Global issues regarding culture, society and politics are often debated in heated and strict manners.
But one of Bellaire’s own has taken a less traditional approach to sharing her perspective on these matters.
Senior Ryder Day has experimented with fashion her entire life, which has allowed her to navigate her personal beliefs and views and more recently, her future in this field.
Day grew up in the world of fashion. Her love for the art form started in elementary school, leading her into a great passion that would follow her to the present.
“My grandma was really into fashion,” Day said. “I have been sewing since I was around eight with a machine. I would take classes, and I would make bags and stuff.”
Through her fashion journey, another passion unlocked: design.
“From fifth grade to ninth [and] 10th grade, I just wasn’t into it at all,” Day said. “And then, I don’t really know what happened. I just got more confident in myself, and that kind of came with me being more comfortable expressing my style and my passion.”
Day enjoys exploring the inspiration behind many of her pieces, even after she has completed them. This is because a majority of them reference heavy and controversial conflicts that are incredibly relevant to society today. Several of them include similar themes, such as religious pressure and social expectations, but vary in color scheme and general appearance due to her different interpretations and specific focuses.
“I made this mood board that I really like because it’s about religious guilt, how religion has perpetuated a lot of harmful stereotypes onto women, and heavy expectations for what a woman should do and should look like,” Day said. “It’s a really big, dragging thing for me because I’m personally not religious, but I grew up religious, so it’s impacted the way that I view a lot of things.”
She continued to express her reasoning behind choosing such a profound topic as a basis for her designs, majorly due to her personal connection to the topic. She delved deeper into the dangers women undergo due to religion.
“[Women] get more interested in religion, and they shed more of their unique style, because it’s not as receptive,” Day said. “And then, women are forced into these patriarchal, subservient roles.”
From bright colors to ultrafemininity to a jacket and sweatpants, Day isn’t afraid to try new styles.
“My personal fashion taste has evolved a lot,” Day said. “I’ve always been very opinionated and specific about the fashion that I wear and what I like, even when I was a kid. Then I kind of grew into my style a little more. I started thrifting a lot of stuff. I’ve cultivated a wardrobe over three years, and I got a lot more influenced by more vintage styles and Japanese styles. I’ve kind of taken those but then turned it into my own thing.”
Both her personal wardrobe and the one that she curates for her designs are “incredibly diverse,” including a wide variety of themes and perspectives, but one major difference remains between them.
“[My designs] are usually more avant-garde and high fashion — it’s not something that you would wear out,” Day said. “I used to design a lot more basic stuff, but now I’ve kind of grown into a more ‘out-there’ style, like something that you would only see on a runway.”
Day acknowledges that what fashion design looks like as a hobby versus a career is different.
“My plan is to go and get my bachelor’s in fashion design, and then I’m wanting to go to graduate school for museum studies. I’m going to become either a conservator or a curator for museums, specifically in fashion,” Day said. “If that doesn’t work out, I’m planning on becoming a tailor. I don’t have solid set plans, but I’ll definitely be in a big city somewhere.”
The first step in building her career is going to college. Day hopes to attend Drexel University.
“I have been to Drexel for their pre-college program, and it was amazing,” Day said. “They’ve got an amazing fashion program, and they’ve got one of the biggest fashion archives,” Day said. “I’m applying only out of state — a bunch of schools in New York, mostly, except for Drexel, which is in Philly. I just want to get out of Texas [and] get in an area that’s a lot more fashion-focused.”
Although certain about her passion, Day does have one concern: artificial intelligence, as it is rapidly waning the creative and individualistic aspects of design.
“Urban Outfitters, for example, uses AI for almost every single step of their design process,” Day said. “I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t think AI has a space in fashion, and I don’t agree with it personally.”
Through her career, Day hopes to challenge what people think of fashion.
“My goal is to show people that fashion is art because many people just don’t realize that fashion isn’t just the clothes that you’re wearing,” Day said. “Runway fashion is not made to be bought. I mean, it’s made to be art. Just because it’s not a painting or a sculpture or something like that doesn’t mean that it is not on the same level of artistry and importance as all the other forms.”
Day has had a lot of experience in collaboration in fashion design and offers her wisdom from her encounters with a variety of groups that she’s worked with.
“Something I’ve learned is just learn how to work with other people, because a lot of people think it’s a very solo job, but it’s not, and if you don’t have the social and communication skills, you’re not going to make it anywhere,” Day said. “You also have to make a lot of connections within the industry. If you want to make unique connections, you just can’t be afraid to put yourself out there and work alongside other people.”
Day worked alongside the cast, crew and directors of Red Bird Productions’ A Piece of My Heart early this year and spent weeks overcoming obstacles and challenges along the way, including with her fellow costume crew.
“It was difficult because you can’t really communicate with other people if they’re not willing to communicate with you,” Day said. “So, for A Piece of My Heart, we had a lot of changes very quickly. We went from wanting to buy all of [the uniforms] from a military store to having to go grab them from all of these schools. You just kind of have to be ready for all of that – you don’t have time to complain. You just gotta go and turn it around and do whatever they want you to do.”
Drama teacher Robert Bryce Ballew emphasized Day’s reliability and qualities of a true fashion designer through her position as costume head for Red Bird Productions’ A Piece of My Heart.”
“She got beat up,” Ballew said. “Every plan that we had ended up going out the window. This had to do with cost, with when and what we could acquire, and the way we could acquire it. She was literally a gymnast. She had to bend over backwards all the time.”
Day had some help with managing all that was on her plate during the show. Sophomore and fashion designer-to-be Riley Gribbons took on a lot of responsibility when assisting Day.
“I was kind of an honorary costume crew member. I was originally prop head, which I also really enjoyed, just to tap into something like that a little more creatively,” Gribbons said. “But as far as costuming goes, I would just shadow her and see if she needed something and give my opinion when warranted on accessories or clothing.”
During their time together as crewmates, Gribbons developed an admiration for Day as she was inspired by her personal wardrobe. She especially applauded her ability to recycle clothing.
“It was really interesting to see her so passionate about design and also taking things and changing them into something that may be more of her style,” Gribbons said. “And I think that’s just something that is kind of a virtue, especially now with ‘fast fashion’ being very big.”
Regarding Day’s imminent college and career journey, Ballew offered his advice as an educator in the field. He holds a master’s degree in technical theater amongst others.
“Plan, be flexible, [and] find a place that’s willing to let you grow,” Ballew said.
And according to Ballew, Day is fully capable of all of the above.
