Read Surveys (By Author)
marissa
1. When do you feel at your most attractive?
Anytime I'm wearing something funky + cute underwear, I feel like the sun shines directly out of my face.
2. Do you notice women on the street? If so, what sort of women do you tend to notice or admire?
I used to confuse my admiration of women on the street with my queerness, but at this point I know my romantic/sexual attraction lies in butch women, and my aesthetic attraction lies in literally anyone wearing colors, patterns, and/or accessories. I like gaudy and vintage, although recently I've been in to minimalism.
3. What are some things you admire about how other women present themselves?
Good posture has always escaped me. Same with a willingness to show off shoulders.
4. Was there a moment in your life when something “clicked” for you about fashion or dressing or make-up or hair? What? Why did it happen then, do you think?
It hasn't happened yet.
9. Are there any clothing (or related) items that you have in multiple? Why do you think you keep buying this thing?
I keep buying overalls because I hope that I'll look less like a farmer one day.
10. Have you ever successfully given someone a present of jewelry or clothing that you continue to feel good about?
I gave a guy I was trying to romance one of my band shirts. I definitely don't feel good about giving up one of my favorite shirts, but I feel less bummed about the way our relationship ended every time I see him wearing the shirt.
11. Is there any fashion trend you’ve refused to participate in and why?
I don't personally support loungewear. I like to feel good about myself and to do so I need a belt and a bra.
12. Can you say a bit about how your mother’s body and style has been passed down to you, or not?
I think my mother likes to blend in, and I really don't. The only style she has passed down to me is a couple of turtlenecks she wore in the late '90s.
13. Have you stolen, borrowed or adapted any dressing ideas or actual items from friends or family?
A good chunk of my wardrobe was plucked from my parents' closet. I have army jackets from my aunt's time in the service, shoes my grandmother wore in the '50s, sunglasses from my other grandmother, sweaters and turtlenecks from my mother, a billion button ups and windbreakers from my father. I was also inspired by a high school friend recently to start wearing scarves, and I wear my boyfriend's clothes sometimes.
14. Was there a point in your life when your style changed dramatically? What happened?
At some point, I tried to kill myself. After surviving that attempt, I started wearing colors and patterns.
15. Is there anything political about the way you dress?
I throw modesty to the wind to spite conservative dressers (and people). I also dress in a kind of masculine way sometimes because I think gender is a sham.
16. Please describe your body.
I have curves in all the wrong places.
17. Please describe your mind.
I don't know how to compartmentalize.
18. Please describe your emotions.
Out of control.
19. What are you wearing on your body and face, and how is your hair done, right at this moment?
I'm wearing a slate gray mechanic jumpsuit I got from Amazon. It's boring, and I don't own an iron so I haven't yet put any patches on it yet, but I'm wearing a yellow scarf around my neck. I'm also wearing socks with Edvard Munch's The Scream on them, under black Converse high tops I've worn to death over the past three years. In my ears are dangly white vintage earrings that reach my shoulders, and on my fingers are an emerald green ring and a (fake) diamond ring. I have two barrettes in my hair, and a ton of blush on my cheeks and nose. I'm also wearing yellow eyeshadow, with my waterline in a blushy orange.
21. With whom do you talk about clothes?
My partner and a girl I went to high school with.
24. Do you remember the biggest waste of money you ever made on an item of clothing?
I spent $30 on a vintage jumpsuit that didn't fit over my breasts.
25. Are there any dressing tricks you’ve invented or learned that make you feel like you’re getting away with something?
I wear denim shorts under dresses so that I have pockets for my phone.
30. What sorts of things do you do, clothing or make-up or hair- wise, to feel sexy or alluring?
A ton of blush on the tip of my nose is my go-to sexy move.
37. What is your process getting dressed in the morning? What are you considering?
I have classes at 8am five days a week. I dress comfortably, but not trashily. Dressing is in a sleepy rush, though.
42. What is your cultural background and how has that influenced how you dress?
Being raised in Catholicism made me want to push back from all types of modesty and the perpetuation of normcore culture.
43. Do you remember a time in your life when you dressed quite differently from how you do now? Can you describe it and what it was all about for you?
I wore a lot of black when I was younger. I felt like it helped me express my emotions, and although my emotions feel dark still, I think I've realized that for me, wearing dark colors is the stylistic equivalent of wallowing in self-pity.
44. What sorts of things do you do, clothing, make-up or hair-wise, to feel professional?
I wear button ups and slacks 100% of the time.
46. Do you have a dress code, a school uniform, or a uniform that you wear for an extracurricular activity?
I work at a bagel shop. There's a pretty lax dress code, but I wear rings and bleach my hair and paint my nails, and everyone I work with is in a frat or sorority. It feels like there's an unspoken dress code, where everyone wears college hoodies and khakis.
47. Are there ways in which you conform to or rebel against these uniforms?
I wear band shirts and patterned pants and jumpsuits and heavy boots.
48. Do you find it comforting or constraining to have a uniform?
Comforting to have a definitive, distinct dress code, constraining (or uncomfortable, at the very least) to have an unspoken dress code.
50. Do you ever wish you were a man or could dress like a man or had a man’s body? Was there ever a time in the past?
I dress like a man sometimes. Often. I spent most of middle and high school wishing my body was more masculine, because I developed breasts very early and very rapidly. My confusing gender and sexuality certainly didn't help my perception of my own body, and I don't think that perception has changed much since then. Having a better understanding of what I want and who I am hasn't helped a whole lot, I simply ignore my feminine discomfort.
52. Do you consider yourself photogenic?
Absolutely not.
53. When you see yourself in photographs, what do you think?
I always look mildly uncomfortable. Or if I don't, I think I look too fat.
60. What do you think of perfume? Do you wear it?
I can't afford it. I wish I could.
65. What is your favorite piece of clothing or jewelry that you own?
I have a pair of pink cat eye sunglasses. The frame is pink, and so are the lenses. They're perfect.
66. Tell us about something in your closet that you keep but never wear. What is it, why don’t you wear it, and why do you keep it?
I keep around a red velvet pantsuit that I promise I will never wear. I don't know why I keep it, I just think someday someone much cooler than me will look into my closet and envy me based on the fact that I own a red velvet pantsuit. Red simply isn't my color.
71. What’s the first “investment” item you bought? Do you still own or wear it?
A pair of Doc Martens. I still own them, but I rarely wear them.
73. What item of clothing are you still (or have you forever been) on the hunt for?
An ethically sourced, affordable fur coat!
74. What are your closet and drawers like? Do you keep things neat, etc?
Everything is a huge mess, but I know where it is.
75. Were you ever given a present of clothing or jewelry that especially touched you?
My friends know me well. My favorite is a pair of earrings from my friend Kalei that are silver, in the face of a shape. They dangle.
What’s your birth date? Where were you born and where do you live now?
08/25/2000
I was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and I currently live in State College, Pennsylvania.
What kind of work do you do?
I'm a student, but I work at a bagel shop as well.
Are you single, married, do you have kids, etc.?
I have a short-ish term boyfriend.