Like a Real Adult

With my boards quickly approaching, my mind has been scattered in a million places, so this is your warning in advance that this post is complete mixture of everything.

To honor the fact that I am about to start my 40 hour, salary paid, real adult job, I wanted to show proof that sometimes I dress like a real adult.

Shirt: Cotton On // Pants: Zara // Pumps: Target
I figured since I was just going to a meeting, I would take advantage of actually being able to sit down and wear some sensible heels. Slouchy button up, tapered high waisted pants - this is probably one of my favorite types of work attire.
Anyway, like I mentioned before, I am about to take my boards test (which I need to pass in order to start this real adult job of mine). Due to the immense amount of studying I've been doing, I decided that I am not allowed to participate in certain forums and fashion communities I am apart of. Due to the fact that I can still READ posts but I am not able to COMMENT on them, I've been going a little crazy with opinions that I have nobody to share with but myself. But wait, isn't that what blogs are for? To complain about things without anybody stopping you?

Another warning: angry Asian girl rant is about to unravel.

So while I was studying, I found this cute little Etsy that sold handmade leather shoes. I saw that they were located in Vietnam and got excited. COOL!!!! A Vietnamese girl selling cool things on Etsy!!!!!! THIS IS SO EXCI...hmm what? The shop owner's name doesn't look very Vietnamese..... Needless to say, I was disappointed to click on the bio and see a picture of a blue eyed, blonde haired girl. I also made the mistake of reading her profile and her "inspirational story".

It was pretty much TL;DR so I won't bother copy pasting all of it. In a nutshell though, the owner is trying to find her life through world travel (Eat, Pray, Love style y'all). She thinks it's cool these Vietnamese people can make shoes. She learns how to make shoes from them. Now sells them on Etsy. While living in Vietnam. Oh you know, these poor Vietnamese people had nothing. They taught me a skill that they use to barely survive and now I use this skill (AND THEIR SHOP!) to make money and have a cute little Etsy shop!  Oh, AND I get to sell it for like 10x more than they do!!

"I envisioned myself sitting and making shoes just as they were. Always dreaming of being an artist, I had spent 4 years in college for a Bachelor's in Fine Arts that I had never really made use of. Was this the opportunity I was waiting for?"

Right, you're just like them.

Oh gawd, my face had a permascowl the rest of the day. I admit, the shoes were cute but there's nothing more I hate then a self-congratulatory biography that reeks of privilege while trampling on other people's hardships. It just really hit home with since I still have family in Vietnam living that hard life and it kills me to see it getting exploited in order to have better sales on Etsy.

Every craft maker on Etsy had to learn their skill somewhere, so to me, I thought the whole inspirational, "hardship" story was unnecessary. Cool story bro, but to me, you're just livin' da life while using the supplies and skills of hard working Vietnamese people. It just seemed highly exploitative to use their shop (I mean, she pays to use it I suppose), skills, and trade then glamorize their whole way of living through the outlet of an Etsy shop.

It's a means of living for them.  It's their life.

P.S. I know my fellow contributors have posted a lot more thought-provoking, intelligent, and educational posts, so I'm sorry you get this rant instead.