Style File: Simona Zappas

The Mac Weekly sat down with Simona Zappas to discuss fashion, teen phases and lint rollers.

TMW: How would you characterize your style?

SZ: Like a baby trying to dress up like an adult. A baby’s businesswoman.

TMW: What inspires your fashion?

SZ: I guess stuff that I watch. I love the clothes in Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Miami Vice and Miranda Hobbes from Sex and the City.

TMW: Have you always been interested in fashion?

SZ: I’ve been obsessed with it my whole life. It reveals how extremely shallow I am.

TMW: How has your style has changed over the years?

SZ: I go through such phases. I practice serial monogamy with them. Ever since I was eight I can think of overarching themes and their beginnings and ends.

TMW: What are some examples of themes?

SZ: For a while in high school I tried to dress like a natural history museum. I wore dead animals. Then I transitioned to a baroque painting. When I came to Mac, it was the height of my intense riot girl phase (every trend of the 90’s). I only recently got rid of all of those clothes.

TMW: What phase are you in now?

SZ: It’s hard because of the weather. I’m limited to dressing specifically a lot of the time. In my dream world, I’d look like a businesswoman everyday. I love business.

TMW: What motivates these phases?

SZ: Sheer ego, it’s all for me.

TMW: What does your family think of your style?

SZ: My parents think I dress like an old lady, they think I look ridiculous. My entire extended family was over and it took me an hour to leave because everyone saying “you look horrible,” “you look so stupid,” finally I said “that’s it, I’m leaving.”

TMW: How much time do you spend choosing an outfit each morning?

SZ: It depends, I’d 20-45 minutes. I have those “I don’t have anything to wear” moments all the time. I have simple throw-on outfits. I call them cartoon character outfits because cartoons have one thing they always wear.

TMW: How big is your closet?

SZ: In the past year I’ve gotten rid of over half my clothes, it drives me crazy because I miss a lot of things. I’m a pretty excessive person.

TMW: Where do you get your clothes?

SZ: My grandma gives me a lot of cool clothes. I also really like thrift stores and flea markets.

TMW: What’s your ideal outfit for a Minnesota winter day?

SZ: I hate my winter clothes. I would say most days I’m wearing some sort of all black ensemble and then a big jacket over it. It’s secretly cozy.

TMW: What would you wear for a night out or a special occasion?

SZ: Probably the same thing. I love the process of getting
dressed. I like to do it with friends but it’s more of the process. I generally end up wearing the same things. I love the
transformation, I wake up looking like a piece of white bread.

TMW: What are your favorite pieces?

SZ: A red Angora baseball cap, a pair of lavender John Fluevog platforms, a jean jacket with a patch of Meatwad form Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and a yellow and black polka dot blazer that my best friend gave me. I also love to lounge in my robe and feel languid.

TMW: Have you ever wanted a career in fashion?

SZ: In middle school wanted to be a lingerie designer. I made bras that looked like bacon and eggs. That’s it really. I’m a Media and Cultural Studies Major.

TMW: In ten years, what do you predict your style will be like?

SZ: I think that as I’ve gotten older and gotten jobs my style has really changed. I couldn’t wear half the things I used to wear because you could just see my butt. I also hope I wear more hats. I would love a hat with fruit on it.

TMW: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever worn?

SZ: I had this pair of ripped jeans that just literally didn’t have a butt. I wore them all the time not thinking about that. My friend showed me this old picture, she said “look at this” and I was like “oops!”

TMW: Do you have any style advice for the masses?

SZ: Buy a lint roller, it will change your life. It’s that subtle flourish.

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