Style Files: Eve, Is style for you or for the spectator?

In this episode of The Style POV’s Style Files series, I sit down with Eve to chat about her deeply personal approach to getting dressed—one that centers around her unique words using the three-word method. 

Eve walks me through how her style has evolved over the years, blending nostalgia, playfulness, and a totally carefree vibe. From sewing her own clothes to rejecting one-size-fits-all fashion advice, she’s created a wardrobe that feels entirely her own. We talk about her love of vintage, how she shops more sustainably, and the way she uses personal memories to shape what she wears.

We also dig into how her mom shaped her style, what creativity looks like in her day-to-day, and why tuning into yourself is key when defining your look. If you’ve ever felt like fashion should be more meaningful—or just more you—this conversation is full of insight and inspiration.

Full Show Notes (with pictures): https://gabriellearruda.com/style-files-eve-is-style-for-you-or-for-the-spectator/

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Disclaimer: The Style POV Podcast content is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts and guests are their own. Gabrielle Arruda is not liable for any errors or omissions, and listeners use the information at their own risk.

Transcript

Gabrielle: [00:00:00] Hi everyone and welcome to the Style POV podcast, and this is another installment of The Style Files, a series where I sit down with real people to talk about their real style journeys. No rigid systems, no perfect wardrobes, just honest conversations about how personal style is shaped, shifted, and ultimately lived in. 

In today's Style Files episode, I'm joined by Eve whose approach to style is deeply personal, thoughtfully nostalgic and rooted in years of experience. From sewing her own pants to subtly tweaking pieces until they feel fully her, Eve has built a wardrobe that reflects not just her aesthetics, but her identity. She shares how the three word method became a powerful tool in her style development, and how Parisian chic was not the match she hoped it would be.

Her journey is full of insight, humor, and gentle rebellion against a one- size- fits- all style advice. Let's dig into Eve's style file.

Welcome Eve to the Style Files. I'm so excited to have you. So let's get started with what is in your style toolbox currently. 

Eve: I think the [00:01:00] biggest tool that I have right now is the three words that I am using pretty much to guide every situation and every decision that I am making concerning my dressing.

Gabrielle: Okay. So what are the style words and how did you discover them?

Eve: My three words. It was a very long journey. Get through those three words that they are right now. And what I would like to say first is that I think it's, her name is Allison Bornstein. I think she's the one who's making them very famous right now.

And Tibi amy Smilovic. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's also coining those three words kind of thing. 

My approach to three words is, would be a little bit different because my words are not made for the spectator. They are your words, they are your tools and 

Gabrielle: Okay. 

Eve: That's probably because I think that they are focusing on what's the outside and my focus [00:02:00] is what's the inside where all those words came from actually, because that has made the biggest difference for me. And my exact wording, my words, they didn't start with the, with these three words, but the, they evolved o over time.

Gabrielle: It took me more than a year to come to the conclusion that these should be the words that I am. I'm feeling the most. 

And it's this kind of inner expression instead of how people view you, it's how you feel internally. 

Eve: Yes. I think that's the most important thing, 'cause one of my words, I think the most obvious word that I have is playful.

That, that's pretty self-explanatory. One of my words is nostalgia, and that's it's a very overarching compass because I will be 54 years old in just two weeks. I have a lot of history, so there's a lot of things that when I look at the piece, I look at a piece of clothing I see. [00:03:00] Something I wore in the nineties or something I wore in the eighties. 

Gabrielle: It is all cyclical, isn't it?

Eve: Yes. And it's usually because of my history with clothes from 1971.

It's because of that. I'm drawn to a certain piece it's a familiar piece or it reminds me of something important that happened I don't care about trends at all anymore. 

Gabrielle: Yeah, there's a freedom to not caring about trends.

Yeah. And especially when you focus more internally, . It means something to you. There's a value proposal there that isn't necessarily there when you just follow what people tell you to do, right? 

Eve: Yeah. Yeah. And my third word is carefree. And that's the most personal word for me.

Gabrielle: And it's also very obvious. Like you can see my, this is a very carefree thing. I'm always wearing something weird on me. 

We, so we have playful [00:04:00] carefree and nostalgia. Yeah. So that's where you're at now? 

Eve: Yes. 

Gabrielle: Do you wanna rewind and go back to the beginning of your journey and let's see all the style systems, all the trends you might have tried, all the things that worked and didn't work.

Where did that all begin?

