Interview w/fashion designer Candace Michelle

On March 7, 2011, Tino Tarango interviewed, me! Fashion designer, Candace Michelle, about my fashion inspirations, and fashion in general, well sort of, it's all tied in with the 31 days of Selena, read on!

Who inspired you to want to get into the fashion industry, and why?
Selena inspired me. I remember when I first saw that she had a boutique back in late 95, I was amazed. I had never heard of a singer with their own boutique, that made their own clothes and jewelry. I was 11 at the time, and I said that if I ever became a singer I would want to be a singer like Selena, and I would want to be a fashion designer like her.

How did you get into school to study fashion?
My mom did that for me. Before I ever thought about making fashion as a career, I was a tomboy to the fullest. I played basketball, baseball, soccer, I ran track, and I also wanted to be a professional dancer and dance with the likes of Janet, Britney, and Backstreet Boys, but my knee went out and never recovered. So my first year of college I was there for theater, I was still in denial that I would never be a dancer, because that's why I wanted to college in the first place. After a year there I went to work and the following year in 2005, my mom enrolled me in a community college. I thought we were just going to look at colleges but she was actually enrolling me into the fashion design program, after I reluctantly decided to go to college for that. My mom had bought me my first sewing machine for Christmas the year before and I looked at her like she was crazy, lol, because I didn't have any intentions of being a designer, but after a semester there I thought it wasn't so bad, and after a year there I fell in love with it.

Why do you feel Selena's fashion sense stood out from most styles at the time?
I think the reason why Sel's fashion stood out was because it was so creative. She was like Versace, he had some extremely creative and off the wall ideas and designs and that's why he stood out. 

The 90s was all about individuality, when you think of 90s singers like Celine, Janet, and TLC they were in a class all their own. Celine was known for being classy,

Janet was known for being sexy and edgy but still a touch of tomboy wearing pants for the whole entire decade of the 90s, with her cropped shirts,

















and TLC...oh my goodness those girls. Crazy, Sexy, Cool, and they totally represented that sometimes as a group, majority time as members.

Selena was part of that, she was in a class all her own, even as the fad faded, she still wore bustiers, and tight pants, and then she started to change to cat an jumpsuits which no one was doing at the time. She was ahead of her time without even trying. She just designed what she liked.




      Selena November 94                                March 95

Do you wear clothes that draw inspiration from Selena Styles?
Sometimes I do. I'll have a bad hair day and wear a newsboy hat with big hoop earrings, makeup with red lips.



















Sometimes I'll wear a shirt and leggings that look like a one piece outfit and wear a belt and big hoop earrings. I once wore a long sleeve brown shirt with brown leggings, with a black belt and gold big hoop earrings, it was very Selenaesque because it looked like a one piece, and people thought it was too.

Do you feel that Selena's designs are still something that would be considered "in style" today?
Oh definitely, her catsuits and jumpsuits were inspired from the late 60s and 70s.

Even though she was ahead of her time there were still a lot of outfits that you can wear today, the white shirt tied up with blue jeans and a sparkly belt, 

the pinstripe suit she wore in 95 with the back cut out is very sexy, and cool,

the sundress she wore on the beach in 93 you can still wear today.

Majority of her on/offstage clothes you can wear today, she was part classic part modern, you can't wear bustiers but it was modern for that time, but you can wear a white shirt leather jacket and pants.

You can actually take a part the 95 Astrodome outfit and make it into today's wear. You can wear bell bottom pants because that's in, 

you can wear a halter top but add more fabric at the bottom so it won't be too revealing for walking down the streets,

 
silver shoes, are always fly, especially if they're Louboutins,

 
and the bolero jacket is always in.

 Lastly, what inspired you to start writing the "31 Days of Selena" blog?
I LOVE the TCM channel, Turner Classic Movies, I love old movies, and my favorite host, Robert Osbourne has been doing 31 days of Oscar for years, he'll start from the end of January up to the last day in February showing movies that won Oscars. I woke up one morning and thought that'd be a great thing to do for Selena. No one has done it before, and it'll be fun.