About
The woman makes the outfit—
never the other way around.
EDGY. IDIOSYNCRATIC. INTELLECTUAL. SOPHISTICATED. BOLD.
A FASHIONISTA, . .
WHO’S THAT WOMAN?
— AND YOU.
I’ve marched to my own beat for as long as I can remember—ask anyone who’s ever met me ever—and this has increasingly led to my interest in fashion. I’m a unique mix of assertive and idiosyncratic—unafraid to speak my mind and always doing so in a way that’s authentically Anna, from my lyrical but declarative writing style to my bold outfits.
A former tomboy who almost exclusively wore shapeless t-shirts, oversized sweatshirts, and generic jeans for periods of my adolescence, there would be other times when fashion beckoned me to express myself —particularly in middle school. For a couple years, I dabbled in American Eagle tops, Kenzie overcoats and dresses, and head-to-toe dELiA*s. (Remember dELiA*s?!) Inevitably, academic stress or immense focus on a hobby would divert my attention from fashion, and I would fall back into the safety net of t-shirts, sweatshirts, and the same two pairs of jeans, surrendering my identity to a task or goal.
Over time, I learned that identity and communication don’t only come from intellectual authority, the written word, or inspiring oration; the visual is as important as the mental, the written, and the spoken, and all four are interconnected. Identity and communication come from our appearance, be it our wardrobe or our body language, as much as they come from within. Our exterior selves reflect our interior lives, from how we’re feeling one day to periods of our lives: times of self-discovery, our formative years, our career or industry, a need for rebirth . . . Fashion has so often been considered armor, a way to hide from the world and, worse yet, from ourselves. What I know now is that confidence, joy, and empowerment all spring from fashion.
Smithsonian Castle; National Mall; Washington, D.C.
As a Gaithersburg, Maryland native, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to grow up in a suburb of Washington, D.C., a city that serves as the cornerstone of modern democracy and preserves the richness of art and history. Home to the Smithsonian Institution and countless museums, D.C. has taught me the importance of individual freedom and the arts as a protected form of self-expression. Childhood visits with my family to D.C. museums have morphed into my travels into D.C. as an adult to enjoy exhibits, theater productions, lectures, concerts, and, in recent years, the budding fashion scene. I want to build a fashion culture in the D.C. area that will rival that of New York City.
I’m a student of the liberal arts—an English and Spanish major fluent in those languages and carrying some French in my back pocket. I love reading and creative writing and have a weakness for all things twentieth-century: fashion, film, fine art, history, architecture . . .
My love of the arts fuels my fashion sense. Fashion is the wearable art—the art that declares, on your person, who you are and what you want to say without speaking. If it is armor, then it’s armor born from intrepidness and ferocity—not guardedness and self-consciousness. For me, though, it’s more like a second skin—a layer that binds, not separates, me from the world. Fashion at once connects our individuality to the collective and distinguishes it from the crowd. It’s inspired by our passions and tastes and inspires others.
I believe in the democratization of fashion. I want every woman to put her best foot forward on her own terms. I know that there are women out there—maybe you—who’ve dreamed of this or been intimidated by clothing or both and just don’t know how to take the first step. There’s the woman who can’t look at herself in the mirror. The woman who loathes pants shopping (psst—that’s all women at some point!). The woman who doesn’t know how to tell if something fits correctly. The woman who doesn’t know who she is—inside or out. Are you any of these women? All of them? Then join me in discovering your second skin.
