The Clothes Horse

Rebecca is The Clothes Horse, and she wears her wardrobe well! She has a great sense of fashion, and has kindly answered all our questions...

1. How have you developed your own clothing style?
I think it has mostly been a process of time and experimentation. I started following Japanese street fashion in junior high and from there surrounded myself with other inspirations and then worked different elements into my style. Way back in the day I liked them crazy yellow faux fur bag I saw in Fruits (Japanese street fashion book/magazine) and I made one based on the design in gray. It was a little kooky, but that's what I do: take ideas I like and try to find or make something similar for myself. The theory is "if I like it on them, I'll probably like it on myself," but I don't take a look from head-to-toe. It's important to interpret a look for yourself--to change is subtly or extremely, but to make it your own.

2. What are your favorite pair of shoes?
My Bona Drag studded ballet flats. I wear my ballet flats until there are literally holes in them and these ones just go with everything so nicely. They're classic, but the studs make them contemporary too.

3. Do you prefer vintage, highstreet, designer or homemade?
Vintage is my favorite. It's a little harder to find in your size than highstreet, but it's more affordable than designer and there's so much history involved in a vintage piece. I feel like a vintage dress has a backstory and maybe my wearing it is only one small piece of its lifetime and there will be others after me, just as there were others before me.

4. What should everyone have in their wardrobe?
Color! I think essential pieces differ for everyone based on body type, location, lifestyle, etc, but color is such an essential and can really lift a person's spirits. I know people who like neutrals and wear them well, but a neutral wardrobe still strikes me as sad.

5. What do you pack with you for vacation?
It depends on where I'm going on vacation, but I tend to take my most comfortable shoes and my favorite dresses. I almost never pack heels, but I do like to trip around in pretty dresses even if I'm on a road trip or visiting the beach. Good books and my camera are other essentials.

6. Where, when and how do you find most fashion inspiration?
Lately, most of my inspiration comes from the web and there's no particular time stamp for it. Other fashion bloggers really inspire me--I admire girls with "normal" jobs, budgets, lives, and figures, who still manage to look incredibly stylish every day.

7. Your favorite movie costume?
All of Bardot's costumes in Les Mepris or "Contempt" make me swoon. She rocks serious eyeliner, a pencil skirt and cardigan with the same ease that she wears a full circle skirt and boater hat. Every scene and every costume in that film is stunning.

8. Describe your perfect day.
On a perfect day I would wake up late and spend the first half of my day hunting through antique malls and vintage shops. In the afternoon, I would bake some of my favorite sweets (like pinwheel cookies) and read a novel while everything was browning in the oven. There would be a big family dinner (where my family separate by thousands of miles would magically be in attendance) and afterward we would play card games. In the evening, I'd go out on the town with my friends for a night of dancing. I wouldn't come home until the wee hours of the morning and start the cycle again.

9. What is your favorite outfit?
I really don't know! My favorite outfits tend to be the most recent ones. Right now, I love velvet, so this outfit might be my favorite--wish I had a better picture of it! The dress is vintage and so fun!

10. What style tips, do's and don'ts have you learnt?
I don't really believe in style rules--there's nothing fun about fashion if we start to restrict it or "fine" people for violations. That said, we all do have our personal dos and don'ts; for me I can't wear head-to-toe black without some pop of color or pattern. I also believe we shouldn't just copy each other and hunt down the same piece that everyone has--I think we need to interpret our inspirations to suit ourselves, not to copy.