Eve: So it all began in 1971? Yeah, actually when I look back to my history I would say that the biggest influence on me overall is the fact that my mom went to work in an art school when I was nine years old. So that was my after school daycare place. Place to hang out. And it was a very small town so that the art community there these students, they had like their own bubble and they were considered to be weird and strange and outsiders in that city and. 

But that was where I grew up. 

Gabrielle: So, [00:05:00] around a lot of art and creative minds and people who are not afraid to break outside the box. 

Eve: Expression. The freedom of expression and self-esteem. That's probably what I got from those from that time when I moved out of there when I was about 20. 

Gabrielle: So talk about self-esteem a little bit. What was it just their freedom or their ability to believe in themselves?

Like how did that kind of filter into style and expression and creativity for you? 

Eve: I'm pretty sure that part of this carefree attitude comes from there. 

It's 'cause I've always looked, in that small town, I did look different from all the kids in the school. Of course I, when I was in my early teens, I was like maybe 13, 14, 15.

That's when I was most trying to blend in or I was blending in, but not really. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. 

Eve: Yeah. And, there's probably the first [00:06:00] story I might tell from my kind of history Yeah. Which reflects to today is when I was 15 years old that's when Madonna became. Okay. A thing.

Yeah. This was 1986. So Madonna. 

Gabrielle: She was a vibe back then, back in the day. 

Eve: Yeah, and I think she probably did have those ripped jeans, if I remember correctly. But I found a pair of jeans that my sister was actually studying artisinal school. So she was she's seven years older than me. 

Gabrielle: This inspired you a little bit?

Eve: A lot of ways, like so many ways, but yeah. She had made a pair of jeans she had rid the outer seams open and fringed that the seam allowance and then, yeah, sold them back together. And I found those from the storage in our home. And I ripped, the buttocks open, but I didn't wear them like on their own. [00:07:00] I probably had two or three layers of of underwear and leggings and whatnot underneath. But yeah, I had those jeans with the rip buttocks and see them.

I was called to the principal's office because of this uhoh, so nowadays I still wear the ripped jeans. Proudly, yes. No matter how many times they get banned and told like. A woman in her fifties should never wear that stuff. I'm still wearing them proudly. 

Gabrielle: Good. Good. And they're good. 

Eve: They're a part of that nostalgia for me.

Gabrielle: That personal connection. 

Eve: But this is this story behind it. Yeah. There really is a connection. It's just one example of this nostalgia thing for me. There was like I was nine years old. When one of the teachers, , my mom was working in the office and she was running the whole school from the office. But there was one of the teachers in that art school who used me as a model. Okay. And I have that picture on the wall. Still, and I still do remember [00:08:00] exactly. Those clothes in that picture, I, still remember how they felt. I don't have photos of those because like early eighties. 

Gabrielle: Couldn't take selfie, right?

Eve: Yeah. And you took pictures of your kids, but they were usually , in a holiday setting or it was like a party or something. So not every day.

Gabrielle: Do you think that your memories are tied to your clothes since you're so internal about them, that like you really remember things around what you might have worn?

Or is it an intricate part of like how you view your life?

Eve: I think it's in this setting. I can definitely tell specific moments and specific pieces that I had and the actual story around those pieces because I still have a very deep connection with them.

Gabrielle: And they expressed you in the moment, or that, that year where you were at, what you thought, how you viewed the world? 

Eve: Yes. [00:09:00] Yes. 

Gabrielle: That's cool. 

Eve: Yeah. To this day I have a lot of vintage pieces that. I bought them. New, at some point. I still have them.

Some of them I wear occasionally, and couple of them are there because I can't just throw them away. . I just can't, they don't mean anything to anybody else but for some reason they, I still feel something for them.

Gabrielle (2): It's your nostalgia. 

Eve: It is my nostalgia, but some pieces, there's a remake.

Because the original was acrylic. 

Gabrielle (2): Yeah. Fair. 

Eve: But the current piece that I have, one of the, my ultimate favorites it's made of wool. It takes me back to the moment when I was wearing the orange version acrylic thing. But like I said, , this is the most important tool for me.

And I've said this in your group a couple of times, but when I look at a piece if I see two of my three [00:10:00] words, it's a workhorse. I'm going to wear it over and over again. If I see all three, it's, it is just an absolute favorite. 

It's a no brainer, but if I only see one of my words I really don't bother anymore. They're taking so much effort to put it on and it's something like that. I will put it on and last minute, I'm just gonna change it anyway. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. 

