Fashionista Feature: Gathered Lady Danni!

Today, for your reading pleasure, senior contributing writer Danni spills and answers 21 questions!

1. Name/Age/City? Danni. 30s are the new 20s and that’s all I have to say about it. New Orleans, Dirty South represent.

2. Describe your fashion style in 5 words. Bohemian, cultured, edgy, fresh, colorful!

3. Who are your favorite style icons? Janelle Monae, Jill Scott, Gwen Stefani, Michelle Obama, Jennifer Hudson

4. Finish this sentence: I can’t help but buy more shoes for no reason whatsoever.

5. Surprise! Interview being featured on Ellen in 2 hours! What do you wear? Polo Ralph Lauren floral ruffled silk dress, white swing jacket, Sam Edelman gold t-strap stilettos and gold accessories.    

6. Most expensive item in your closet? My wedding dress! Closely followed by my Spanish handmade eel skin black boots.

7. If a natural disaster wipes away your entire closet except for 3 pieces, what would you save? I’d save a relative the stress and voluntarily commit myself, seeing as I’ve already been through this! I’d save my Michelle Obama Vogue Cover clutch, my pink glitter Ivanka Trump heels, my indigo leopard Carlos Santana heels.

8. Favorite stores to supply your fashion habit? TJ Maxx, Buffalo Exchange, Macy’s, Eloquii, Goodwill, Asos, Voluptuous Vixen, Forever 21, Dirt Cheap, Hudson’s Treasure Hunt, Target.

9. Best fashion advice you live by: Do not buy anything that does not make you look and feel fabulous at the time you try it on! Bonus: Shop all the time. That way, you can cherry-pick amazing items and build a wardrobe, while cleverly avoiding shoppers panic when you need an outfit for a special occasion. You will also avoid spending too much on clothes at one time.

10. Worst fashion mistake you ever made? Oh there were so many! The worst was probably: overalls. An unfortunate pot-belly creating lapse in judgement that occurred over and over in high school/college. With one strap fastened I might add. Farmersonly.com poster girl!

11. Favorite childhood fashion item: Pink nikes! I was Cheetah of the Thundercats! Zoom zoom!

12. Secret fashion look you wish you could pull off: Babydoll dresses. They morph on me to a feedsack-tent-fatty-bib-thing. It’s supernatural.

13. Fill in the blank: If I were small chested, then I would wear tops and dresses with shelf bras.

14. What traits make up a gathered lady to you? Which do you have? Gathered ladies are empowered women with a defined identity, unapologetically aware of themselves, protective of themselves and their rights and choices, and fearlessly making decisions in pursuit of their goals. Whatever gathered women do or try, they go hard. They also play hard, love to learn, and love to share their experiences and interests with others. Lastly, gathered women have a lot of respect for themselves and whatever fashion they choose, all of these values are apparent. Many women, including myself, have all of these traits.

15. Favorite asset to accentuate? How? I am an *ahem* generous hourglass, and I love to wear anything that defines my shape while showing my “amazing” (I hear this all the time) legs! This means that I am the queen of foundation garments, belts, and other waist-defining and fat-roll-control techniques. Need to put a 187 on some dimples? Holla at your girl. 

16. How do you dress your body concerns? I make sure to cover that cleavage. Boobs as big as mine are always on display. I own a lot of foundation garments in different styles, configurations, and levels of control to pair with different outfits. I also try NEVER to lose my waist in an outfit, or wear billowy, long things with busy patterns. That way lies MADNESS!

17. Best fashion steal you snagged? Donna Rico bubble cocktail dress for 6$... also I have been given some amazing fashion items from a high fashion friend of mine with the same shoe size-- eel-skin Spanish boats, Donald Pliner boots.

18. Which celebrity closet would you love to raid? Jennifer Hudson!! Raiding her closet would make me feel goooooooood! *sings Nina Simone*

19. Lazy day- what are you wearing? Maxi dress and sandals all day... 

20. Fashion trend you want to go away? I’m going to need the leggings as pants trend to end IMMEDIATELY. The 0.4% of the population that could pull it off aren’t even the offenders. Let’s display those lady lumps with some style, please.

21. How has your culture influenced your fashion style? I’m New Orleans born and bred, but I’ve also travelled the world and lived and worked internationally. I love to incorporate patterns and colors from the cultures I’ve experienced. I’m also a Southern girl, so I set great store by dressing up for occasions--church, formals, cultural events, high tea... name it, and I’ve got an outfit for it.