“i’d rather be myself than be “in”
-tricia royal
fashion blogger and mind behind the popular worldwide flickr street blog, wardrobe_remix, tricia royal, is a very inspiring, artistically passionate woman. i found her years ago on livejournal, when she was living in new york city and instantly became hooked- she has bright red hair and an amazing style that she chronicles all in photographs on her blog. perhaps one day i will finally meet this darling in person and we can have tea and take pictures- be inspired by tricia today.
(dtk) tell me a little about your history and how you have become the woman you are today- who taught you to sew? knit? create? do you come from a family of creators?
(tr) my family is creative, yes, in a myriad of ways! my dad is a very snappy dresser: he loves color and has always favored a really sharp, classic, mid-century ivy-league sort of look. he loves fine materials and good design, and i feel like he passed that along to me. mom does a great job with decorating her house. my mom’s sister diane is very crafty, she sews and paints. my maternal grandmother sewed, knitted and crocheted.
i’ve literally always been downright obsessed with fashion, art, design and the like since i was a wee little girlie! i’ve got a freaky, almost photographic memory for pieces of clothing i’ve loved and worn over the years: the bright red wool double-breasted
chesterfield coat i had when i was five, the 2.5-inch gray leather pumps i insisted on wearing to class in fourth grade (yikes, lolita!?), the bright pink knit bonnet hat my grandmother made for me that i wore constantly as a toddler, pretending it was braids like those of pippi longstocking! har!
i also drew and painted a lot as a child…every time i got a new box of crayons or markers to doodle around with, i was ridiculously happy.
my maternal grandmother taught me to sew when i was 11 years old, in 1986. together we made a blush pink straight skirt. i also took a home-ec class in high school called “personal clothing”. as my class project, i made a calvin klein shift dress out of taupe linen, from a vogue pattern. i was so obsessed with making that dress that i would skip lunch and go to the sewing lab to work on the dress, which had hand-pickstitch topstitching around the neckline and armholes and super oversized shell-like buttons at the back nape of the neck.
in the ensuing years i pursued professional education in the arts and fashion, getting my bachelors in art (with a concentration in art history) from university of north florida, jacksonville in 2003, and a degree in fashion design from parsons the new school for design in 2006.
i am constantly taking art classes, attempting new creative endeavors…i love to learn and create, always have, always will.
(dtk) how did you get the idea for wardrobe_remix? what is your favorite thing about it?
what fashion trend do you hate right now? and which do you love?
(tr) the idea for wardrobe_remix was inspired by a few things: one, street fashion photographs from japanese fashion magazines (like Fruits) which i had been into since the early 1990s; two, Hel-Looks, which was one of the maverick, seminal street fashion websites to hit the internet back in 2005; and three, a British Vogue article i saw in the
summer of 2005, which featured the daily looks of three creative women over the course of two weeks. i was attending parsons at the time, and blogging about fashion, and after seeing that Vogue article, i decided i would do something similar (photograph my outfits for at least a few weeks, street-fashion photo-style) and post the results in my blog. the first ever wardrobe_remix shot was taken and posted on september 13, 2005.
a few days into the outfit posting, a friend suggested i start a community based upon the idea on flickr, the photo-sharing site, and the rest is essentially history! i define it as a “DIY street fashion community”, and in the past 2 years, the membership has really
exploded: as of today it has over 6100 members and countless viewers. the fact that it is so large is still totally surreal to me, but pretty darn awesome.
my favorite thing about wardrobe_remix? it is an intelligent, positive, supportive, accepting, diverse community full of ridiculously creative gals and guys that like to have fun and play with style! not only that, many contributers to the group are not
just stylish, but are also *amazing* photographers (like you, kristin!!), and their talent takes the group and it’s submissions to a a higher level. and unlike other fashion-sharing groups out there, there is no rating system (never has been, never will be) and nastiness of any kind is discouraged (toward oneself *and* others.
hmm! i am not sure i really loathe too many fashion trends as a rule…i try to be open-minded about fashion in general, because you never know what could work! on the flipside, i try not to wear that which is overtly trendy, just because it’s “in”…i’m more into chasing after that which i really love, what resonates with my eye, mind and soul. sometimes that intersects with what’s in, sometimes it doesn’t. and that’s totally
okay with me…i’d rather be myself than be “in”.
(dtk) biggest inspirations? artist? designer? city? does music inspire you? what?
(tr) inspirations: everything! haha! well, more specifically, people who are making original art and craft and fashion that comes from their soul…they inspire me to do the same. also: modern and post-modern art in general, old crafty books from the 60s through the 80s, graffiti, traveling to new places worldwide, treasure hunting at thrift stores, the human body, sea creatures, mid-century design…
i’m a very curious person, i love history, always asking questions, always looking, searching. everything and anything can and does spark ideas for me and inspires me.
designers: i love wearable things that are colorful, novel, idiosyncratic. as such, i am a big fan of designers like eley kishimoto, sandra backlund, claire tough, sonia rykiel
city: NEW YORK CITY, baby! man, i love that town. i love it all, good and bad: the bustle, the creativity, the strength, the crowds, the dirt. you can find anything you want there, and it’s endlessly entertaining! i also love similar cities around the world, such as london, paris, amsterdam. i love a little edge, a little history in my cities.
music absolutely inspires me! i have been a long time fan of 80s hip- hop, turntablism, breaks, and electronic music, from artists like coldcut, dj yoda, U.N.K.L.E. (before this last album!), beastie boys, kid koala, new order, roots manuva…generally, i like my music brash, big, urban, upbeat, funny, and bold with lots of bass!
(dtk) what is your dream job?
(tr) to be a working artist or designer, making what i love to make and being able to get recognition for that which i make. i’d also love to teach…it gives me a lot of satisfaction to help others and share my knowledge.
(dtk) describe your personal style-
(tr) a little bit classic, a little edgy, a little sporty, possibly even a little bit “rock and roll”! more than a little offbeat. kinda tacky- (i LOVE gold, huge grandma earrings, and acid wash!). more than a little obsessed with color theory, which i like to play with in my outfits on a daily basis. i like clean lines, fine, sleek, natural materials, geometric shapes, ingenious details, vintage looks from the 60s-80s but interpreted in a wholly modern way.
(dtk) ten years from now, what do you want to say about yourself?
(tr) that i did something significant. whether it’s making a line of clothing or accessories, teaching other people what i know, touching someone’s life with my work or maybe even just a little kindness. that i was a happy, successful person on my own terms.
(dtk) tricia, i miss your shop, are you going to start selling more creations?
(tr) i am seriously pondering selling my work again, after many years. stay tuned, plans are definitely in the works.
(dtk) any closing words, or advice to ladies and gentleman with an passion for fashion?
(tr) find yourself, be yourself, love yourself…cultivating your own idiosyncratic sense of personal style (fashionwise, or otherwise!) is way more awesome and a million times more beautiful than following any crowd or any trend.
important links to visit and remember:
tricia royal’s fantastic blog, bits and bobbins
the fabulous wardrobe_remix
