VALENTINE’S DAY A

February: a month full of love, cheap decorations, and overpriced candy. Not to mention the immense social pressure to find someone to spend that one over-commercialized holiday about romance with. If you’re alone on Valentine’s Day, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I dare say it is better to be alone on Valentine’s Day. No pressure to be overly romantic, not having to buy candy or flowers, and certainly avoiding crowded restaurants full to the brim with sappy lovers. Here’s some things you could do while single on Valentine’s.

1Host a Pal-entine’s day with your friends! Believe it or not, you’re not the only single person on Valentine’s Day. It may feel like it, but it certainly isn’t the case. While all the happy couples are prancing about, why not take this time to show your friends how much you love and appreciate

Guide To Being Single

LINC LUKE | STAFF WRITER

them. Valentines isn’t only about Romantic love, it can also be about platonic love and familial love. There should be no pressure to be romantic on Valentine’s. In fact, not everyone is interested in romance. Whether you are not interested in a relationship, taking a break, or straight up aromantic, there shouldn’t be any disappointment or guilt about being single on valentine’s day. This Valentine’s, I’m spending it with two of my best friends watching the Sonic movies and eating cookie dough. Showing your friends you love and care about them is important, and what better day to celebrate those close ties than the day of love? 2 Learn about the history of Valentine’s! The history of Valentine’s day is kind of dark. It’s also not romantic at all. It originated from a story of two men who preaching about the Christian religion, which resulted in one of the men being killed on February

14th 269 C.E.. That man’s name was Saint Valentine (one of fourteen Saint Valentine’s who have been documented in history) and he had nothing to do with romance at all. In fact, it wasn’t until a Medieval English Poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, decided that this day ought have something to do with love, wrote a poem about it, that the idea of Valentine’s Day being a romantic celebration stuck. From then on, it was a romantic holiday that large corporations capitalized to make more money. The more you know!

3Finally, you can spend time with yourself. There is nothing wrong with spending time alone. It’s not sad or depressing, nor does it make you weird. Treat yourself! Self-love is one of the absolute most important things in the entire world. Having good self-esteem can improve not only your mental health, but your quality of life. Let me ask you this, how much do you really know about yourself? Don’t you ever want to spend a day getting to know you? Go out on a solo date, try something new, or just do something you love. There is no shame in taking some time to be alone—you may even learn something new about yourself.

There you go! Don’t be afraid to spend Valentine’s Day alone and if you’re not alone on Valentine’s, then that’s great too! Spend the day how you want to spend it. Give the love you can give but don’t forget to keep love for yourself. Happy Valentine’s Day!

After capturing the world’s attention because of her daring look at Schiaparelli’s Paris Fashion Week show, Doja Cat has sparked an onslaught of praise and ridicule for her avant-garde fashion statement. They were dawning an all-red look including a red beaded Schiaparelli dress and red Swarovski crystals that covered her body from head to toe. The fourhour-long process of painting, glittering and bedazzling completely transformed the rapper into a living art piece. While Schiaparelli is known for pushing the boundaries of fashion as a woman-owned brand that seeks to expand the ideas for women’s fashion, the response to Doja’s out-there outfit was surprisingly negative.

Fashion and Style have been used to showcase class, occupation, culture, and creativity throughout time. As time goes on and self-expression with fashion continues to be considered an outlet for the rich, more and more people turn themselves away from clothes as a form of art.

Trends in fashion have begun cycling out at a rapid pace as the public grows increasingly uninterested in dressing for the self and instead focuses on conformity. The eyes of many high-end garments are a symbol of inaccessibility as designer clothes are usually sold at extremely high prices.

When looking for affordable clothes while living in the middle to lower class designer brands aren’t an option. This creates a gap between those who can participate in the world of luxury fashion. While self-expression with clothes and avant-garde pieces can be found outside of designer brands, sacrificing their needs to buy clothes to stand out isn’t a priority for the general public. Although designer clothes primarily showcase class the clothes themselves are thought up by an artist and brought to life. Fashion as a medium of art should receive the same respect and value as any other form. The time and energy that went into constructing the dress that Doja Cat wore alone is similar only to that of a painter’s masterpiece. Starting as an idea, then becoming a sketch and slowly materializing as fabrics are chosen, sewn together and beaded finally coming together as the finished project. Along with the grueling hours of work put in by Pat McGrath’s makeup team to bring the entire look together. It was a statement and as one of the artist’s first appearances during Paris Fashion Week gearing up for award season it was a declaration of her presence.

Most of the criticisms surrounding Doja Cat’s look is how far removed it is from the usual representation of femininity and womanhood. The artist was near unrecog-

BY COLM SIMMONS

nizable in her red attire as her and her team reached into their imaginations and strived to make art which is not necessarily pretty. When it comes to women and fashion in particular the world expects the clothes or look to align with the standards of what they consider beautiful, but not all art is beautiful. Critics claimed that Doja Cat didn’t look like a woman or looked ugly when the artist wasn’t intending to and instead felt inspired to dress outside of the box similar to the goal of the designer she was dressed to see and provide a thoughtful living art piece.

The discussion shouldn’t surround whether or not Doja Cat looks attractive or woman enough in her Schiaparelli gown, instead like other art we should examine how it makes us feel. Clothes don’t stop at wearable objects to protect us from the elements. While they serve that purpose, we can also be free in what we wear and dress with the intent of self expression. As long as we continue to view clothes that don’t fit in with society’s idea of functionality and practicality we are closing ourselves off from a valid art form and outlet for individualism. Doja Cat’s allred look was spectacular and the discussion it caused surrounding the boundaries of fashion will propel us towards a break from trends and a return to the self.