Can I Have Your Closet: Alina Peña

Alina Peña is a rock and roll fairy. I think that's the most succinct way to describe her. I met her in my gym class, a class notorious for its fashion-diminishing quality. However, Alina is capable of dressing like a cool-as-fuq chick even when we're sweating and awkward in the uncomfortable environment that is a high school physical education course. From the first day I saw her, wearing her over-sized, high-waisted sweatpants, funky t-shirts, and old-skewl sneakers, I knew we had to be friends. And it turns out she's just as awesome as her clothes proclaim her to be. She's a fellow passive aggressive feminist and Rookie lover, as well as having her own unique thangs that she does. She makes zines, terrariums, and pins, and has the most amusing Tumblr I've ever seen. She always has what is seemingly fairy dust sprinkled delicately across her cheekbones. But most importantly, she has her own unique style that is just so Alina, but at the same time so difficult to pin point. Basically, she can rock everything, and totally will if given the chance. Without further ado, I present to you, Miss Alina. 

Odelia: How would you describe your style?

Alina: I knew you were gonna ask this! It's kind of a bit of an adventure 'cause I can't make any decisions whatsoever, it's just kind of an emotional roller coaster when I try and answer that question. But I don't know, it depends on the day. Sometimes I wanna be a go-go girl, sometimes I wanna be a rockabilly rebel, it just depends.

Odelia: Who are your fashion icons and who do you admire aesthetically?

Alina: Tavi Gevinson and Petra Collins are my queens, but I don't really know people, it's really bad. It's usually just old children's books, art deco children's books that I read, or photos from the sixties that I see on Pinterest and other pretentious things like that that usually are inspiring.

Odelia: Where are your favorite places to shop?

Alina: I was asking myself this the other day, 'cause I have a lot of clothing, and I don't know where it comes from! When it's me, myself, and I, it's usually just thrift stores, and the Salvation Army, and things like that, or vintage shops, but my mom does a lot of shopping for me, 'cause she's really good at that. She gets all these emails with coupons and goes back to stores to see if things are on sale, yeah. And it's all from, like, Century 21, and it all rocks. She does a lot of shopping for me.

Odelia: If you could own one or more items right now that you don't have, what would it or they be?

Alina: Ugh, I feel like I should name drop something! I really want this jacket I saw on Etsy that's red, white, and blue, and it says “Love” on the back, and it's all fringe, and it's really wild with like, hearts on it. I also want some pins. I just wanna be the kind of person that has pins all over their chest, on your butt, like, anywhere. Pins on my face. I just want lots of broaches. It's mostly pins, but then a few bug broaches here and there.

Odelia: Would you say that fashion is a big focus in your life?

Alina: Jesus Christ, yeah. It's a problem.

Odelia: How would you describe personal style as a concept?

Alina: Personal style as a concept?

Odelia: Like what does it mean to you.

Alina: I think it's just all of the inspiration that you gobble up and spit up however you like. It can change as much as you want, you don't really have to be pinned down, that's why it's so difficult to talk about, I guess.

Odelia: How do you feel that high school has influenced your sartorial choices?

Alina: I've always cared way too much about how I dress, but have always kind of been on-trend whether I want to or not. But I guess it's kinda pushed me a lot because people are super crazy fashionable in high school, and I'm so defensive about it, I feel like I have to be the best. It's been a good motivator.

Odelia: But there's also a lot of people that are really nastily dressed. It's kind of disheartening.

Alina: Yeah, that's true. I don't mind it too much.

Odelia: I'm that person that gets angry.

Alina: I don't know, it depends. It honestly depends. If I really hate it [the outfit], or I have something against the person, then I'll criticize them for it, and if I like them, I'll be like, “She can do whatever she wants, it doesn't matter, don't judge her!” So, I don't know. I don't really mind either way, as long as I feel like I look good! [Laughs]

Odelia: Okay, I'm throwing in a bonus question in reference to your scene days, but not really. Do you feel like your style evolves frequently, or is there a core Alina thing?

Alina: No, it changes all the time. It's so difficult for my mother when she wants to buy me things for Christmas 'cause she doesn't know what I'm into anymore. I mean, I'll get nostalgic for things I had when I was five, but there's not much holding it together other than, I guess, being really quirky. I guess that's a really core part of me. But otherwise I'm all over the goddamn map.

Odelia: Is there anything else you want to say?

Alina: Uh, I wanna be you when I grow up. [Laughs]

Odelia: This is funny, because she's older than me. So it's physically impossible.

Alina: [Makes kissy face at camera]

[Photos by me.]

Look at that magic. She really is shimmering. 

I learned all about the pure genius of layering tights from Alina. 

She and our friend Julianne wear their Growlers pins erryday. They're just big Growlers fans, I guess.  

Her bangs were probably the best decision she's ever made. Not many people can rock the midi-bangs (half way between micro bangs and regular bangs), except maybe Alina, Rooney Mara, and Tavi Gevinson. All of this Googling of bangs has made me really want to get bangs again, but make them midi-length this time. Please do all that is in your power to talk me out of this. I will regret it. So much. 

What even is this pattern??? Pastel fairy vomit??

Whadda shmerp. 

This fancy lady is supercute and quite fashionable. Nothin' you didn't already know. 

There may be a few weeks in between this "Can I Have Your Closet" and the next one, seeing as I don't have any lined up as of this moment. However, I have a few subjects in mind, so don't think this segment is going on a massive hiatus the way it did last time. Also, there will be more Fashion Week coverage coming your way as soon as I can find the time to write things up, plus there's a bunch of fancy projects going on behind da scenes here. Stay tuned! (I never really understood that phrase, because it literally means to adjust to the frequency of a required signal, so it doesn't even make sense in a television or radio context nowadays.) 