Eve: Yeah. But this is because at some point I did go through this phase when I was watching all the YouTube videos telling you that these are the pieces every woman should have in her closet and one example would be a plain white T-shirt. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. 

Eve: Yeah. I have thrifted a beautiful plain white T-shirt and I forced myself to wear it a couple of times and looking back, there's nothing playful about a plain white T-shirt. There's absolutely nothing carefree in a plain [00:11:00] white T-shirt. And there's certainly nothing nostalgic about it. It doesn't connect me to anything. 

Gabrielle: So do you think that that's your carefree side coming out too, where you don't like those rules of this is what your capsule wardrobe needs, or these are your style dos and these are your style don'ts?

Like you need a little bit more freedom. 

Eve: Yeah, but the real story behind the third word is, I have to tell this because I found you from YouTube a few years ago, and I first started watching those Kibbe videos and it made a lot of sense to me, all of a sudden that this is the reason.

I love an Aline dress, but it looks hideous on me or I really love like a Modo jacket. Also, it doesn't look very good on me 'cause I don't have those shapes on me. So that was my first kind of, aha moment watching your video.

So I'm very grateful to you for this. 

Gabrielle: Thank you. 

Eve: Also, I'm just [00:12:00] really impressed with what you did, like all those movies that you made so entertaining and hats off. 

Gabrielle: Oh, thank you. 

Eve: Yes. 

Gabrielle: So yeah, Kibbe came into your life and you resonated with parts of it. Was it like a stepping stone for you, or how did it change?

Eve: The next thing that I discovered from your videos was the worksheets and especially the mood boards. And I made a mood board. And a few months later I made another mood board. And then a few months later I again made a mood board. And that's when I started , there was a theme, there was a recurring theme.

And I had to ask myself, why is this here? 

Gabrielle: Yeah. 

Eve: What is behind this? And the theme was a Sandy beach. My husband is a kite surfer, so we do spend a lot of time on sandy beaches, but, and I love that kite surfer aesthetic. I don't go near water. I don't like salty [00:13:00] water. But but I love the beach. 

Gabrielle: But the idea of it. 

Eve: Yeah I love the beach and I love everything about it. I love , what sun does to colors. I love those. colors and the like, the faded thing. But the reason it was talking to me, this carefree thing is my mom died 14 years ago, actually.

15 almost. No. Sorry.

It's been 11 years. Yes. 

Gabrielle: I'm sorry. 

Eve: Yeah. And it was unexpected when she died. That day changed everything for me. Before that, I was a very carefree person. From that day on, I haven't experienced a full day of that carefreeness. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. 

Eve: And that is the thing that I am. I'm looking for. , that's how I want to feel when we go to the beach.

I often do get that. Yeah. It does give me that feeling of the carefree feeling. 

Gabrielle: [00:14:00] Reconnecting. 

Eve: Yes. And that's kinda, sorry. 

Gabrielle: Oh, I know. It's really hard. Still recently. Yeah. 

Eve: It is still hard. I can make that happen. I can make myself feel carefree with my style choices, even if it's fake, even if it's not real carefreeness. But I can get that sense every once in a while. 

Gabrielle: It's like a little thread back to the beach or a little connection, a little reminder.

Eve: And it all comes full circle .

Gabrielle: Yeah. That's beautiful. 

Eve: She took me to that school. She gave me all that. 

Gabrielle: That's really hard. I know. I lost my father recently and it time is a very strange thing after a parent passes, it just, and there are ways where you just need to connect with them and feel that they're still with you. Yeah. And I think that's a beautiful tribute to your connection and to you reclaiming , that carefree connection [00:15:00] with her and with you.

Eve: Yeah. I'm also a image of my mom's. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. 

Eve: This is what she looked like. 

Gabrielle: Aren't we all a little bit, too?

We say we won't be. And then, oh. That's beautiful though. So carefree was a word that really spoke to you. When you started developing these words or these mood boards and connections, how was going out and shopping for you? 'Cause I know you like to keep a pretty paired down wardrobe, correct?

Eve: Actually yeah, I even did some of those like real capsule wardrobes, very constrained capsule wardrobes for a while. From, yeah, from 2017 I think I made maybe five, six of them. But the reason I'm not doing that anymore is because it just ran all the time. This is not a joke that this is a true story. I wore the same pants six days a week. And then I washed them the seventh day Yeah. Until they broke. And then I got a new pair which [00:16:00] I was wearing six days a week. And then my 50th birthday I wore those same damn pants. 

And that was a low point.

I had to do something about it.

