I recently interviewed two of OSA's fashion icons, Naseem Alavi and Dave Cool about how fashion influences their daily lives. —Ivy Davis
I think I’ve always had preference over what I wear, but middle school is when I stopped caring about what other people were wearing and what was trending at the time. One of my first, ‘funky’ outfits I wore was a vintage vest with teddy bears all over, a key covered button up and my corduroy blazer and pants. I wore that to my 8th grade graduation, then again to my second queer prom. I got that outfit from Mars Fashion in Berkley. I’d like to say I go there pretty often when I have the money.
The way I dress has a big impact on my mood. Often you can tell how I’m feeling by how much time I put into my outfit. Usually if I’m in a bad mood I’ll try to dress nice to make myself feel a little better, but sometimes that’s not the case.
I’d like to think gender doesn’t influence my clothes. I focus more on different aesthetics than whether I look like one way or another. In terms of my fashion icons, Jay Versace is definitely one of them. I don’t dress much like him though, because the people I’m around have more of an influence on me than celebrities do. Riley Gowan has been an influence on the way I dress, and who I am as a person. I didn’t realize how much they influenced my style until I considered where my interests lie. I don’t have one main style or aesthetic, but a lot of the same things I enjoy are sprinkled throughout different styles I wear.
My fashion reflects me as a person in the way that it’s always switching back and forth. Sometimes it’s confusing when it wants to be, and it can never make up its mind but that’s what’s good about it in a way. My fashion can be confusing and still be put together. I’m a mess, and I know I’ll be a mess for awhile, but that’s what’s funky about me, and I can say I enjoy that about myself.
The way I dress has a big impact on my mood. Often you can tell how I’m feeling by how much time I put into my outfit. Usually if I’m in a bad mood I’ll try to dress nice to make myself feel a little better, but sometimes that’s not the case.
I’d like to think gender doesn’t influence my clothes. I focus more on different aesthetics than whether I look like one way or another. In terms of my fashion icons, Jay Versace is definitely one of them. I don’t dress much like him though, because the people I’m around have more of an influence on me than celebrities do. Riley Gowan has been an influence on the way I dress, and who I am as a person. I didn’t realize how much they influenced my style until I considered where my interests lie. I don’t have one main style or aesthetic, but a lot of the same things I enjoy are sprinkled throughout different styles I wear.
My fashion reflects me as a person in the way that it’s always switching back and forth. Sometimes it’s confusing when it wants to be, and it can never make up its mind but that’s what’s good about it in a way. My fashion can be confusing and still be put together. I’m a mess, and I know I’ll be a mess for awhile, but that’s what’s funky about me, and I can say I enjoy that about myself.
 | NASEEM ALAVI Naseem’s fashion sense has always been apart of them. Even when they were little they would get compliments on how well their outfits were put together. Their style is heavily influenced by musicals and film. Gender does have an effect on how they dress, but it doesn’t determine what they will and will not wear, their “spirit of the day” does. Clothing is just as they describe it--“a friend I carry with myself throughout the day”--and if they’re feeling bad, at least they have that. “The way I dress is a way I make a statement, even to people I don’t know.” |
| COOL GUY DAVE Dave’s fashion is heavily inspired by music, and his mom’s closet. He really idolizes woman fashion, and gets a lot of his clothes from his mom’s closet “love ya mom”. He likes his style to be 90's inspired, but not clothes that you would typically see people from the 90's wearing. Bucket hats, flowers, Hawaiian shirts and an explosion of colors. Dave owns so many Hawaiian shirts, his closet can’t fit all of them. One of Dave’s icons is Tyler, The Creator, specifically his album Cherry Bomb. |   |
Through this album, he figured out he just has to do his shit and be himself and not to let other people tell him otherwise. So, he makes some of his own clothes, chooses his own style and tires not to buy brand named stuff, with the exception of Vans and the Supreme boxers his owns. Dave says, “No one can express yourself better than you. I firmly believe that your cannot be fashionable if you do not take risk and try to be yourself”.
Dave strongly disagrees with conforming to men’s gender roles; “Fuck guys gender conforming types. Fuck all that shit. I’m more inspired by, I wouldn’t say ‘queer fashion’ but the sense of originality that comes through that, because that better expresses myself”. Clothes influences his mood, and if he doesn’t have the “cleanest fit he could’ve pulled off that day” it affects him, but once he has an outfit that he really loves and is proud of and is happy of expressing himself in that day, it makes him happy. All around, Dave is a fun guy, full of expression and he never fails to give me good energy. Always dancing with a bright smile, you gotta love him.
Dave strongly disagrees with conforming to men’s gender roles; “Fuck guys gender conforming types. Fuck all that shit. I’m more inspired by, I wouldn’t say ‘queer fashion’ but the sense of originality that comes through that, because that better expresses myself”. Clothes influences his mood, and if he doesn’t have the “cleanest fit he could’ve pulled off that day” it affects him, but once he has an outfit that he really loves and is proud of and is happy of expressing himself in that day, it makes him happy. All around, Dave is a fun guy, full of expression and he never fails to give me good energy. Always dancing with a bright smile, you gotta love him.
