RUMI - FASHION TOAST - INTERVIEW

FORGET CELEBS FOR A MINUTE: GET TO KNOW RUMI

Myspace / Ebay / Mystylediary / Blog

Rumi was gracious enough to let me interview her.

Rumi I've seen you all over the Internet for a couple of years now, where did you get your start? What made you want to open Treasure Chest Vintage?

Ever since my freshman year of high school, I have had a love of vintage clothing and the thrill of thrift store gem-discovery. Back then, that would translate into ratty little boy's Ts and battered into oblivion '70s Levi's, maybe with a fashionable shoelace woven throughout the loops if I was feeling extra creative (sadly, I'm serious). But it never occurred to me to turn this into a business until after I moved back from a year in Hawaii and randomly asked my boyfriend to take some pictures of a couple odd things I wanted to sell. Soon thereafter, we started styling the pictures a little more and putting more effort into marketing, and we were eventually scouring California for new and on-trend vintage. Finally, I had a reason to buy all the fabulous things I would find that weren't my size!

When did you start becoming interested in Fashion?

Well I was a rather petulant child, frequently insisting upon patent leather shoes, white t-strap sandals, and the flounciest ruffly thing that could be found. From the time I can remember coherent thought patterns, I was extremely aware of how I wanted to style myself, with many a night spent digging things out of my closet that might be able to be renovated. I was in high school when all of this started to materialize further, and I started stockpiling fashion magazines (LOVED the Liz Tilberis era of Bazaar), idolizing Kate Moss and James King (I refuse to use her current Jaime), and growing increasingly bitter that my parentally enforced Japanese school attendance conflicted perfectly with Saturday morning viewings of Fashion File.

Where do you like to shop?

I am in what is essentially perpetual shopping mode. I love to go thrifting in random little suburbs, but I also have a relatively unhealthy addicting to Forever21, which is all too apparent on my blog. I rarely splurge on actual clothing items and instead like to save the funds for extravagant purchases in the form of handbags and shoes. MAYBE the occasional exceptional dress. I also love H&M, though shopping there is mostly an exercise in frustration since all of their small sizes are so infrequently available that I sometimes wonder if they even were produced in the first place. And Ebay, obviously. My favorite place ever to shop is in Tokyo, but I haven't been in over a year.

Where do you find your inspiration from? Your outfits are always flawless!

I am a French Vogue fiend - and actually, a lot of the people I find most inspiring are French too. I like it when someone's not really wearing anything that exciting but the combination of pieces or general effect is simply alluring. Clemence Poesy and Charlotte Gainsbourg definitely personify this, they're just maddeningly chic. But most of the time when I'm getting dressed I just fixate on a garment I haven't worn in a while or that feels fresh again and sort of force myself to update it. Some of the best shopping can be done in one's own closet.

What made you want to start a fashion blog?

Literally, probably Susie Bubble's existence. She has such a fearless approach to fashion that is a little complicated yet simple at the same time because she just wears what she feels. Her writing style is definitely inspiring too, and since I pretty much stopped writing after I was through with college, I thought it would be fun to get back into it again. I honestly didn't think people would be interested in my personal style but when WhoWhatWearDaily asked me to be a Myspace Muse I thought it might be fun to document my outfits online.

Any fashion advice for Mahalo Fashion readers?

I say just wear what you like! I get weird looks and comments all the time but if dressing the way I want to makes me happy, then it's definitely worth it. Dress for the life you want :) Sorry that was cheesy haha.

Final question, out of curiosity have you ever modeled? Cause you seem natural at it!

Aww that is extremely sweet...umm well I did some in college and was with an agency when I lived in Hawaii but I only did horrible cheesy work. Seriously. So cheesy. Awful.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Just a thank you to Mahalo for wanting to interview me! :)

Mahalo Rumi, and thanks for your time!

Mahalo fashion,
Jen

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