“There's a lot to be said about street style. How strategic it has become, how incestuous the relationships are, what constitutes as a street ...”
online or at fast-fashion retailers, but there's something really magical about wearing a piece of clothing with such an in-depth design story behind it. I love knowing that my shirt was hand-shredded, or that my jeans went through a 16-step wearing process. It really makes the clothes come alive.” Fashion isn’t just material to Gabrielle; it’s a medium of communication. No day is complete without her daily dose of stylistic ingenuity. “I'd say that a good 70% of my day is spent thinking about clothing, but not in isolation. My job, my blog, and honestly, my whole fascination with fashion revolves around the relationship between clothing and human behavior.”
Not only does Gabrielle have the closet equivalent to gallery of Picasso paintings, but she also has a charismatic aura and couldn’t be more personable or down to earth. She’s also wickedly smart. She doesn’t just like clothes, she judges them and reacts to how they are received; she analyzes the fashion world’s fixations. This Sconnie only wishes she had come to her aesthetic senses earlier. She regrets the times that she decided not to wear something, afraid of looking “uncool.” Gabrielle looks back on
“never going to prom and pulling a Molly Ringwald cum Pretty and Pink.” She claims, “I would have made a killer customer prom dress. And by killer I mean hideous!”
Time and experience have revealed to her that, “Comfort equals cool. You will look cool, 100% of the time, just so long as you feel comfortable. Not sweatpants and sneakers comfortable, per se, but comfortable in your own skin. Comfort equals confidence, and confidence equals cool.”
Gabrielle’s biggest break came this fall when Polyvore, an online socially powered fashion network, flew her to their headquarters in Mountain View, CA, to meet their team. But things got even more exciting in February when Polyvore invited her to New York Fashion Week as their website’s Community Correspondent to cover the scenes on and off the runway. She immediately agreed. “Just walking into show after show casually as if I'd done it for a lifetime was surreal and amazing and kind of how I imagine my dream life. Very rarely is something as magical as you anticipate it to be and as overwhelmingly positive as you imagine it. This experience was.” Gabrielle made her mark as she wore outfits including a plunging Lands' End swimsuit tucked into a pair of high-waisted destroyed jeans with a
“Being from WI also has its advantages. People are nicer to you and, I think, more willing to let down their guard.”
The Sharp Side of Life, continued...
8