I do fly things- Silk Allen

 
I first met Miss Glitter aka Lady Silk when I came to a casting call in Cleveland for her fashion show. I wasn't able to participate in the show due to scheduling conflicts, but I saw the pics and I must say I was blown away. I got to meet with her and we chat through social media often and I said I want to interview you. So here we go.

    1. What is the name of your brand?

The name of my brand is The House of Fly by Lady Silk, and yes you have to say it all like A tribe Called Quest lol. It marries my love of fashion (the House of Chanel, Dior, etc), my interest in the early 90's drag balls (the House of Ninja, Mizrahi and others) and my love of music-ie A Tribe Called Quest lol.  I wanted it to be ambiguous enough to use on anything I decided to venture into- clothes, household products, music! And I wanted to force people to remember my name as well...

2. What do you design?

 I do everything but design clothes. I am a style entrepreneur- I am a wardrobe stylist, costume designer, fashion journalist and amateur photographer.  I don't have the patience to sit still and sew right now but I'm cold with the glue gun lol!

3. What was the first thing you styled?

 The first time I ever styled something is when I worked at Dots and I used to sneak and dress the mannequins in my own way when my manager went on long cigarette breaks lol. I would take photos of them and use them for my "portfolio" until i was able to work with real live models.

4. When did you start styling?

  I started styling in college (Central State Univ.) back in '03 because people liked how I dressed and I was mainly getting things from Wal- Mart, family Dollar and the Goodwill piecing my wardrobe together on a broke but fabulous college student budget lol. Soon my peers started asking me to dress them for Homecoming, other dances and parties (even for our legendary b-ball games against K-State and the Wu) and Communications Week where we had to dress up in professional clothes.

5. What made you want to start styling?

 What made me want to style people is really just seeing how one little accessory, color, shoe, or anything can completely change a person's outfit. I got tired of seeing my friends wear the same things the same way so I started going in their closets and forcing them to wear things out of order and then they ended up loving the results lol. It's similar to how a hairdresser might push her client to try something new and they are not excited about it until they actually see it and both end up happy.

6. Describe your style

My style has changed over the years. In my elementary days I had a thing for 50's poodle dresses (smdh I know lol) so I have always loved vintage, unique things... in high school I stopped wearing name brand and focused more on personal style than fashion (and def got ridiculed ALOT in the process lol) and it just went on to be a mishmash of all things, colors, prints and costumes etc... Now that I'm older my style has evolved and I'm kind of a minimalist. It's a misconception that I only wear purple clothes ( but I did that for four years straight- lots of white clothes and RIT dyeing lol), but nope only my hair remains purple (for the last 6 years). The only thing I absolutely refuse to do is wear the color PINK! I'm more into well made basics and I accessorize the hell out of them lol.

 7. Who are some of you favorite designers?

 My fave designers are Lanvin, Balenciaga, Ports 1961, Celine and Raf Simmons. Sometimes they change by the season (like this season I love Chanel lol), but I always love these designers and houses.

8. Where do you get inspiration from?

 I draw inspiration from everywhere... music, movies, museums, street fashion... Sometimes I go downtown and just sit and observe different ethnic groups and how they dress ( I love how African and Indian women layer their clothes and the different prints they use and the expressive eye makeup they sometimes use. I watch lots of old movies because 30's and 40's is the epitome of glamour (one of my faves is the original The Women with Joan Crawford) and I take lots of walks by myself through different neighborhoods and cities with my notebook and my mace cause I don't play lol.

9. Do you sew your own designs? if no, why not?

If I could sew I would def create my own things. I may get inspiration for a DIY from a blogger or someone else, but I always make it my own by putting my own unique spin on it.

10. How do you feel about designers duplicating other designer’s work?

 I feel like in fashion there will never be anything new. There are no new shapes or even colorways that have not already been done and unless you are doing something as far as like technology wise with your fabrics, then somebody will always "copy" your designs. You can't trademark  certain cut, color, or even prints or patterns (unless you have enough money like Tiffany to have your own blue color) so you just have to put your own spin to it. There are 40 different white tees available and a market for all of them. But if somebody is outright copying your shit- blast they ass on social media lol!

      11. Where can people see you work and book you for styling?

You can see my work on my blog idoflythings.blogspot.com, facebook/silkallen, Instagram: idoflythings216, Youtube channel: idoflythings and my Vimeo channel Silk Allen (I produce fashion videos now!)

  

1        12. What is your favorite thing to style?

      I like to add embellishments and paint different things, so I might take a plain pair of pumps and add color on them or a piece of broken jewelry, or maybe cut the sleeves off a dress, wear it like that, then cut the bottom of the dress into a high low shape- wear it like that, and then cut the whole top off and wear as a skirt lol. I like to destroy lots of things and re-imagine it as something else. So I never throw anything away.

13. What's in your styling kit?

Everything is in my styling kit! The basics- bulldog clips, safety pins, mini sewing kit, basic makeup items, small rings and earrings, fashion tape... Then I have the just in case items: razors, hairspray, wipes, glass cleaner, to go cleaners, travel size unscented lotions and hand sanitizers, a small itty bitty sewing machine (just for show cause I can't really use it lol) eyelashes of all different colors,garbage bags tampons, bobby pins... and then I have items in there that i can't really explain but I refuse to take out like my vat of vampire blood, tracks of hair and hair glue, a hole puncher combo thingamajig that does 21 different things besides punch holes, velcro, gum (cause sometimes models breath stank lol) screw driver, tissue and other random things. You never know!

1   14. How do you keep up on the new colors, fabrics and trends?

 I follow things on different fashion websites like style.com and other streetwear sites. I get 10 consumer fashion mags per month (all except Vogue which I hate except for their September and March issues) and I read trade newspapers (Women's Wear Daily) and other newswire pieces including the Wall Street Journal (I'm really just a nerd who loves fashion and style lol). And I keep my eyes open and my ears to the streets because that is really where things start. Pantone is the only color source that I will use because that's the industry standard and i go with my gut when it comes to forecasting.

  

1   15.What sets your designs apart from the rest? 

What sets me a part from other stylists is my knowledge of fashion history, the love of design and the genuine love of people and self style. I always try to put a twist in anything I do because honestly in the last few years there has been an influx of  "fashion stylists" who just put outfits together and throw them on people like voila! I take a more cerebral approach where we sit down, have a consultation and discuss your budget, lifestyle and how you see yourself in clothes.  That way I leave my clients with their own knowledge of how to shop for themselves and to know and understand how garments are supposed to fit.

16. What makes your style unique?

My style is unique simply because I am a unique person. I literally was Born This Way lol. I'm a Pisces- we are the last of the Zodiac signs and therefore we are a conglomeration of every sign before us. I want get all astrological on you but is has a lot to do with the way I do any and everything. I used to be afraid of how "different" I was, people always used to make fun of me and mock me because of that but now EVERYBODY is trying so hard to be different that they all look the same and I'm just me- same 'ol G- shoutout to Ginuwine lol.