Gabrielle: Was there a reason why you decided to start capsuling? Did you just wanna refine your outfits or stretch your creativity or... 

Eve: One of the reasons was probably because I was so concerned about the environmental things.

It was also it was first an experiment and then it was really easy and really nice until it wasn't. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. It was a good learning experience. Maybe 

Eve: Yeah, it was a good experience, in hindsight.

Gabrielle: Did that affect how you were shopping at this point?

How was like going into a store and picking new pieces out? Were you doing a lot of that? Were you like, I have my one pair of jeans and that's all I need? 

Eve: After that, everything got overboard. But I still prefer shopping secondhand. It wasn't a massive financial burden for me, but suddenly I had... 

Gabrielle: Too [00:17:00] many clothes. 

Eve: Too much of everything. I'm in a very good place right now because last year I did learn a few more things about just sticking to my three words and holding onto that. Because I still get really excited about some things or really tempted to buy something, but I usually just take the time to find it secondhand. And sometimes when I do find last year I spent a lot of time looking for a polka dot dress. And when it was time to put it on, I was like, I don't really like this. 

Gabrielle: We all have those moments.

Eve: I may change my mind again about it. It's still there. But when I was looking at that. That piece there, there was something missing. One of my words was missing. And then so it just didn't work . I have become really picky.

Gabrielle: That's a really good thing. 

Eve: It is a good thing. It is a good thing. 

Gabrielle: So how was sustainable fashion tied into your journey? Were you always conscientious of that kind [00:18:00] of environmental impact? Was it something that you slowly paid more attention to, or was it, just something that happened naturally?

Eve: Honestly, I'm not sure.

I have never done any hauls actually I'm lying. I've done one haul and this was because I lost all , my summer clothes at once. So I had to go shopping. 

Gabrielle: You had to get something, right? 

Eve: Yeah. Yeah. , I think I bought seven pieces that's visit to a mall and that was like a seven pieces or something.

Gabrielle: So, seven pieces is still a small amount though for a whole summer wardrobe. I don't know if I would consider that a haul, if you had to get a whole summer wardrobe outta seven pieces. 

Eve: To me it was a haul. So, that's the kind of shopper that I have been. When I was younger I certainly did what's high school in US, we have Loki and when I finished that, I actually did sew a lot of things for myself. Like for every weekend I got something new for every weekend. Sometimes [00:19:00] I had to sew them on me before I went to the bar and never wore them again. 

Gabrielle: It's hard to sew your own clothes. It is and... 

Eve: It was a ton of experimenting. I still sew because we actually learned that in school, every kid gets some handcrafting education in school.

Gabrielle: So, were you sewing pieces that you were just expressing your creativity? Or were you sewing pieces you couldn't find?

Eve: I think it was both. There were some of them really weird.

But I remember making, this was the time when I I did use both needle and some safety pins to wear my, it was like a culottes made of pleated fabric and this was like, 

Gabrielle: That sounds cool. 

Eve: 1992 or 1991. You did not find that in stores. 

Gabrielle: So, you probably knew what you liked very early on and just you had that like creative artistic background [00:20:00] and it seems like you really channeled it.

Eve: Yeah. And it was because I was the person who just didn't care what other people think. If I'm wearing these weird pants that I'm just wearing these weird pants, I I used tons of scrap yarn to make myself these long leg warmers. 

Gabrielle: Cool. 

Eve: In the high school, it was a badge of honor, I would say to be called the baby of the year. Because the first year there. I was called the baby of the year because I was loud. 

Gabrielle: But, through all of this, did you ever have moments where you were influenced by trends?

'cause it sounds like you always had a very strong point of view in your style, and you weren't afraid to just be like, you tell me to wear a white t-shirt, I'm gonna make my own pleated culottes.

Eve: Yeah I think it was around like 14 and 15. That's when some kind of trends got to me. Maybe that's the only time and then a couple of years ago when I thought that I should behave and be 50 and act 50 and look [00:21:00] 50 and... 

Gabrielle: Okay. Wait, I wanna hear more about that.

So, there was a fall off or a pressure to adjust your style? What did that look like? 

Eve: It was the time when I bought though all those plain white T-shirt. 

Gabrielle: Okay. 

Eve: And this one of those things was the crisp white shirt. Eventually my crisp white shirt is actually baby blue and it's made of linen, so, but I had to find it out and I got myself a trench coat, obviously. 'cause everybody needs one. 

Gabrielle: And a blazer. A blazer too. 

