to communicate with them in a close way. Learning to trust is part of learning to build relationships and it's just as important as the relationship itself. Alli doesn't even trust her popular friends and that reveals her true feelings about them; she is only friends with them because they're cool and practically famous. Trusting is part of bonding and Alli doesn't seem to realize that. She doesn't exactly take Rachel or Mika for granted, but she can't relate to them. She doesn't have anything to do with them. Would you really want friends like that? Sure, they're the favorites of the school, but a a real friendship is more of a connection with someone. I hate those fake friendships where you don't really even like your friend, but you pretend anyway. It's irritating to know that your friend could flake out on you anytime she wants to. But that's a part of trusting; you either have it or you don't.

          When there are fake friendships, there are real friendships. I've been in dozens of those fake and pretend friendships that I have a hard time trusting anyone. But Alli treats her friends like diamonds and it's all best friends forever until Alli develops a friendship with Rachel, Mika, and Hadley. From then on Alli starts to ignore her best friends Kathy and Megan. Alli turns away from them and it's heart-breaking to see such a beautiful friendship close up in such a harsh way. But Kathy and Megan still end up being there for Alli and that proves how much they love Alli. They actually like her for who she is and they're not afraid to point out her wrongs. That's a the main point in a real friendship; telling each other what's wrong. I've never been that kind of friend and I regret it because that's what real friends do. Accepting each other is part of being friends and it doesn't matter how different they are; just as long as they get along and fight along the way. Why fight in such a real relationship? Because that's what makes it real. Real friends have fights, disagreements, arguments, and maybe even physical fights too. But apologizing and admitting you're wrong is part of a friendship.

          Kathy, Megan, and Alli forgive each other's mistakes and it makes me think of my friend and I. We constantly lash out at each other, constantly irritate each other, but these fights make me think of how if we didn't have them, we wouldn't ever know what was wrong. Nothing really matters until the moment you realize you're doing something wrong. But thinking about fights forever won't help; that's why you forgive and forget. Some people see fights as things you'll never forget and while that's actually true, fights should be forgotten. They happen so next time, it won't happen again. Forget about it and try healing back your friendship; dragging on all the fights you've been through will just arouse your feelings of despise for your friend.

          But I do realize that Kathy is an insulter. She always insults Alli, calling her a wannabe and a chubby girl. I know that maybe Kathy is just trying to point out Alli's flaws, but her insults for her are over the top and really rude. Kathy seems a little insecure to me and although most of the time it's not that big of a deal, sometimes it is and it can be. Kathy appears to be pointing out Alli's problem when she calls her a  wannabe, but she just sounds like she's a mean girl when she calls Alli chubby. This is not the idea of love and friendship; this is just being lowbred to your own friend. Kathy also stereotypes the whole school. That's annoying since there's a clique for that and a clique for this. She doesn't go against it; she seems like she supports it. The idea that revolves around Alli trying to be popular because she's hanging out with popular people is very stereotypical. Maybe Alli just wants more friends. Kathy sounds so jealous of Alli and she evens grab a hold of a bunch of new friends. Sometimes being plain friend is good enough; there's simply no need to try to spice things up. I never ever try to start fights because they always end up being so nasty just like Kathy was acting towards Alli. Fights can be brutal even if they are just trying to tell you you're doing something wrong.

          This book dragged me out of me deepest problems and made me think on a different perspective: How would the other person feel? The story of Alli is a story of friendship and everything that revolves around it. Friends won't be here forever so cherish them while they're here; they deserve it.