It does not matter what you choose to wear, people will always have unnecessary comments to give, whether it is negative or positive so I say just wear what you want. 

Choose what is authentic to you, that is what I did, even if it took me a while to get there.

When I stroll through memory lane and look back at the 13-year-old me who wanted nothing more than to fit in, I think to myself, “Why would I want to blend in when I can stand out?”

Middle school was rough because it was a time when my family was struggling a lot financially. 

Although I tried to never let it bother me I got bullied very often. 

No one else is more critical than middle school girls especially when it comes to fashion. They will pick on you like vultures picking at a carcass. 

Back then brands like Abercrombie were super popular, and don’t get me started with the hoodies stitched with the words Hollister on them. 

I would beg my mom to take me to the mall, but at the time my family had more important things to worry about than some Hollister sweater. 

So instead we would often hit up our local thrift store where you could find clothing brands like Hollister, and a lot more for a much cheaper price. 

I would go through the racks over and over until I could find something trendy.

One day, while thrift shopping I finally found one thing that stood out to me, and of course, I picked it immediately. I will never forget how it looked.

It was a washed-out deep sky blue thin hoodie with buttons stitched onto the sleeves.

The final touch that made it look like a middle school girl-approved fashion choice was the Hollister bird logo at the bottom of the sweater. 

The next day after purchasing it, I knew I would run into the Hollister queen bees at my school. 

Immediately after seeing me in my new sweater, they started questioning why my sweater looked worn out and when I had bought it.

 I started panicking and it felt like I was choking on one of those round colorful hard candies that your mom warns you to stay away from as a kid. 

It felt like those candies were lodged in my throat and I was gasping for air.

So I did what any other 13-year-old kid would do: lie, deny and lie some more. Even though they didn’t deserve an explanation they finally left me alone after I said, “I bought this a long time ago.” 

That day after school I looked at myself in the mirror and I started to despise that sweater.

I wanted to rip it into pieces, but at the same time, the previous owner must have sprinkled some magic on it. 

The magic of standing up for yourself was something I was struggling to do at that moment.

For some reason what happened with the blue sweater left me feeling different than other times that my clothes had been inspected and judged by my middle school bullies. 

As time passed the middle school queen bees got less vicious and I slowly started realizing something.

Why did I care so much?

Deep down inside, I liked the sweater, it felt like it was made for me even if it looked like it went through World War II.

I realized I only cared because the queen bees cared.

So I stopped caring because I realized that I can not control people’s opinions. 

As I got closer to the end of my time at middle school, I would not think twice about saying or stressing over where I got my clothes from.

I proudly wore any washed-out or ripped thrifted clothes. 

I stopped living for others and started living for myself and while it may not sound like a big deal now, it was to my 13-year-old self.

I have grown to like fashion, it doesn’t matter if it is Gucci or thrifted, you can rock anything. 

I have received the most compliments on my thrifted clothes and now thrifting has become a fashion trend.

If someone is bothered by your authenticity like the queen bees were then that is something they are battling within themselves. 

Authenticity is the number one thing no one can take away from you and the queen bees never took it from me.