The unique souls who wear Fluevogs are hands down some of the most stylish around. As part of our Pride 2023 celebrations, we sat down with some of our lovely LGBTQIA+ Fluevogologists for another edition of our VogPride Series to talk Vog-styling tips, fashion, personal expression, and more, straight from the Fluevog floor — you might just find inspiration for your next outfit!
We hope you enjoy this year’s Style Session video interviews — thanks to Rachel, Kam, Justin, and Tyson for sharing their invaluable Fluevog styling tips with us! Be sure to follow us on Instagram for more great content featuring fabulous Fluevogologists and Fluevogers alike.
My name is Rachel Jayson. I use she/her or she/they pronouns
[Rachel twirls around showing the front and back of her light blue platform mary janes, the Vogtalk Laurie.]and I’m wearing the Laurie.
[Different views of Rachel sitting in the Fluevog store show details of her black eyeliner and lipstick, leather necklace, bright blue printed skirt, and purple tights.]Often when I am creating an outfit, I’m thinking about my mood, I’m thinking about how the world is going to read me. As a black woman, I can’t control a lot about the first impressions that the world is going to take from me and so my agency over the color that I wear, the shapes that I wear, the space that I take up is really important. I tend to lean towards brighter colors, more exciting patterns, exaggerated silhouettes because that is what makes me feel big and powerful. Especially in the queer community, what you look like is a signal to friends, to allies. You’re able to deliver so many messages so it’s not just mood, it’s also I see you seeing me, I’m a safe person, I too am wearing light fetish gear, I too am a plus size woman that is showing my waist and my butt. I too am willing to move through this space that is not full of people who look like me and I’m okay taking up that space, I feel confident taking up that space. I made this skirt. It’s made out of cotton from a company called Vlisco, that makes lots of wonderful prints that are used in West African fashion. I chose like a, kind of dark berry color for the tights, to pull that brown towards the purple. I’m wearing a bodysuit that is made out of track jacket material, over a turtleneck, a leather choker with large ring, and then just some little danglies to give the outfit some motion.
[Rachel sitting in the Fluevog store wearing a different outfit with the same Vogtalk Laurie shoes.]What society thinks is okay for me to wear is not always in line with what I want to put my body in so this dress actually came from a specific plus size company. So I am wearing something that is very, very fitted, that also involves a big, bold pattern. It’s kind of highlighted by the shine of the shoes, picking up on just some of the scratchy light blue in the dress. Leather jackets are something else where as a plus size person, as a person with a large chest, it’s not always easy to find a leather jacket that sits well, that you can actually button up and so when I found this piece, I knew that I wanted it to be kind of that really nice distressed anchor in my wardrobe.
[Rachel in the Fluevog store wearing a bright red skirt, a button-up blouse with bright neon yellow, blue, and red circle prints, a black vintage blazer with corset-style ties on the back, and the Vogtalk Laurie heels.]For this outfit, I wanted to give an example of something that I might teach in though I think I’ve taught in all of the outfits that I’ve presented. This is a skirt by a company that does vintage patterns in contemporary fabrics and that means that this has a little bit of stretch, which makes things like a fitted pencil skirt much more accessible for my body type. This was the very first shirt that I ever made.
[Rachel points to her button-up shirt as she speaks.]I love that there is so much going on in this pattern, that I can either keep everything very simple or I can play into a variety of the colors. And then instead of a necktie, I have this nice chunky necklace to kind of tie it together and add some weight up top.
A VogPride Series:
Style Session with Kam
Shop the Obero, the Citta Vog Socks, the Pride Scarf, and the Devil Tail belt
My name is Kam, my pronouns are they/he, and today I am styling the Oberos. I’m just wearing this cream color sweater, I just—this is something that I wear a lot. It’s just a very casual, very comfy outfit.
[Kam points to the striped texture going down the arms of his knitted sweater.]I enjoy these stripes, these lines. There’s a lot of pattern going on here, definitely, but it’s very subtle. The shoes are very loud, but the rest I feel like is very subtle. Don’t sleep on the socks, oh my gosh. It’s so common that people do, but socks are just as much a part of the outfit as anything else, really.
[He touches a scarf that is tied in a triangle-shape around his neck like a necklace.]And then this scarf right here, it’s just that cherry on top, again. It just adds that finishing touch and I love it. I always hear people so concerned about what they’re going to look like. It’s important that you just dress how you feel. What you feel like. Your styling, it is for you, not them. You need to do it for yourself. Your clothes, they’re your best business card so it’s like if you feel a certain way then you should dress that way because it’s going to attract people that also feel that way.
[Kam is standing wearing a different outfit, striking poses for the camera and speaking through a voice over. They wear a beige t-shirt with the words “NO GUN CLUB” embroidered on the front, each letter in a different colour, the orange Devil Tail belt, black dress pants, and a black beanie with the words “ANNA SUI” in white.]Every day is different so every outfit is different and it’s very reflective on just how I’m feeling for the day. My belts right here, oh my gosh,
[Kam is standing and speaking to the camera.]the Devil’s Tail belt from John Fluevog of course.
