It’s An Animal City

Do you ever have those moments where you feel like you’re locked, stuck, caged in. Those times where you feel like you’re just in a rut or situation that you feel like you have no options, have no ability to step outside of what you know, or let alone, what you want. I remember that’s how I used to feel about fashion. There were things that I loved, wanted to wear, wanted to do, but I felt stuck– too afraid to go out of my comfort zone in fear of being judged or questioned. Wanting to be free to express my fashion sense and taste in unique ways, yet instead, felt locked inside a fashion cage. It’s funny to think how when I first started out on my fashion crazed ways (I know, it’s shocking to think that I wasn’t always this fashionable), the mere thought of wearing a simple headband alone in public was unthinkable, nonnegotiable with those I went out with. That in itself was pushing the limits and envelopes of fashion. But now, years later, headbands have become basically my trademark, a simple extension of myself; it’s to a point that if I’m not wearing a headband one day, that’s when people start questioning what I’m wearing. It’s ironic how with today’s shoot my friend (and incredibly fabulous photog) Carmen-Rosa and I simply went to the California Incline right off the PCH just because we liked the look and feel of the place. But as we continued throughout the shoot, we came up with this concept of it being an “animal city” because it had a look and feel of us being these animals locked inside cages. And I thought to myself, what a more perfect outfit could this have been for this shoot than representing quite the opposite of my caged animal fashion self. I mean, I’m wearing skulled out sweatpants, a crop top, studded heels, and a big gold chain that spells “honey” for crying out loud! I don’t think I could get any further away from the fashion norm and what one would deem as a “normal” and appropriate outfit than this. This shoot was representing being bound, locked, and caged in. Yet ironically with this outfit, I couldn’t have felt any more freeing.

Top: American Apparel
Pants: Hi! Expectation
Shoes: Alloy Apparel
Necklace: Nasty Gal
Bracelets: Liza Schwartz (here, here, and here), Nissa Jewelry
Rings: Rouelle
Sunglasses: Shop Lately

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