MADELINE KEVELSON: AUTHENTICITY ADVOCATE

Madeline Kevelson is a NYC fashionista who came from a small preppy town. Madeline is a creatively charged individual who has a strong work background in fashion and costumes. She works in the shoe industry where she is an assistant manager at John Fluevog Shoes. The fashionista is an authentically styled individual who dresses confidently by dressing to her true character. Madeline discovered her style through the internet to channel her distinct spirit to dress in all sorts of genres and styles. Madeline’s authenticity, when it comes to curating her own looks, is what truly sets her apart from other people. She loves styling herself in thrifted garments with little unique accessories and hard-to-find items. She tries to avoid fast fashion brands like Shein at any cost due to the fast micro-trend cycle and unsustainability. Madeline loves following small and emerging designers and uses Arête to help her discover new brands. Madeline Kevelson is unique, funny, charismatic, and naturally full of energy!

Special thank you to the incredible photographer, Amelia Hammond, who made this closet portrait come to life.

How did you develop personal style & how did it evolve?

“I developed it mostly in my high school and college years. I think it was influenced by my exposure to the internet–being on Tumblr and Pinterest. I grew up in a pretty preppy town, so I wasn't used to anything other than Longchamp and Uggs…finding American Apparel was really helpful. I kind of just wear whatever and now my personal style is all of the genres I have ever experienced in one!”

What do you wear when you feel most confident? 

 “I feel the most confident in pieces that I love that tell a story. I love feeling confident in pieces that I got for a good deal, or I found in some really weird way, or have some great story behind them. But I used to feel the most confident when wearing mini skirts so it's just whatever I feel.”

What is your favorite item/accessory in your closet?

“My favorite is my vintage hats right now. I think they pull an outfit together, and I have a specific one that I love. It's this little orange, dilapidated, wire hat that I got when I was working at Juilliard in the costume shop, and they were gonna throw it out, and I was like oh give me! And probably my favorite piece is always gonna be a shoe. A really good shoe can bring together an outfit. I mean, I do work at a shoe store, so I'm very biased, but yeah, I love my boots and any pointy shoes right now!”

How do you think fashion allows you to be authentic? 

“I surround myself with a lot of people who are very authentic in their fashion, but I think it's also really, really easy to be very in-authentic…being able to take inspiration doesn't have to be all from your head, you can see things and like them and then feed that into your style while still not relying on something specific. I became authentic through finding my personal style and finding it through all those weird little experiences.”

Where do you shop the most?

“I shop online the most. I do not do as much in-person shopping, just because I'm in the city. And since I love secondhand, I just have a harder time in the city. I’m a huge eBay & Poshmark stalker. Back in the day, I used to be only on Depop but I've kind of evolved obviously… a daily ritual of mine is to go through my search and see what is there.” 

What do you think about when creating an outfit?

“My number one thing is temperature–I am temperature sensitive…I have to check the weather outside, and that is literally the basis for my outfit, as I like to wear a lot of natural fibers in the Spring and Summer so that I'm not overheated. I bundle up heavily in the winter. And then most of the time I start with a piece that is new or I’ve been yearning to wear it, or I found it in the pile of clothing that I have accumulated in my closet.”

How important are silhouettes to an outfit and how do you find the right one?

“I think silhouettes are so important because it's the thing that you can play around with the most. I have certain silhouettes that I really enjoy on my body type. It does not have to be flattering. I enjoy playing around with things like that and changing parts of my silhouette and making myself look like I got bigger hips when I don't.”

Where do you get your style inspiration from?

“I would typically say, either the people that I see, around me, or online, the people who I've gotten to meet through Instagram, which is kind of crazy. I mean, it's how I found out about Arête. And then when I'm doing shoots and stuff, I like to look back at old Vogue runways, I like to go back and look at all the shows that they had.”

Favorite way to find new brands?

“Arête was pretty helpful because it's kind of just like who I follow. A lot of really cool stylists, like my friend Chloe. I just click that little face button and see what's tagged. And that's probably my number one thing. I just love following along with small brands and seeing who they're collaborating with and who they're hanging out with. Creative people hang out with creative people, once you kind of find a couple, it's really easy to see what they're doing.”

Your anti-gatekeeping advice for fashion?

“Save searches on the Real Real! If you know the brands that you like or even know the brands that people you think are cool like, save your searches get on there at 9:00 am and 6 p.m. central time and they upload new s***. And that is where I find a lot of great things for a lot of great prices. And a lot of times the listings are incorrect, and I want them to stay that way. And if you want to find cool brands go to a stylist page that you like and just scroll through their following. Not followers.”

If you could swap closets with one person, who would it be and why?

“It would be Olivia…I think it would be her or maybe even one of the girls from the Women's History Museum, they're so sick. I mean I don't think I could wear the s*** that they wear because they just think of s*** so cool. But I would love to see what stuff they keep and they don't sell, because I think they probably just have some weird ass brands that I've never heard of.”

What's a major fashion red flag? 

“Fast fashion. If you're hardcore for Fashion Nova or Shein and you celebrate that, I think that that is so embarrassing because obviously, they follow such a fast micro trend cycle that contributes so hard to this constant consumerism. And then purchasing new items for specific events and never wearing them again. I just don't see the need for that if you have your own sense of personal style. If you are buying something new, buy something that you'll be able to wear again.”

What’s a major fashion green flag?

“Being able to love clothing from Ann Taylor or Vivienne Westwood and being able to wear those together. I like it when people have highs and lows in their closet and don't need to be head to toe in any brand.”

Tell us about the four fits we shot and the occasions, styles, & vibes you associate with each!

“I've been really into this, kind of pseudo-Mary Poppins-My Fair Lady before she gets pretty, look as of late, and this was very leaning into that. And I'm not going to lie, I wear almost anything anywhere, so the occasion is very loose for me. I've also never been to some occasions that normal people go to. I don't go to business cocktail hours or whatnot, so if I would wear it to work, I'd probably also wear it out. This is dress up but this isn't date night. This is a work girl or dinner/drinks night.” 

“The next one was the polka dot. The Saints Central Top, a Barney sweater vest, skort, Jeffrey Campbell shoes, and then, my friend Nancy made this furry bag. This is respectfully, yes, I would wear a third long-sleeve shirt to the club. Yes, I would and I'll stand on that on business because my legs are fully out. So to me, that's close enough. So yes, I would wear that to the club or just for a photo shoot. I would probably wear it to work or a cutesy dinner too.” 

“1920s dotted dress, a corset that I thrifted from House of CB, and then some striped tights, and Moschino heels. This is probably my most dressy one of the four. And so, this would probably be a night out with the girls but we're going to a Suzanne Bartschland thing. And dance the night away, and then end up walking home with my heels in my hands type of look.” 

“The last one, which I didn't wear a shirt, was probably the most casual. The jacket was something that I got from a Japanese Mercari site, a little bra, my favorite blue pleated midi skirt that I thrifted, a thrifted pair of yellow kitten heels, striped socks, and a funny little pair of glasses. That's Tuesday at work, business girl, going to a little business meeting, but not trying to be super loud, crazy–that was casual me!”  

Any other fashion advice/anything else you want to add?

“I feel like everyone should download Arête for sure! No one really needs fashion advice, if people want fashion advice, they’ll find it, they know what they want. And don’t be mean to people who are having a fun time in fashion, just have fun and giggle and look a little silly!”