An interview with... Mary Catherine

I saw her pictures for the first time at flickr.com. I immidiatly fell in love with her style. First I didn't know who to interview, until she popped up in my head! I'm so glad she said yes to the interview and now here it is! From the moment I saw her pictures, she's a big inspiration to me. And I hope I'm not going to be the only one!

Tell us something about yourself
My name is Mary Catherine Garrison and I'm an actress (primarily stage)and artist/craftsperson living in Brooklyn, NY.

What does fashion and beautiful clothes mean to you?
I hate to sound pretentious--but to me it's art! And I'm not even talkingabout high-fashion "couture"--in fact I much prefer street fashion sites to fancy runway shows or magazines. High-fashion doesn't necessarily interestme. I feel like the assembly of an outfit or a look is ALL ABOUT the personwearing it. It's a series of very personal choices and there's so muchinformation about the wearer, all the myriad reasons they chose everyelement--the color, texture, the silhouette. It fascinates me. It's asimportant a mode of self-expression to me as my drawings or paintings orwriting are.

How would you describe your personal style?
Hmmm...that changes a lot but one thing I have always responded to and
been inspired by is nostalgia or a romantic history. I LOVE the 1920s right
now and the 1960s! But overall, I'm pretty girly and I like to mix
old-fashioned with a little modern. I've been calling it
'french-orphan-1920s-vintage-fairy-tale-chic'!! Haha--I don't even know if
that makes sense to anybody else but it does to me :)

Which item in your closet couldn’t you live without?
Right now it's all my tights. There's a BUNCH of them in many different
colors and textures and they are making outfits complete for me. But now
that I've said that--I also want to say my hats because I wear one
everyday....so the real answer might be my black wool beret. That is a tough
question, though...:)

For what piece of clothing that hangs in your closet, do
you feel the most ashamed of?
I don't know that I'm ashamed of this necessarily--but because I'm an
actress I have to have some clothes for auditions that I--personally--would
never wear. For example, I have to have some suits to play lawyers, or other
things to play a mom and it is stuff I would NEVER EVER buy or put on for
any reason and it's taking up precious real estate in my closet!!!!

Do you often have miss-buys or do you wear everything you buy?
I definitely have miss-buys! (I love that term, by the way :) I am
veeeeeeery impulsive which naturally leads to a lot of bad purchases. But on
the good side, very few missed opportunities because I most always tell
myself to just go for it and try to make it into something else wearable
later. But I AM making a conscious effort to buy less and re-mix my closet
more!

Did you ever have the feeling you wanted to fit in as for clothing, because you don’t look like the average person you see walking on the street?
I think everybody wants to fit in and also really be an individual, but
for me, the need to be and look like who I felt I was always won out. It was
always very important to look the way I wanted to look. Luckily my parents
were very understanding and very patient with my clothing experiments.
Because there were some bad ones :) I'm so glad I went with it, though.

Did you ever had unpleasant comments on your clothing, and if so, how did/do you deal with it?
No, not that I'm aware of! I feel like I've always gotten pretty positive
responses. I may just tune out the bad vibes but that's probably for the
best, anyway. :)

Maybe tips for the people who want to wear their own style,but are afraid?
Well it can sometimes seem daunting to put on clothes that you know will
cause you to stand out, but the deeply wonderful feeling you get from really
being exactly who you are and looking how you want is so empowering it is
worth it. It's worth it to be who you are :)

What is your favorite trend right now?
Oxford shoes, lady-like skirts and blouses, and TIGHTS!

Which trend do you think is awful?
I just cannot get into the futuristic-looking high-fashion things. The
silhouettes are a little too odd, too cold for my taste. It's usually the
exact opposite of what I like. I really need a lot of color and warmth.

Do you have a fashion-icon? Or a website where you get inspiration?
oh yes! That changes a lot too--but I always love to see what Kate Moss
wears because she is so effortless and perfect. I like Zooey Deschanel's
style a lot. Louise Brooks is a huge one, as is Brigitte Bardot. I do find
myself looking at fashion magazines sometimes, but if everyone in the world
is wearing it--you can bet it bores me. Which is why I so love vintage
pieces. Probably no one else will have it! Lately I've been watching old
movies for inspiration and ideas. I've met and discovered a bunch of people
on Flickr through wardrobe remix and others and I regularly wander through
their outfit photos for inspiration. Fashion blogs are the best, though
because they're real people being so creative! I'm so grateful people put
themselves out there :)

What would you never, but then also never wear on the fashion area?
I never ever wear tennis shoes in public unless I'm going to the gym.
There are so many cute variations on tennis shoes now but I just can't do
it! I have a thing against them, I think. I would always rather be
over-dressed than under-dressed :)

Is there something you would like to say to the people who read this?
Well, I have a blog too:
http://www.littleredfox.typepad.com/
and an etsy shop: http://www.mcatgarrison.etsy.com/
and flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/littleredfox/

I really hope everyone enjoyed this interview as much as I did!
And for next week. She's cute, she's Dutch and has for her age an amazing style!