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Awkward Accolades

Award shows have always confused me. Receiving an accolade is always awkward for at least one of the two parties involved: it's either the humble and modest accepter who is discomforted by the prospect of having to acknowledge their talent, or the audience who has to bear listening to an egotist thanking a long list of people not because they really appreciate their help, but just to make sure everyone knows how many friends they have. I don't know what idiot created the concept of an award show, but they are most definitely imbecilic. Needless to say, I don't watch these programs. The only one I ever watch is the Oscars, mostly because I appreciate good acting and not all movies from this century suck. The Emmys, the SAGs, the Grammys, the VMAs, the Peoples Choice, the Country Musics, the Electropopnotica Hispanic Discos, none of that nonsense goes on inside my house or my brain. There is one exception to this rule of sorts, and its existence stems merely from my love of--you guessed it--fashion. 

You may recall my Chictopia article about the Golden Globes last year, in which I articulated through the use of bolded text my aversion to award shows, but watched them anyway against my will (and really for no reason). I didn't fall into that evil trap this year, but this Monday morning I found myself eating breakfast at 10 am at my dining room table (the only perk of having midterms this week was that I got to sleep a few extra hours one day. Whoopee.) and being urged by several emails in my inbox to 'check out what the stars wore to the biggest award show of the season,' or some absurdity like that. Maybe it was because it was my brain was fried from a weekend chock full of studying the history of the entire world, or maybe it was because the yogurt I was eating was making my tongue tingle and was probably expired, but something told me to go to Harper's Bazaar's website and look at the red carpet looks. So I did it. Call me a crazy, impulsive teenager. To my complacent surprise, there were actually very few dresses that I liked. That sort of served as validation for my antipathy to award ceremonies, like, "Yeah, they don't even dress that well either, so there, media!" Only a few ensembles caught my eye. There were just too many mermaid-silhouette dresses, strapless numbers, super-form-fitting gowns, and an all-around lack of individuality. I clicked through photo after photo and found myself seeing the same dresses over and over. What happened to originality?? Where did it go? Where's the spunk? The spark? It felt like everyone was only dressing themselves in order to show off their bodies, which is totally fine, but that's not the whole point of clothing. Doing that is almost like doing a disservice to your body. You can wear so many bangin' things, so why limit yourself just because you want people to see your mega awesome abdomen? Yes, Megan Fox, we know you are a sex goddess, but being a sex goddess is just so much more fun for everybody if you look like you're having fun while oozing venereal appeal. Dressing oneself is an experimental process, not a monotonous one. I actually had a moment of realization yesterday morning while walking to school that every day is like a new adventure--not in the conventional sense that each day has many opportunities to do new things (mainly because going to school every day rarely yields "new" experiences), but that one has a chance to wear something different. And that's pretty exciting. That being said, let's take a look at who actually took those chances and wore something new and exciting and different. Notice how most of them are some of my favorite women (see: Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, etcetera). 

[Photos via Harper's Bazaar.]

Marion Cotillard in Dior

I guess orange is still going strong. Props to my girl Marion for being bold enough to wear tangerine on the red carpet. It's actually very flattering, and her simple hair and makeup remind me why a) she's a fuqin' awesome lady and b) why she is the face of Dior. 

Lucy Liu in Carolina Herrera

I know nothing about Lucy Liu except that she seriously knows how to dress herself. That Carolina Herrera dress is like a garden made specifically for happy fairies drinking strawberry milk, or something. And it has pockets. 'Nuff said. 

Anne Hathaway in Chanel

Anne Hathaway, my beautiful queen!! She gets two exclamation points! In addition to being a remarkably talented actress and singer, she has joined the short hair club (among the ranks of Emma Watson, Lena Dunham, Michelle Williams, and others) and rocks the socks off of it like no other. Anne has always been a well-dressed woman, but now that she looks more like Saskia de Brauw, it only makes sense that a higher volume of Chanel would have to exist in her life.

Zooey Deschanel in Oscar de la Renta

Zooey is the definition of quirky. She nearly blended in with the red carpet at the Golden Globes, it would seem, and it even looks like her dress is opposing gravity and tilting the wrong way. Zooey just has that power over the universe. 

Julianne Hough in Monique Lhullier

I'm pretty sure Julianne Hough was in a Proactiv commercial a few years ago and was also on Dancing With the Stars. Who would have thunk that she'd turn up on the red carpet in a sparkly glitter princess gown? Fan-cee!

Nicole Kidman in Alexander McQueen

Nicole Kidman was on the cover of Harper's Bazaar a few months ago, so I learned all about her life. Obviously, because a magazine told me that she's awesome, it must be true. Whether she's actually cool or not, anyone wearing Alexander McQueen that isn't Daphne Guinness deserves to be recognized as no less (Daphne is excluded because her and McQueen clothing are essentially one being, anyway).

If you happen to be dressing for a red carpet event such as, say, the Academy Awards, take a tip from the above laydeez and have a really good time dressing yourself. If you look like you're having a blast, people will wonder what you're on if you're just standing there looking all cheery (see: Nicole Kidman, above), and slowly realize that, oh, it's because she has on a unique dress that totally exemplifies her personality and idiosyncratic qualities!

Enjoy your weekend, friends! I've officially finished my first semester. Imagine me doing a very dramatic tribal dance fused with ballet and jump roping, and that is what my brain is doing right now.

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