My very first memories spent with the women of my family: my mom, aunt and grandmother, generally revolved around fashion. From my first communion, when my aunt made me a dress that I felt like a real life princess in and a caplet that the priest couldn’t help but compliment to when we went to the mall every Saturday and shopped until we dropped. During this ritual, I would look at all the beautiful shoes, purses and deals from that week, deals of which we still talk about to this day, and I would walk around the store with six inch heels that were three sizes too big, strutting it nonetheless. This taught me the hard lesson of how to properly walk in heels that are both too painful and tall, later leading to my love of unique shoes and a massive shoe addiction. Another pivotal fashion memory from my childhood is when my mother and aunt sat me down in my living room one day and said to me: “Gemma, it is time for you to start watching this with us”. This definitely felt like a rite of passage and I was so excited to be let into what I thought was the grown up women club. The show they introduced me to was Project Runway and it infinitely grew my love for fashion and imagination. I started to sketch outfits, not very good ones, but it was still a way for me to let my creative juices flow. So, this is how my passion for fashion (yes I rhymed; some might call me the next poet) began!
I believe that fashion is an expression of your individuality, so I love to dress according to my mood or environment and am a firm believer in wearing whatever you want, feel comfortable in, or think is cute, no matter what anyone else thinks. At times people won’t necessarily like something you’re wearing, but what matters most is what you think, so if you love it that confidence will shine through for everyone to see. And trust me, I’ve heard it all from the men in my life from “What’s with the clown shoes” to “You look like a pilgrim”. But, I try not to let it discourage me because my consensus usually is, if a man doesn’t like it, it’s probably a great outfit.
