The Perfect Saturday with Erin Stanley
as i sat, slouched in a sherman oaks coffee shop, i witnessed life slipping away from all of us. monday's curse was relentless. the casualties were rising as one after another spilled into the shop, parched and drained, hoping an iced beverage would save them. energy was low and fashion was at its basic, with tees and jeans all around, until another face walked in. casualty? no. she was fashionable. she was vibrant. it was erinmuffin.
who is erinmuffin?
someone who regrets their instagram name..no. i am a screenwriter. well, trying to be. well i am, kind of now, cause i just signed a contract...and getting paid to write a movie, so, it’s very surreal. and it’s a lot weirder to write something for money than it is just to do it for yourself.
when you're not writing movies, what do you do in your free time?
one of my favorite things, and i’m not just saying this because i’m on a fashion blog... i love thrift store shopping. there’s this thrift store that is near my parent’s house in covina, that every other saturday, it’s half off the entire the store, and i just go there for like three hours and dig through everything, and that’s my idea of a perfect saturday. so, shopping and going to record stores. i’m a vinyl collector. the best part about records is that that’s the specific order their supposed to be listened to, so when you’re on 'spotify' and you push shuffle, you’re just gonna hear whatever, whenever you want it, but when you hear it on a record, it’s like that’s how it’s meant to be heard! they put that order of the songs for a reason. and the crackle? love it.
it looks like you have a classic taste. i'm guessing your signature style also shares the same?
i wear a lot of band tees, ripped jeans and i love my checkerboard 'vans' slip-ons. when i was in riverside [in college], i was in a sorority. so, when i was hanging out with the girls, i dressed a little more girly in college, but then when i got to la, i was going to film school, and i hung out with a lot of guys. i realized that i started dressing a little more like t-shirts, jeans, and kind of more unisex. i’m not saying i dressed like a man, but it was a little more classic that i when i look back on, i won’t be like “what the hell was i wearing?” i’m a little bit more classic with a dash of bohemian, and a dash of vintage. i love the 60’s and 70’s. anything that reminds me of those periods, i’m diggin it.
you can rock band tees. you can rock dresses. what about boyfriend jeans?
if you can find the right pair, they work, otherwise they look very frumpy. there’s people’s pictures that i see [wearing boyfriend jeans] and i’m like “that looks great”, and then i try a pair on and i’m like “no, i actually look like i’m wearing men’s jeans.” there was one time i tried them on, and they just fit me like regular jeans and i was like “no! does that mean i have the body of a boyfriend?!” as long as they’re not super skinny and you can cuff them. if you can pull ‘em off and you have enough confidence, do it.
you definitely know what works for you now. what about the past? any fashion regrets?
cropped sweatpants. i thought that they looked comfy and cool, but i’m not a big sweatpants person and i’m not athletic, so it’s just like “what are doing? are you just lazy?” i mean now, they have joggers. this was pre-jogger, cause now, they’re kind of cropped, have a drop crotch, so you look cool or whatever. i just have this image of pink and blue 'hollister' ones i used to wear. so bad..
we've covered what looks good and what doesn't. now, first date outfit. go!
i’m a big fan of a-line or vintage-y skirts. also a big fan of midi skirts, with a casual shirt tied or tucked in, with a belt and booties. it’s dressy, but it’s not like you’re trying too hard. there have been dates where i wore jeans and a t-shirt and it was fine, but if i’m trying to impress a person, i want to dress up a little bit. go for the midi skirt with a cute top and booties. second date? approved.
a must have for every woman?
a black leather jacket. you can put it over a dress, you can wear it with jeans. it really makes an outfit. i have this leather jacket that i got three years ago at 'forever 21'. i’m surprised it’s even still around. usually those kinds of stuff will fall apart after three years, but it’s black moto and it has gold studs on the collar. i wore that so much, there was one point where i was like “i have six 'instagram' pictures in a row wearing this jacket. I need to not wear it.” people are gonna be like “damn, she loves that jacket! wear something else erin!” but i’ve been on the hunt for another one, because as you can tell, i’m very fond of that jacket and i know one day i’m gonna reach for something and it’s gonna rip. I have to have a backup ready. Ready in the wings.
for gentlemen?
a good pair of nice, lace up shoes. you can wear them with casual outfits or with suits. i’ve seen guys wearing a really cool outfit, but then they’re wearing like 'yeezys' and i’m like, “noooo”. not that there’s anything wrong with 'yeezys'. i just think they [lace ups] have a cleaner look. you can tell a lot by someone’s shoes, which is a very weird thing cause i have to look at people’s shoes and be like “nope! 'shape ups'? get outta here. 'crocs'? no way.”
someone wants to expand their wardrobe with a new style, but may not have the financial means to do so. any advice?
thrift store shop. you’re able to try out different trends, different fits and not break the bank. there are things i got, that i thought was really trendy and only spent like two bucks on it, then was like “you know, this isn’t really for me” and then i don’t feel as guilty about having spent forty dollars at like urban outfitters. i just hate paying retail [price]. i think that’s what makes people stay in a rut with their fashion. they don’t think they have money to acquire new pieces or try stuff out, whereas you can always find stuff for cheap, at the thrift store and build up your wardrobe that way. a lot of stuff in my closet is thrift store stuff because i realized that when you experiment, you can figure out what you like. i feel like i’m a public service announcement for shopping at the thrift store. wasn’t what i intended this to be!
on top of experimenting, what else could one do for new fashion inspiration?
look at the people who you admire. get a fashion magazine and see what you like and what you can take from that, cause a lot of the people i dress to emulate were older. i like patterns and certain stuff like that, so that when i confine that in a modern way, i can try to adopt it into my wardrobe, because i want to emulate that. look around and see what kind of stuff inspires you, what kind of stuff you like and then emulate it through that. that’s probably the best way to go.
we've talked about everything clothes. how about accessories? new tattoo?
this one is in a very visible place and it’s delicate. it’s very thin and if i had more of a tough type, like a skull on me, that’s a very big statement piece about me as a person, that i might not agree with. i mean, i love skulls- i have skulls on my bracelet, but i don’t really know if i want that as a part of me for the rest of my life. this goes with my style cause it’s timeless and it’s classic, because it’s my grandma’s handwriting, so it has transcended generations. this was in a letter to my mom, and i took it and put it on me. because i like those classic kind of pieces and things that don’t go out of style, i don’t think this will go out of style for me. hope not, cause that’s here to stay and my mom will be like “told you so, you shouldn’t have gotten it”. it kind of went with the image of myself that i wanted to put out. your tattoo should reflect your style. timeless. classic. that's me!
for more on erin, you can follow her thrifty life on instagram.