[They use the back of their hand to point to a single silver skull dangly earring on their left ear.]And then I have my earring right here from Hard Jewelry and this is something that I wear every single day, and the belt as well, it goes on every outfit and it really elevates it. This is something that I’d wear on a regular basis. It’s very grungy, very dark, sort of ethereal. I love this vibe of like a swamp, right, and there’s frogs in it, but the frogs—they make potions, they do magic, so that’s sort of this whole energy. I love the checkers, it’s very dark and it’s very explorative. I think that it’s amazing.
[Kam points to the pearl and chain choker necklace around his neck.]The day before I’ve fallen into possession of this necklace, a customer actually came in and told me that I would look amazing in pearls and here I am in a set of pearls. At the end of the day, like, this is supposed to make you happy, this is how you feel, this is how you express yourself. Influence is amazing. All of that is amazing, but don’t dilute yourself. Just do it because you want to do it. Wear it because you like to wear it.
Hello, my name is Justin, I use he/him pronouns and today I am styling the Zedkiels. Typically, I will go for anything that’s sort of comfy and cozy, but also like, a little bit like grandma estate sale. That’s usually my general vibe. I love anything that will make me look like a big rectangle and things that have like fun and interesting patterns.
[Justin twirls around showing different angles of his outfit. He is wearing a loose knit sweater with a navy, grey, burgundy, and dark green pattern, an ankle-length skirt with a dark green plaid pattern, several silver necklaces, and the green Zedkiel boots.]Today, I am wearing my favourite skirt that has this lovely like little slit thing because it’s a wrap skirt, and I’m wearing my cozy sweater and approximately a million necklaces, as well as my tooth.
[He shows his dangling tooth earring on his right ear.]Oh this is my wisdom tooth. When I got them out, I specifically requested to keep all of them. I also have a matching necklace somewhere and a few bracelets.
[Close up on Justin’s neckline. He is wearing a light green blazer over a caramel coloured, ribbed knit turtleneck and several silver necklaces.]For this outfit, I wanted to do something which I rarely do, which is put on colours that are bright.
[Camera switches to a full body view of Justin. He is wearing a bright orange, floral, vintage pattern skirt, the orange Bianca Vog Socks and the green Zedkiel boots.]It’s very hard for me, but I just wanted to pair these Zedkiels with something that’s more like warm and cozy like these nice oranges as well as a green cardigan to go with everything.
A VogPride Series:
Style Session with Tyson
Shop the Cubist Cupcake and the Blanket Scarf
Also featured: the Alymere belt
My name is Tyson. I use they/them pronouns. I’m wearing the Cubist Cupcake today. I don’t think I grew up with tons of people that looked like me occupying space in the world of fashion.
[Tyson is standing, striking poses for the camera and speaking through a voice over. They are wearing big gold hoop earrings, a beige suit ensemble over a dark green printed sweater, and a leather y-harness. On top of the suit, is a long dark green wool jacket and a baroque floral blanket scarf. Tyson is wearing the black Cubist Cupcake boots.]I am a gay, Brown, Latino, Jewish, Black, non-binary person, so there’s a lot going on there. And I am super into fashion and art
[Tyson is sitting on an ottoman speaking.]and I went to music school, but I’m also a rock climber. There’s these super masculine, super feminine, super diverse things, that make up me and so when I’m getting ready in the morning, I get to just write a love letter to a part of me. And I would describe my sense of fashion as polished androgynous maximalism. I love to juxtapose super masculine silhouettes with super feminine fabrics. Today I wanted to take a very traditional silhouette of a men’s suit and add some spice with a leather harness and this ouija board sweater.
[Tyson is standing, striking poses for the camera and speaking through a voice over. They are wearing an all black outfit with formal fitted pants and a hoodie sweater under a long tie-waist overcoat and the Cubist Cupcake boots.] I am not a person who wears a ton of vibrant colours [Tyson is sitting on an ottoman speaking.]so to make my outfits interesting I have to resort to silhouettes and textures. So I wanted to find a way to wear a black suit, but make it me. It’s everything I could ever want. It’s a dress, it’s a suit, it’s formal, but it’s also really casual so it’s fun.
[Tyson is standing, striking poses for the camera and speaking through a voice over. They are wearing baggy blue tie-die denim pants and a light blue denim vest over a striped, sparkly gold, blue, and silver T-shirt, big gold hoop earrings, the black Alymere belt and the black Cubist Cupcake boots.]My thought today was a monochrome blue look.
[Tyson is sitting on an ottoman speaking.]This outfit is a love letter to the early 2000s icons I grew up with. Destiny’s Child. I wanted to look like a Bratz doll and I think I achieved it. I decided to play with—instead of silhouette and colour—the texture so we have this super rough and glittery shiny T-shirt with the smoother wash denim and the smoother leathers, and there’s also some edge from the chain, and the distressing, and so it’s just a culmination of textural juxtaposition.