Eve: A couple of blazers. Yes. Yeah. And the dark denim, the straight leg, dark denim. 

Gabrielle: How did you feel in those clothes? They don't feel playful or nostalgic? No, not very carefree. 

Eve: No. I tried to wear them. And, it was a few years ago when I discovered the Instagram communities around these styling. Challenges. Oh, challenges, okay. Yeah. So, this was like the French girl, [00:22:00] parisian style, challenge or something like that. So, I participate some of those and that's when I I made this 10 piece capsule for that, and I had all those must- have pieces in there. And during that kind of started to come together that this is not for, this is not me, . I don't feel like myself in this.

I can put this on if I don't feel like I'm wearing a costume here. Then it's just not me. And I was lost with those concepts of the French style, Parisian style, French girl style. 

Gabrielle: There's a lot of them.

Eve: Yeah. And there was like, a French woman only wears this and this and 

Gabrielle: it just rules. 

Eve: .Yeah. It was a very big mess. But at some point I realized that, yeah, there's this. French women. That's not me. I might be the French girl, I can get some of my influence from there. So [00:23:00] that's the, I think the French girl is part of this nostalgia thing for me that there's a lot of, like sixties French girl. 

Gabrielle: So, you had to dig a little bit to get to the authentic seed of why you were even trying French style to begin with. 

Eve: Yeah. But, it's really confusing because YouTubers can make things very confusing sometimes.

Gabrielle: I know. I'm sorry. But we can. 

Eve: It's not you. 

Gabrielle: Oh, it's, we all have our moments. 

Eve: It not you. 

Gabrielle: We all have our moment. So you had the trench coats, you had the dark jeans, you had the button up. What did you start swapping things out with and what was the transition like? How were you feeling about it?

Were you just all of a sudden no to all of this or, 

Eve: I found a pair of Levi's jeans. I have four pairs of those. It's a vintage pair. I was like, this looks very interesting. I got it. I had to alter them for my liking. First of all. They were too long and then I didn't like the actually wearing a pair right now.

I'm gonna [00:24:00] show you.

Gabrielle: Okay. Oh, very cool. Oh my gosh. They have these awesome side pockets and the holes and they're cuffed. Great aged medium blue, nice and soft. Awesome.

Eve: But yeah, I found the first pair and then I altered them for my liking and. From there I realized that. These have all those elements. I added the pockets later because... 

Gabrielle: Oh, really? 

Eve: Yeah. I like to travel with those pockets. And the pants that I was wearing for, a year, every day they were cargo pants because I like to shove everything in into the pockets and these ones, these are my special travel pants, right?

But yeah. When I I was looking at these jeans that I made and I felt so good in them, and I was like, it has to be something and I am pretty sure that around that point, , my three words started to come together. That this is where it's all condensed into this one piece. 

I see the history here the nostalgia here. [00:25:00] I see the playfulness here because it, they're like a weird shape. And these only have one pocket at the back end. There's a, all kinds of details. So cool.

Eve: And then there was this carefree feeling. And, up to that point I believe that my words were a little bit different. I had tried on some words for a little while and I think "mismatch" was probably one of my words at some point. And , that came because one of my style icons is obviously Carrie Bradshaw. And I think I saw the Alison Bornstein making a video. She was analyzing the Carrie Bradshaw style and those three words, and she came up with the mismatch. 

So, I tried that on for a little while, but

Gabrielle: I it's interesting that you say that it wasn't a hit because mismatch describes the clothes and how the concept of how one would put together clothes, but it relates nothing to the internal state of the [00:26:00] person. And yeah, Carrie Bradshaw does do these unique or contrasting focal points where you go, wait, what? Oh, interesting. And it's novel and creative, but that's an attribute to the clothes, not the person. And it seems like you really need that personalized connection where your words are really internalized to how you found them and how you feel in them.

Eve: Yeah. And like I said it's not for the spectator. It's my tool. And this might, be kinda interesting detail, but if I describe my three words in finish playful is not the word. 

Gabrielle: Oh, interesting. 

Eve: It's not the same. The translation isn't playful. It is something else because... 

Gabrielle: What is it? 

Eve: It does not, it doesn't have the same connotations. 

Gabrielle: Okay. 

Eve: It's rather more like joy. 

Gabrielle: Oh. 

Eve: In Finish. Yeah. 

Gabrielle: I like that. 

Eve: My word, my wording is English wording.

