Welcome to (bleeping) LA
Holly had moved to Sherman Oaks, California before I did. When I got there I settled into my new digs and decided to go for a walk to check out my new neighborhood. It was a typical gorgeous southern California day and I was walking down Ventura Boulevard making mental notes of the nearest grocery [...]
Jesus TV
Holly was enjoying her position at her new record label in LA. It was a label with all 70′s funk and R&B singers and thankfully when the time came for some of her artists to go out on the road for performance dates she recommended me to work with them as a stylist. To my [...]
It’s Pronounced Drawls
The first of the artists on the old school label that I worked with was Eddie Hill of the group Too Tight. Eddie Hill was a lead vocalist and guitar player in the band that was known to brag that their instrumentation was so tight that air couldn’t get through it. At the last minute [...]
Recognize, Jive Turkey!
Holly hooked me up to style for Ronny Wilson of the 70′s funk band Party Train after the gig with Eddie Hill. He had just released a solo album on the label she worked for and was going out on a promotional tour, and just like Eddie Hill one of his first stops was Atlanta, [...]
Did He Say Shoes?
Work was going great. I was working steadily with good clients and being back in Atlanta also gave me an opportunity to begin putting together a more professional portfolio of my work. I had a good friend who was an awesome photographer in Atlanta who helped me put together a shoot so I could get [...]
T.M.I.!
I had found a wonderful hairstylist in Los Angeles. Tony was good at hair care and styling and he worked at a really nice salon near the Farmers Market. On any given visit the salon was peppered with actors, comedians, and singers. It was a great place to network as well as to beautify. I [...]
The Place To Be
Los Angeles was turning out to be a great source of fashion inspiration filled with possibility, and I was sure to get out several times a week and venture into neighborhood boutiques and shops of local designers to find new sources for upcoming styling jobs and to network. On several occasions I had driven past [...]
“Beauty vs. Brains”
Galeno Francisco, the man and the shop was a hidden jewel in Los Angeles. Other than my fascination with the clothes in the window I had never heard Galeno’s name mentioned in any of the fashion circles I had traveled in, but in the short time I had been there since starting my internship I [...]
Sgt. Piper’s Lonely Harts Club
Galeno Francisco’s clientele never ceased to amaze me. From day to day, in between all of the over-the-top Persian bridal parties, and the bat mitzvah girls and their anxious mothers obsessing over every detail of a fitting, there was a steady stream of celebrity clients who were usually accompanied by their handlers. But often there [...]
Code Brown
Los Angeles and its residents were living up to some of its most prevalent stereotypes. LA wasn’t the chocolate haven that Atlanta had been. Where mahogany, soul, and roundness were celebrated in Atlanta, ethereal, gaunt, and blond were glorified in Los Angeles. I noticed the disparity as soon as I landed in California but I [...]