Style Profiles

Keely Valentine

Occupation: Singer/internet personality

How would you describe your personal style?
Glam-rockstar-princess gone anime.
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DOM

How would you describe your personal style?
Pretty bread-and-butter. Jeans and a t-shirt. I like the old pop culture stuff. I have a Bruce Lee t-shirt that I really love, that I got in England. But other than that, I get a hold of something and I just wear it to death.

Where do you get your style influences?
Frenchy’s. It’s a store on the east coast. It’s a used clothing store. You go in and it’s like 50 cents for a t-shirt, and a buck for a pair of jeans. You find great things there.

Is there anything you’re wearing that you especially like?
This is my favourite t-shirt of all time. Alf t-shirt. I always wear it. Every time I go to put it on, I’m like, “I wear this too much.” And then, I don’t care — I wear it anyway. People must think I’m a little slow. Like, “He’s wearing the same t-shirt again… Oh, hey Dom!”

Is there anything you would never wear?
A barrel. Glass. I would never wear broken glass. Seriously, I don’t know. Bell-bottoms. Anything crazy. The latest fad, probably.

Before you go on stage, how much thought do you put into what you wear?
I’m a minimalist, so anything that I throw on, I know I’ll be fine with.

How did you get into music?
I grew up on the east coast, so you’re either a fisherman or a musician. No… In our community, and my family, music was a very big thing. I started singing in a choir when I was very young, playing guitar when I was very young. Music was everywhere in our community, so you couldn’t get away from it. I just went with it.

Is there an image that The Hots are trying to portray?
I’m not sure. We all sort of have our own personalities, so I think we all just go with that. I think that people can spot when you’re being dishonest. You sort of have to stay true to yourself.

What are your interests?
Jiu-Jitsu. I bike a lot. I play hockey. Rock-climb. I started doing parkour. To pay the bills, I work at a union, so that’s pretty interesting stuff.

What’s your current obsession?
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s the greatest sport ever.

What do you want to do in the future?
I’d like to be a rock star. Is that too cliché? That’d be fun. But, I don’t know. I’d like to be a good, old man. I’m looking forward to that. Like, the old days. Sit around and grumble about stuff. So, those two things are kind of contradictory, but you know…

Find out more info at www.thehotsmusic.com

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MJ

How would you describe your personal style?
It depends on the occasion. When I play a show, I go fancy-pants a bit with it. I guess I try to have a bit of an edge with that “girly” thing. On a day-to-day basis, jeans and a t-shirt. Whatever is comfy.

Where do you get your style influences?
Other girl bands are a big influence. I try to go with whatever is in style and put my own twist to it in some way.

Is there something you ‘re wearing that you especially like?
This dress that I got — that I really love — it’s just a plaid dress, but I got it for five bucks at the CNE during their big sale. I love my boots too.

Is there anything you’d never wear?
Pouffy-sleeved things.

When you play a show, do you think a lot about what you’re going to wear?
Sometimes I have my outfits picked out three weeks before the show.

Can you tell me a bit about your musical background?
I went to musical theatre school and realized quickly that that was a backup plan, and I started writing songs. I had another band before, but this band, we kind of do the whole straight-up rock, but with a good dance groove. We try to make people tap their feet, at the very least, if not burst out into crazy dance moves. I also have a solo thing. So, I kind of get my fix for different styles of music — and for different moods that I’m in — through my different projects, which is kind of fun.

What’s the next purchase you really want to make?
Maybe another guitar. Mine’s a cheapie, but I love it. But yeah, maybe another guitar.

What’s your current obsession?
Angel, the TV series. It’s an old show, but I got hooked. My roommate has all the seasons (on DVD) and now I’m a slave to it.

What are your interests?
I love watching movies. I love reading poetry sometimes. I love hanging out with my friends. I love dancing.

What do you want to do in the future?
I do hope that I can pay rent with music, and I also want a family. I don’t want to do the rock star thing completely. I’m a homebody too, so if I can find a way to mesh both worlds, that would be my ideal life.

Find out more info at www.thehotsmusic.com

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SHARI

Occupation: Early childhood worker, music promoter
My style: A little bit of everything. Punk, rock, a little bit of goth; skater.
Style influences: A lot of bands, a lot of chick bands, Kat Von D. I shop at Hot Topic a lot.
Deciding what to wear: It depends on my mood. It depends on the weather, too. If I knew it was going to rain, I wouldn’t have worn this.
Hairstyle: I’ve had short hair probably for seven or eight years. Long hair just doesn’t suit my face. I dyed my hair yesterday — black. I get bored of it really quickly, and I dye it maybe once a month. My friend cut it for me.
Glasses: Got them at Pacific Mall. I got them because of the stars on the side of the frame.
Shirt: It’s fun, it’s frilly, and it’s red and black — they’re my two favourite colours.
Sweater: It’s (my friend Aeson’s) sweater. I’m just wearing it because it was raining.
Necklace: Shows my interest in music, as a music promoter. I’ve been going to concerts since I was nine years old.
Leggings: I’m trying to be more girly. I’m trying to wear tighter fitting clothes. And to change and be more mature now.
Shoes: I wore them for graduation. They’re flats and they’re comfortable to walk in. They go well with leggings, as opposed to my DC skate shoes.
Piercings: I got my first one when I was 15, I guess to rebel against my parents, because they told me not to go and get it. Ever since then, I got more. My friend pierced my lip and my nose for me, just to kind of experiment with it. And ear piercings, my mom had like 10 in each ear, so I kind of just followed that.
Tattoos: I like them because they all mean something to me. The first one I got was a heart with spikes, and it was from a painting that I did in grade 11 art class.
I would never wear: Socks and sandals. I think it’s wrong. It looks terrible.
How I got into promoting: I got into it probably five years ago with a couple of different companies. I’ve always gone to concerts and I decided, “Why not try to put on my own concert?” because I knew a lot of people in bands. I also worked at the El Mocambo, and working there helped me get the venue. The hardest part is booking a venue, and since I had that, I just needed to find bands who would draw well for shows, and who were willing to play the shows.
Favourite music: A lot of punk and metal. I’ll listen to anything but country.
Interests: I travel a lot. I try to go to California a couple of times a year. Get away from the Toronto weather. I’ve been to Germany, Amsterdam… I try to go to as many places as possible. I try to paint. I’m not a very good artist, but I try. I take pictures of the city and nature.
Next travel destination: I want to go backpacking through Europe for maybe a month or so.
I can’t live without: Music.
Something most people don’t know about me: When I was in elementary school, I was in the choir. And I was a little church girl. I guess I’ve changed out of that as I progressed through life. I go to church once a year now, as opposed to going twice a weekend.