Even though it's my second language. So if somebody's doing this, I would say. Look outside the box. I have a lipstick here. This is from Lisa [00:27:00] Elridge. And everything she's been putting out, until this point, I think everything was in English. Her, all the names are English names and this is French.

This épanoui ' 'cause she says that this is the how how she actually feels about this color. So it may be that you need more words. 

Gabrielle: Since you're bringing up lipstick, talk a little bit about your color palette, how you approach that.

I know probably in your Parisian era you did the black, white cream, maybe a navy. No? 

Eve: Nope. No. Ha I have not been wearing a black in about a decade now. I own one black dress. It's for funerals. 

Gabrielle: Oh, okay. 

Eve: I just hold onto it because there will be funerals. But my colors, I love every color.

Pretty much every color. I think my undertone is very close to neutral. So, for a very long time I was wearing a lot of autum colors. I still have some [00:28:00] browns in my closet. But I gave up all the orange and bright yellows and stuff like that when I realized that all this is very gray.

So there's like probably no other choice but to be some sort of summer. 

Gabrielle: Did you find clarity in kind of finding a palette? Was it allowing you to create more of a cohesive, narrow wardrobe. And if everything's in one palette, it creates a very easy travel wardrobe. 

Eve: Actually, yeah some colors definitely play a bigger role in my closet. Baby blue is one of those. But it's more, I think more summer color for me. But one of my favorite pieces is a burgundy sweater. It's not really summer palette, but I don't really care because I just don't care. 

Gabrielle: Cranberries and some muted burgundies are, the soft summer palette. So, it's probably close enough, but you also like those little novel details, so maybe that's how you pull a little tension into your outfits or a [00:29:00] little playfulness of unexpected colors.

Eve: Yeah, and I actually do still have a lot of color. So much color in there,, because I don't believe in those rules that 

Gabrielle: Okay, good. 

Eve: Yeah. You shouldn't be mixing this or that together. 

Gabrielle: You like to break the rules a little bit. That's yeah. In your style. It's wonderful to see. 

Eve: But this I would say that I don't have very vibrant colors. 

I tend to keep things a little bit muted. Simply because I feel that it's overwhelming me if I wear something really bright or I like maybe I heard this from you, but it's like the, I had a really nice pink blazer, but the blazer came into the room long before I got there, and it was so much effort for me. 

This is the kind of makeup that I like to do, so it's not a lot. 

Gabrielle: Beautiful though. 

Eve: Yeah. So I, I have to put on so much more color if I... 

Gabrielle: Balance it out. 

Eve: Yeah. If I was wearing something really bright [00:30:00] because my color, my own colors are just gray. Everything's gray. 

Gabrielle: So, your honing in on these three words.

Originally, you tried mismatch, that didn't work as well. Were there any other iterations of the words that you tried out? 

Eve: I think chill. 

Gabrielle: Chill. 

Eve: Yeah. Actually tried edgy. 

Gabrielle: Okay. 

Eve: I tried edgy on to test.

Gabrielle: How did that work? 

Eve: I didn't feel edgy. Yeah. I may be a little bit edgy, but it's more like my brother. 

Gabrielle: Playful, maybe. 

Eve: Yeah. I'm rather humorous 

Gabrielle: Mischevious or something instead of dramatic edge. 

Eve: Yeah, nothing like that. I also try casual. 

Gabrielle: Okay. 

Eve: But I'm not a very casual person, even though my lifestyle is very casual.

I think the casual was before I realized that they don't have to be like style words. They don't have to be like what's that classic or [00:31:00] edgy 

Gabrielle: it's also interesting too, because it really shows how you've self-defined these words and personalized them and really started to realize this is what edgy means to me. And that's not right. I don't identify with that, or maybe I have casual elements in my style, but I don't personally resonate with the idea of being casual. That's not your process of getting dressed. 

Eve: Yeah. 

Gabrielle: Do you wanna talk about how you build outfits? Do you have kind of formulas? Do you just go with what you feel, go with what your day needs?

Eve: The first thing I look outside, what's the weather like? 

Gabrielle: Okay. Fair.

Eve: We have four seasons. Except this year. The winter was like two weeks and that's it.

Gabrielle: So do you have a lot of weather constraints then?

Eve: Because I have clothes for every single weather, then I don't really care what the weather is like. I can go from very hot to very cold.

Gabrielle: And are the pieces that are in your wardrobe, would you say that they have a lot of crossover and are a lot very flexible between the seasons? 

Eve: Basically [00:32:00] everything else, except the shorts, stay in the closet all year round. Obviously the warmest coats go yeah. To storage for a while but... 

