No Judgement Please

“I’m a fashion merchandising major” I say, “Oh. Interesting.”

       I get it all the time. I sit there in silence as the other person wonders if fashion merchandising is actually a major. Believe it or not, it is. And spoiler alert, its more than just shopping and making each other look pretty. (gasp) I know.  I think it’s about time that I clear a few things up about my fashion major.

       1. My dream job is not to be working at the mall.

       There are so many people out there that think the only thing I can do with a fashion degree is work at the mall. They couldn’t be more wrong. First of all, if all I wanted to do with my life is work retail, I wouldn’t be majoring in anything at all. I’m pretty sure you can get a minimum wage job at the mall with just a high school diploma, if not less.  Paying $30,000 for tuition in order to get a fashion degree doesn’t make any sense if all I wanted to do was just work retail at Macy’s.

           2. My classes are not an easy A.

       Everyone always assumes that all the artsy fartsy majors are easy peasy. Well joke’s on you – it’s not. Let’s see you try and take a Textiles class where you have to learn 75+ fabrics. Oh and that also consists of knowing what they are made of and how they are constructed. And how could I forget that you have to be able to identify them by touch too. Oops. Have fun trying for a 94% in that as well as all your other classes.

           3. I am not a seamstress. I am not a designer.

       Yes, I have to take sewing. And yes, I like it, but we take sewing to be able to identify seams and such. We don’t take sewing so that we can work in a sweatshop in China or Bangladesh after graduation.  Also, if I wanted to become a designer, my major would be fashion design, not fashion merchandising. This girl ain’t good at designing, hence the fashion merchandising.

           4. I don’t have to dress up.

       It’s not like it was signed somewhere that every day I have to dress up for class. Or at least I hope no. If that was the case, I’d be failing my classes right about now.  I dress up because I want to, not because I have to. And even with that, there are more days than I would rather admit that sometimes a sweatshirt and leggings call me. Believe me I’ve answered.

           5. My major isn’t fluff.

       Every time I hear someone say my major is worthless, I want to slap them. (sorry but it’s true) If my major is worthless then take off your jacket. Now your shirt. Don’t forget the pants. Oh those socks? Yeah they got to go too. Now tell me my major is worthless. That’s what I thought. Without me and my fashion majors, those blue jeggings you’re wearing would have never made it through production. Which means you wouldn’t have been able to buy it at Forever 21. Which means you’d be standing here without pants. Think about it.

Well there you have it. Fashion merchandising isn’t some fluff major that the most you can do with it is work at a mall. It’s actually quite more than that.