The Earliest Success

It was a long, taxing road (that, at the time of writing, is still stretching far out before me) getting to my first shoot for BANDIT. From website shut-downs, to sub-par merchandise quality I have been THROUGH IT. But, that is to be expected, so I’m not bugging. Just frustrated and a bit tired of the BS.

Which is why, when my first shoot turned out exactly the way I had hoped, it was so so so so so much more rewarding. Because I had actually worked for it.

For one, shooting with one of your best friends always makes things so much easier. The flow is already there. Julia and I have literally known each other since we were fourteen, so when she agreed to do me this solid, that was already one aspect of the shoot that I didn’t have to worry about. I knew she could deliver. And she absolutely did. 

But let’s not sit and pretend the shoot was perfect. As a broke creative, I’m constantly forced to shoot in public places. For this, we chose a laundromat that is usually fairly empty. But I’m betting you can imagine how “empty” it was the day we needed to shoot. (That’s life!) And it was hot and stuffy and the space was kind of small and–

Ya know, I could go on. But I won’t. Because the point of this is what did go right.

Which was the outcome. 

Putting so many months into development, watching this tiny little baby idea evolve from a couple designs slapped on a t-shirt into a full on store, YouTube channel, and magazine, and finally, finally, getting to have something concrete--our first photoshoot— was exactly the kick in the butt I needed to keep going.

The same way getting my clothing samples in the mail literally had me jumping around my bedroom (and sharing long, lingering looks with my closet), sticking my memory card into my computer, opening Lightroom, and looking at what we were able to put together in such a short amount of time reminded me that everything about this is real and meaningful and worth it. 

I don’t want to be a sap. These are supposed to be quip and fun. But, unfortunately, I am a sentimental artist who is fueled by watching ideas take form in real life. Either way, I am stoked and life is awesome. 

I literally cannot wait to share everything we’ve been working on come November. Right now, everything is still in little pieces all spread about wherever. (And I mean it when I  say wherever I have ideas jotted down the strangest of places…) But one of these days, it won’t be a puzzle anymore; you won’t see the cracks. It’ll all be one big picture and we’ll look at it and say, “Wow, so that’s what we’ve been doing all this time? Who would have thought it’d turn out quite like this.”