Although she spends lots of time hitting the thrift and vintage shops looking for fresh materials, Kirsten's not really big on shopping for herself. She wears her own reconstructed creations, often mixed with clothing by the local seamstress/designer Jil Cappuccio, with whom she enjoys a working relationship that's more symbiosis than partnership. Kirsten and Jil trade clothing back and forth and share booths at gift and craft fairs, a system that allows Kirsten to bring face-to-face feedback back to the studio with her. Otherwise, she says, "I get no feedback. It's like being in a vacuum."
When she does work with the public as a vendor, Kirsten perfectly shows off how to wear her clothes or mix and match them with Jil's. But what she wears in those situations doesn't differ much from what she wears everyday. "I'm not a big shopper," she explains. "I like to dress comfortably. I'm an active person: I'm always out walking the dog, I'm sewing. I have no rules for clothes -- it all goes together for me. I dress like those Chinese ladies in San Francisco, the ones who wear anything, mixing patterns and colors. That really seeps in.
"And it's not just the clothes," Kirsten adds. "You have to ask yourself, 'What's the style I'm looking for?'"
Today, her style is well displayed: She's wearing Jil's beautiful paneled vintage fabric wrap skirt, which she loves and seems perfectly cut for her long, lean figure. Paired with that, Kirsten dons striped Parisian tights and vintage boots (another love she shares with Jil, who carries them in her Ogden Street boutique), and around her neck dangle layered silver necklaces, including a series of heart lockets, a strand of small silver beads with an odd pearl by Christy Lea Payne and a swallow pendant. It's everything she says she is: eclectic, comfortable and personal.Find Pearl Clothing at the Jil Cappuccio, One of a Kinds, Limited Lines; Mona Lucero Design Boutique; Fancy Tiger; Peppermint; YesPleaseMore and other discerning locations featuring local designers; or visit Kirsten's Etsy page.
You can also buy Kirsten's appliqued-flower eProject Stitch Embellishments tutorial online from the Interweave Store.