My ever changing (yet always consistent) style
At age five, I was known for my exuberance, my joy, my “come-in-like-a-golden retriever” excitement. People who know me today could see a picture from that age and say “yeah, that’s the same person.” I once stood in line at an ice cream parlor shop waiting to greet my childhood babysitter whom I hadn’t seen in nearly twenty years. She lifted her head from the cash register, looked at me, and said: “Hi Wendy!” I was dumbfounded. She said I looked just the same! Energetically, I’m still similar. I am grateful to have spent years peeling away the layers of inauthenticity-- all that I forced myself to be to please, all the ways I had to learn to adapt and survive in childhood-- so I could let little Wendy come out again, more and more.
I once sent my stepdad, Bernie, to Fiorucci the coolest spot in London for underground clothes. I said: “get me anything there, I know I will dig it!”, especially Doc Martens. He came back with a pair in emerald green and a pair in white for me!
There’s pants I bought a few years ago that are strikingly similar to a pair I had at age fifteen-- drop crotch, baggy, a littlefunky, details in the pockets... I remember looking in the mirror, thinking to myself: “Wendy, you can’t run away from your own style! You’ve literally had these pants over and over throughout your life!”
There’s particular shades of raspberry and turquoise blue in my closet, my house, in things I purchased ten, fifteen, twenty years apart. How?! Because those colors resonate with me! So I pick them again and again. And those colors are making their way intentionally into my work, my website. Orange - my 1st website color, then it was for the Dulce the Dog website and I’m bringing it back to mine again!
I have photos from different periods of time in my life when I had to adapt to my environment. When I wore clothes my mom bought when I was a kid, I presented very preppy, in my earlier artistic days, engaging with costumes encouraged me to explore my style more. Even before I traveled to India, there was Indian influence-- because my taste remains true.
I’m sure you noticed -- I wear hats! It’s hard to miss. I’ve had three hat collections throughout my life. As a kid, I wore a hat to school most days of the week. In my teens, I had a hat collection from the 1920s-- my favorite was a big, straw Easter bonnet. At some point, I let them all go. I later had a small hat collection-- mostly winter stuff, for New York. And again! In the last few years I said: “hey, I got to get back in my hat collection mode! I miss them.” I still have a hat from the 20s, I have a straw hat from New York (the kissing cousin to that straw hat I had when I was 15!)
You just can’t run from yourself… so why bother? Instead, embrace yourself and go BIG! Go bald in the direction of your loves, passions, and style!
I’ve definitely been guilty of hiding or diminishing myself, all throughout my life. Teenage years when I was uncomfortable with being perceived, times as a coach when I didn’t want to “compete” with my clients. I wasn’t competing with anybody, it was my own misunderstanding in my mind, but it resulted in me not fully showing up for who I a).
I recall different periods of my life more dedicated to the exploration of self– finding the sophisticated side of myself, the professional side of myself, yet always returning to my urbán, artsy, edgy, self.
The more I understand myself, the more I embrace and love who I am, the more empowered I feel truly joyful in my own skin. Like myself, love myself, and show up being Wendy Parr!
It’s so important as a human, especially as a creative, to know yourself so you can be the the unique you that you are and allow yourself to explore, play, and grow!
I can’t encourage you enough to embrace YOU, explore what makes you you and play!!
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