Find out more at www.myspace.com/inzpireentertainment

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AESON

Occupation: Musician, music tutor, web developer
My style: It’s really music-influenced. Everything that I have has some sort of relation to music, my own music, and other bands that I see and that I admire. I’ll wear their clothing, or I’ll wear similar things to what they wear.
Hairstyle: I like it short. I used to have a big shag, but I like it short and spiky. It’s easy to manage.
Shirt: This is the band Killswitch Engage. It’s a band that I really like, especially their earlier stuff.
Wristbands: These I got for free. They’re Jägermeister wristbands.
Belt: It’s a studded belt. I usually have a ska belt buckle, but I’ve been taking that off recently. It’s been scratching the back of my guitar. I’ve got to get a better belt buckle.
Pants: They’re just fairly plain blue jeans. I wear blue jeans pretty much the whole time.
Shoes: Converse skate shoes. Comfortable, fits the style well. I wear a lot of black, so that’s why the black shoes go well. I have some brown ones, too.
Tattoo: I just got this a couple of weeks ago. This is Letterbox Black, my band. It represents my quest in life, and what I’m doing with my music. My best friend also got the same one, so it’s like a physical thing sort of bonding us together.
About Letterbox Black: We’re a duo. We’ve been playing since the end of 2007. We’ve been playing in this band together, and we’ve been in different other projects together. But we found acoustic music was the best avenue for us, because we have really lyrically-based songs, and it’s really easy to come across with lyrics when it’s sort of just you with a guitar.
How I became a musician: I’ve always done music. Even when I was three or four years old I liked playing with spoons and knives on my pillows and my couch. I started drums seriously in grade seven, so I’ve been playing for 11 years at that. I picked up guitar about five years ago. I also play a little bass and a little piano, and I rented a saxophone this month, so I’m trying that out, too.
Favourite music: I listen to pretty much everything. I don’t listen to a lot of country. I like more renegade country, like Johnny Cash and stuff — more acoustic. I listen to a lot of acoustic music. I also like death metal, punk, jazz, ska, reggae, classical.
Interests: Music is obviously my huge thing, so I’m doing that all the time. I’m interested in computers, so that’s why the web design stuff works well. I like sports. I don’t do it as much as I used to, but I love hockey, so I’m loving the playoffs right now. It’s awesome.
I can’t live without: My guitar. And a pad of paper. And a pen.
Goal: Playing more shows, and — eventually — getting known, getting big, and spreading a message of peace, encouragement, and understanding.

Check out www.letterboxblack.com for more info

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GEORGIE

Occupation: Designer (Retro G Couture)

How would you describe your personal style?
Eccentric.

Where do you get your style influences?
History. Dickensian, 17th century men’s fashion. Look in any historic period, other than the one we’re in at the moment, and men’s fashion was always the strongest. Tailcoats have been around for centuries. Oliver Twist – Dickensian story. Fagin… They all had tailcoats on. That kind of deal. Top hats. History.

How do you decide what to wear each day?
It depends what personality I’m in. I’ve got a lot of personalities. I’m a Gemini, so it depends who I am that day. That sounds psychotic, doesn’t it?

What can you tell me about your hairstyle?
I love blue. It’s uplifting. You look in the mirror and you look alive in the morning.

Your jacket?
It’s a bustle jacket. This is a military-style jacket, enhanced with a bustle and the Alice in Wonderland collage. That’s mainly what I do. Bustles or tails.

And underneath, we have a vest here?
Yeah, this is the gambler’s vest, with the royal flush playing cards on it.

How did you come to create this?
Well, vests go hand in hand with tailcoats. It works together, because the tailcoats cut away at the front. So, in the old days, they’d wear the vest underneath and it would just come out of the front of the coat. That’s the look.

What about your pants?
These are just generic jeans. I like to dress this look down. You can dress it up, but if you want to wear it everyday, wear it with jeans and some boots.

Your boots?
These are cowboy boots that I got on eBay. Great place for shoes. I like colour and comfort.

Is there anything you would never wear?
Yeah, sportswear. You know those running suits? What do they call them? Tracksuits? Yeah, never, ever.

How did you get into designing?
Used to be in the music industry. Worked for Mute Records. Best record label in the whole world, and it’s a rock and roll look. You know, this is rock star. They love this look, because it’s extrovert, it’s flamboyant, it’s almost like stage wear.

How did you transition from music to designing?
I transitioned to designer because I had a kid, and once you’re a mother the music business is not a good place to be in. And I’ve always made stuff. Always.

What do you enjoy about it?
Everything, because I never make two the same. I get up and I enjoy work. Yeah, it’s great.

Any final words?
Wear your clothes; don’t let them wear you. Always be in charge of what you’re wearing, and then you’ll feel cool.

Check out www.myspace.com/retrogcouture for more info

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