Gabrielle: It sounds like you really refined your closet. You just are laser focused on exactly what deserves to be there.

Eve: If you asked about my style uniform, my formula basically is something roomy in the bottom. I'm very happy that the barrel leg jeans and barrel leg pants are a thing right now because my heart sings with the barrel leg.

I actually found myself a very good pattern. So, I've been making I think four or five pairs by now with that same pattern. 

Gabrielle: Wow. 

Eve: Like different fabrics. 

Gabrielle: Okay. Wait, tell us about that. I wanna hear a little bit about that. You just you found this pattern. Was it just 'cause you couldn't find it out in the real world? Or were you just getting your sewing creativity going? 

Eve: It was a YouTube video. I saw this [00:33:00] YouTube video. It's a British woman. She's selling patterns and she does those roundups every week. So, this this is what's new and this is what we have right now. And so she showed me the pattern. I was like ah, that's funny. 

Gabrielle: That's it. 

Eve: Yeah. And then I I had some faux leather stored I had it for like years, and I made the first pair using that. It was terrible. I wore them a few times.

Gabrielle: That's hard to sew. Yeah. 

Eve: But it was like, it was so uncomfortable to wear.

 The next pair I made linen pants for my holiday. And when I started sewing them, I was like, I don't have enough fabric. So, I went back to the store to get some more, and it was sold out. The color was sold out, of course. Oh, of course it was.

So I, I got a different color and I made them like two tone, and they're perfect. Just perfect. The next pair was sweatpants. I made [00:34:00] using the same pattern. 

 Now I have one pair made of corduroy and it was, I used some new material and some recycled material.

Again to two-tone. 

Gabrielle: It sounds like you really invest in your pieces, and you must be really good at that pattern by now. 

Eve: I would say so. I don't make the same mistakes I made with the 

Gabrielle: vinyl. Do you think your words help you choose the materials too and get that perfect mix of all three? Or do you just go by gut? 

Eve: I don't have an answer to that. 

Gabrielle: That's okay. I think you go by instinct. If I had to guess. You seem like you're very

Eve: I probably do. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. You seem like you just know it by now. 

Eve: Yeah. I have the roomy bottoms , I don't wear a lot of skirts except some like festive situations.

But I like roomy pants. I wear tops that are made of natural materials. I have a lot of metin wool for winter. I love a good roll deck. I have a bunch [00:35:00] of those for winter. And then summertime, it's like one of my linen shirts mostly or something like this.

And then I have a lot of fun shoes. And those fun shoes make my outfits. 

Gabrielle: So, what ... 

Eve: Winter time. It's really hard to find a nice pair of fun shoes. 

Gabrielle: That's true. 

Eve: Yeah. It is so hard 

Gabrielle: That actually work in the, snow or slush Yes. Or any of that. It's, it is hard. 

Eve: Yeah. It keeps you an upright position because slipping.

Gabrielle: That has to be prioritized. 

Eve: I always look the weather first. 

Gabrielle: So, do you wanna talk any, a little bit about any inspirations you have? Were you just inspired by your words? Any designers, anything that just lights you up creativity wise?

It doesn't even have to be a direct translation to your style, you seem like you're very creative and you know what you like. 

Eve: I'd like to be very creative. 

Gabrielle: You. Hey, you sewed four pair of pants ranging from linen to sweatpants to vinyl. That is pretty creative. 

Eve: . I also [00:36:00] make a lot of nice knit. But yeah I am creative. It's just my idea of creativity is something what you are doing. You are creative. 

Gabrielle: You are too. 

Eve: But yeah. 'cause my idea of art is not the same as most people kind of view art. 

Gabrielle (4): I think everything is art because everything is creative.

Eve: We actually go to a lot of exhibitions nowadays.

With my husband, like I said, I don't really follow any trends. I do watch a couple of trend videos on YouTube per season, but I don't really get that much inspiration from them. I do have an Instagram friend who she's posting a lot of stories. , but she's posting them there and I just always crawl them through and take some screenshots and every once in a while I may just pull something out from that stash and go " okay, so I'm gonna try this." 

Gabrielle: I don't even think it has to be trends necessarily.

It sounds like you look a lot with your word nostalgia. Like [00:37:00] maybe you look a little bit to fashion history, especially your personal history or art galleries or music. It's just finding those areas that light you up and then finding how they relate to your own, inner style. Whether directly or not, it's up to you to decide those connections. 

