@blissfoster

My fashion library. The best way to get meaningful information about fashion is through books. I started collecting about 5 years ago and it’s grown a lot. If you’re used to fashion coming to you through your phone, starting into books is really intimidating. I promise it’s worth it. ➖ Instagram is full of unrealistic expectations and humble bragging, so I feel it’s important for me to specify a few things. Firstly, I run a fashion media business, so there’s a tax incentive for me to collect resources like books so I can do my job well. On top of that, I wait and find used books for well below their retail price. And about 40% of these books were gifts. If you’re looking to start a library, ThriftBooks and eBay are great resources. Also the scans on ArchivePDF. And you’d be surprised what you can get a hold of through your local library system. ➖ If you want to get started learning more about clothes and the art of fashion, the last slide is my top recommended titles. ➖ I am an incredibly slow reader. I have, by no means, read every book in the first picture. Here’s the trick. When you’re reading for information, it’s like learning an instrument. You don’t need to learn every individual technique to say “I play the guitar”. You just need to pick out the things that are important to you. I flip through these books to find the things that I want, and then I take time reading those sections multiple times to soak them up. ➖ Again, reading is very challenging for me. I have to force myself to do it. I think my biggest hurdle to reading is insecurity. Whenever I sit down with a book, it’s so challenging that I start to think, “why is everyone else able to do this easily and it’s so hard for me? I’m a grown ass man, why can’t I just read a book?” I don’t have any life hacks for making reading easier but I can tell you that, if you feel the same way, so do I. ➖ If you want more nuanced book recommendations, search “Bliss Foster books“ on YouTube, there’s a few videos where I go into a lot of detail. I also have a Patreon exclusive video where I cover the best fashion biographies. ➖ Don’t let your insecurity defeat you. Go crush it 🦾