talking fashion, modeling, & art with model Tina Vargas, also known as Ayden, was nothing less than a privilege. she dances to the beat of her own drum, and inspires many along the way. hear some of her thoughts on clothes, individality, & staying true to your own style...
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I was born in a big city, so technically that makes me a "city girl". Ironically enough I don't feel that I fit in at all. I was always an athletic person, I played soccer with the boys and for my college, I joined the rowing team and have been rock climbing since I was 14. I love the outdoors, I love camping, I love living off the earth and making the most of it's resources.
Since my early teens I always dressed a little bit different. I am a self proclaimed thrift store queen. My best friends and I would make weekly trips in search for the latest rejects. I would spend $20 and leave with a brand new wardrobe. I would alter the clothes slightly, tearing here, stitching there, accessorizing, etc.
Labels were never important to me, I rip labels and tags off anyway. Clothes are clothes. If it fits, I wear it. I don't feel compelled to dress "in season", and I could never keep up with trends. I am a firm believer in dressing to fit your lifestyle and wearing what makes you feel good.
How you dress should be an outward expression of how you feel on the inside. What you put on is your first impression, it's your business card, your preliminary hand shake. By no means does that mean you have to dress to the nines whenever you leave the house. Anybody who knows me knows that I have a wide variety of "fat pants" for when I'm feeling the "big bloat" or simply don't feel like getting dressed that day. However the profession I have chosen doesn't really allow me to look like I've rolled out of bed either. So I trick them into believing I cared about what I looked like that day by throwing on my over sized jeans with a white v neck and a black Guess belt and some sling backs (any color!), and a 12-way headband called a "Buff" from R.E.I.
Maybe a little mascara and some clear lip gloss and I'm good to fake it all day.
I'm not qualified to tell anyone what to wear for 2010. I know what the designers are telling me is in fashion. The clothes I model are not usually clothes I would wear myself, and that's true for a lot of models out there. It's just not practical. What I can tell you is that there is ALWAYS a way to take the clothes you love and make them into clothes that other people love too. Whether you're a flannel person, a polka dot person, a Hot Topic band tee wearing person or you shop at H&M, there is ALWAYS a way to make it all work for you and make it work the fashion scene also.
In stark contrast to my athleticism and granola loving lifestyle, I am also an artist. I am a musician and a painter, a writer and a dancer. When I realized that clothes was another artistic outlet for me to be creative I was all over it. I would never have picked modeling to be something I could make a living off of - but when I started wearing my own clothes with the type of "this outfit was made for me bitches" attitude it became natural to wear everything that way. I don't apologize for wearing white after labor day, or wearing something from 2008, or mixing and matching different patterns and colors together.
The absolute most important thing is to dress to fit you, your lifestyle and the event. Don't wear leggings to a business meeting, don't wear a mini to a red carpet event, and don't wear cut off Hollister shorts to go hiking. Take a style that is you and make it versatile enough to fit all areas of your life. You don't need to change your style just because you've changed your job. The best part of getting dressed is figuring out how you can change it up and make the "same 'ol thing" into something new and different, appropriate for the event and most importantly: You. You can make a statement without hanging from the flag pole.
Don't follow the trend. If you want to wear a moo moo to the grocery store, I'm not going to stop you. But damn it if you're going to wear it, you better rock it!
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learn more about Ayden and what she's up to now, here.
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