If you love fashion and have TikTok, chances are you've seen Tanya Ravichandran, aka @ttaanyaa, at some point on your feed. After all, the South Asian influencer has amassed over 1.1 million followers because she's unapologetically herself about everything from her hairstyle down to what she's wearing. Being South Asian and a fashion editor myself, I was instantly intrigued while scrolling through her TikToks. She has an air of confidence about her that's refreshing to see, especially within the South Asian influencer community. Traditionally, South Asian women aren't expected to wear clothes that are too "revealing"; but Tanya's open about her style and deals with haters straight on.
"Life is too short to value other people's opinions over your own."
"Life is too short to value other people's opinions over your own," Tanya told POPSUGAR. "As long as you think you look amazing in what you are wearing, as long as you reject people's opinions of your self-expression, I promise you, confidence will naturally come."
With one look at the 19-year-old's social media accounts, you'll notice that her style is full of Y2K-inspired pieces. "I feel like personal style should be unique and not be following a certain trend. That is why most of the Y2K pieces I wear are usually thrifted. Thrifting helps me find more unique clothes that revolve around my personal style."
Since her outfits are always on point, we had to ask her where exactly she sources her wardrobe from. "I can never stress this enough but, thrifting and buying from online resellers are your best friend! I have found almost all of my unique Y2K finds from thrift stores in Oakland and San Francisco, so I recommend people to go to the closest major city and check out the thrift stores. My favourite seller on Depop is hands down @hidddengems [1]; her clothes are sourced from this boutique that used to exist in the early 2000s, so she sells their deadstock pieces!"
"I can never stress this enough but, thrifting and buying from online resellers are your best friend!
Tanya cites her mother as another constant source of inspiration: "Growing up in the United States in the early 2000s after immigrating from India, my mom fully embraced the Y2K style. There are tons of photos of her that I continuously source my style inspiration from. To this day, although she does not dress completely Y2K, her style is still something to admire."
Clearly, Tanya has a knack for putting together outfits because she's received a ton of support since joining TikTok. "I think that the biggest support from any community I have received has been from the South Asian community," Tanya told POPSUGAR. "I get direct messages on the daily from brown girls who tell me that I have helped them become more confident in their skin tone and expressing their style."
"When we finally have the freedom to express who we are, we start to feel more comfortable in ourselves."
So many people have reached out to her, even tagging videos of themselves dying their hair red because she gave them the courage to be themselves. "It makes me super happy to see tons of South Asian girls being inspired and finally willing to express themselves however they want. When we finally have the freedom to express who we are, we start to feel more comfortable in ourselves regardless of the backlash we may receive, and that is where true confidence can stem from."
Don't be fooled, though — Tanya's confidence wasn't something that came to her very easily. "Growing up, I was constantly bullied for not conforming to feminine beauty standards: I had very short hair, I wore clothes from the boy's section, and I only had friends who were boys," Tanya said. "Now, after I have changed a lot from who I was back then, I am still made fun of for my skin tone, my style being too extra, and just being brown overall. [It's] unfortunate and things need to change, but it is inevitable no matter who you are and what you do. So, if you are going to be criticised and made fun of no matter what you do, why not just be who you are and do things that make you happy?"
"If you are going to be criticized and made fun of no matter what you do, why not just be who you are and do things that make you happy?"
As for how she's manageing to deal with any negativity that may come her way, Tanya has a way she keeps herself grounded to block out the noise. "The media constantly influences how we perceive ourselves and can have a negative influence on the evolution of who we are becoming. To prevent that and to stay authentic, we need time as humans to step away from the social media world and be in tune with who we were before we even started being on these platforms. I constantly remind myself of my own philosophy: 'Who cares what other people think of you, you only have one body and one life, enjoy it and wear things that make you feel like art every day.'"