By Eva Jousset
Arts & Culture Section Editor
Every time I run into Anna, it looks like she got up and ran through a closet shared by a circus clown, a Russian grandma and a mod. Point being, it takes a lot of sartorial confidence to combine a 1980s sequin jacket with fluorescent pink pants and gold tipped roach killer derbies. Anna goes there and, more importantly she has never been seen wearing the same outfit twice, which demonstrates intense innovation skills in harsh economic times.
Her clothing choices are nothing short of outrageous, which has little to do with her mental state, if not only that she really doesn’t give a f**k about what people think, a skill that takes many a whole lifetime to acquire. When asked where she gets her inspiration from, she answered: “I don’t have any, I just wear what I like and most of the time it turns out…ok.” She went on to add, “No wait…on second thought: the Mighty Boosh, they’re pretty great.”
She blames her penchant for heavy shoulder padding and power suit jackets on the constant flow of 80s pop songs that were played on Latvian radio stations during her childhood in Eastern Europe. The proper post-USSR vibe also resurfaces in Anna’s affinity for gold. When I say gold, I mean heavy amounts of it and in every possible form. Whether it is shoes, makeup, clothing or accessories, if it exists in gold, she’s got to have it, and too much is never enough. I once saw her walk into the computer lab at school wearing a red, black and grey tracksuit jacket with a massive gold chain sporting a tub of candy under her arm. No shame.
One might think ‘Oh, she’ll really wear anything’ (which is a fair assumption to make when you’ve witnessed the creeper jacket she’s recently acquired from the shady ‘please take’ box in Eleanor), but even the dodgiest of fashionistas have a DO NOT WEAR list. White leggings, crocs, and anything made out of corduroy feature on her list, amongst an array of other things she deems ‘nasty’.
On the other hand, whenever she comes across a sweater featuring an extensive variety of patterns and/or beads she will emit an enthusiastic ‘so good!’ and crack a smile similar to that of Norman Bates in the final scene of Psycho.
Any article of clothing that is almost unacceptable to the rest of us is more often than not a welcome addition to her wardrobe. This is one of the factors that contribute to my admiration of such an individual; she is a truly modern commentary on the combination of decades fashion exhibits today and the lack of continuity in contemporary means of self-expression. In the context of UCR, a person of the sort can be viewed as a fashion icon, but in the real world, she is a walking sign of the times.
Anecdote: When Anna isn’t at school hitting the books, she can be found scouring the racks of some obscure second hand shop for something of questionable taste, raiding the local H&M, or avidly fist pumping to some 80s tune we wish we’d all forgotten.
Eva Jousset, class of 2014, is a Film and Philosophy major from New York, United States.
Nice read. I’d like to see more pictures though!
Most excellent. Very nicely put.
Thanks for the travels (yep, I remember the 80’s…alive and kicking!)
And whether you wear this or that or not, people will always have sthg to say.
So wear the stuff, write the stuff, make some noise, and do your thing.
Bravo.