Eve: Yeah, it is. I do sometimes when somebody's running those style challenges I do like to participate because I do like to go into my wardrobe and pull out those seven piece capsules just for fun. But it's like my travel I always travel really light.

So, that's exercising for light travels.

Gabrielle: I know you did some impressive capsules too, I think. What was your you were like traveling for a couple months and you had how many pieces? 

Eve: No it was actually just a very short holiday, but it was seven pieces and two pairs of shoes and it creates over 30 outfits. 

Gabrielle: [00:38:00] That's impressive. That's very impressive. 

Eve: It's impressive. And they don't even look boring. 

Gabrielle: No. They were all so unique and they all fit your style words to the tee. 

Eve: That's what I'm always trying to accomplish with my exercises doing those small capsules.

Because, in most cases, I don't get bored with my clothes. It's very rare nowadays that I would actually be bored. Because there's always another, some there's always something.

Gabrielle: You can always start. 

Eve: Yeah. I can always start from here. Yesterday I was there, and now it's here. 

Gabrielle: So, what advice would you give people who are earlier on in their style journey, or maybe trying to figure out just where to go with it? Because you seem like you have just laser focused into your style and you figured it out. 

Eve: My, my advice would be just to give it time, first of all. And get curious about . And get curious about [00:39:00] yourself. Mostly because I think most answers are within. 

Gabrielle: Absolutely. 

Eve: Yeah. That's where you're supposed to be looking. Not catalogs or websites. Just look inside and I would say that just pull one of your favorite pieces. I'm gonna show, I'm getting a piece here. 

Gabrielle: Yes. 

Eve: Because my here's a, here's an example. I made this. 

Gabrielle: Oh my goodness. It's a beautifully knitted sweatshirt, sweater, cardigan. Beautiful stripes, beautiful. Lots of summer colors in there. 

Eve: Crazy coloring. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. Beautiful. 

Eve: I couldn't decide. 

Gabrielle: It's gorgeous though. 

Eve: But I love this. Yeah, obviously. Yeah. Yeah. This reminds me of a sweater that I made when I was in ninth grade.

Yeah, I still have that sweater. It's made of scrappy horn, so there's a lot of [00:40:00] acrylic there. This is not acrylic. 

Gabrielle: So you upgraded it. 

Eve: Silk mohair. Yeah. Yeah. But it, it has that the same vibe that it had, yeah. That's the nostalgia part. 

Gabrielle: And it seems like you recycle a little bit. Like nostalgia is tied to recycling and reviving the essence of what you want.

Eve: It's tied to everything. It's, it is so personal to me. 

Gabrielle: I love that. 

Eve: This nostalgia thing is so personal to me. That's the nostalgia piece. 

Gabrielle: Beautiful. 

Eve: This is obviously playful. And this is very carefree. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. And it's perfect. It just suits you perfectly. And it goes so well with your jeans, too.

Eve: Yeah. It goes with anything, but I would say look for your, some of your favorite pieces. If you pull out a favorite piece, just write down everything every single thing that you think. When you're looking at that. What comes to your mind? What are the [00:41:00] connotations attached to that piece? And then pull another one and then another one, and then start looking for patterns there.

Gabrielle: Yeah. 

Eve: What are those recurring themes? And you don't have to use the same wording every single time when you're describing this piece. I would not use the same words if I was describing this or these jeans that I'm wearing right now, but I would definitely, at some point, I would come to the conclusion that there's... 

Gabrielle: The connection.

Eve: Yeah. There is a connection between them and those are the words you are looking for. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. And it sounds like you tried, on other words, and it took you a little bit of a journey to hone down to the right ones. And see how they connected to you and see how they showed up in your style. Because what is playful to one person may not be your version of playful.

And it's taking ownership of that word and saying, this is my playful, this is my [00:42:00] nostalgia. This is something that I express. 

Eve: Exactly. 

Gabrielle: It is just so cool to talk to you seriously. Any last parting words? 

Eve: I've been very honored to talk with you. I'm such a fan. 

Gabrielle: Likewise. I love your outfits in the group and I think that you've really honed in on something so personal and beautiful.

And it shows such trust and self-esteem in yourself and your own expression. And I think that is like what style is about: all the systems, all the tools, all the work. Ultimately it's like connecting on who we are inside and showing that to the world. 

Eve: Yeah. Make it easier for yourself. 

Gabrielle: Yeah. Yeah.

You're the writer of your story, Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on. It's been an honor to talk to you. Until next time guys.