Honestly, writing this Blogger Favourites series is one of my favourite blogging activities. I know the posts can be very wordy, but I love having this reason to have an online conversation with women I admire. I think this sort of interaction between bloggers really contributes to this online community that I love so much, and I hope that you enjoy reading these posts half as much as I enjoy writing them! This month I’m interviewing the gorgeous rainbow babe Isabel, from I Fly A Starship. I fell head over heels in love with her blog as soon as I found it. She wears incredible colourful vintage inspired outfits and she has a lot of good things to say about having a positive relationship with fashion and personal style. Enough from me, here’s the interview!
Jess: The way you dress makes me so happy. I love the colourful rainbow hippy vibe you’ve got going on! How did you develop your sense of style? Have you always dressed a little differently?
Isabel: Yay! I’m glad to hear that the way I dress makes you happy. I think it’s awesome to make women and kids happy with the way you dress, it’s totally empowering! I don’t mean dressing so that people approve of your style.. I mean more that it’s really nice to have fun with your style and to see kids and women get into it!
I haven’t always dressed colorfully or how I do now. I used to not really care at all about fashion. I began to like fashion when I moved away from home and off to college. I had a hard time making friends and one of my best friends from high school, Sonja (http://blackthornxxx.blogspot.de/) had a lookbook.nu account and I thought it seemed fun! I started posting looks on both lookbook and my own personal blog (iflyastarship.blogspot.com) and I eventually found some really awesome bloggers who inspired me to step outside of the box and hone in on my own personal fashion.
I am drawn to colorful, flowy clothes I think because of a mother-figure in my early childhood, Bessy. Bessy always dressed in blues, purples, greens, and yellows, she always had teal eye liner on, and sparkles in her eyelids. Her house was painted similarly to the way she dressed, and I remember there was purple paint and glitter on her floor throughout the house. Bessy tie dyed her husband’s underwear because she didn’t like it to be boring and white! I think that Bessy is where I got my colorful side. It always seemed comforting to me, like a little reminder of my childhood.
Jess: I know that you work for Tunnel Vision on social media and sourcing vintage clothing. It sounds like a lot of fun – Tunnel Vision is such an awesome company! How did you land such a dream job?
Isabel: It is SO much fun working for a company who I support 100%. Woman owned, small business, locally made clothes, affordable items, unique pieces, vintage goods!! Seriously, it’s the bomb.
I started interning for Tunnel Vision when I moved to LA in 2012. I became really good friends with the owners and when I moved back to Minneapolis I was asked if I wanted to do social media work for them and obviously I said YES! I also sell vintage on Tunnel Vision (http://shoptunnelvision.com/collections/isabels-vintage) which I started doing when I began interning for Tunnel Vision but now I do it a lot more and have my own section on their site.
Jess: After four years of blogging, is there a particular stand out moment for you? What has been the best thing to come out of your blogging experience?
Isabel: By far the best thing to come out of my blogging is the friendships I have made. All of my best friends are bloggers. I have met people from around the world and I have a great community and support system. Madeline and I joke that blogging is like online dating for friends. It’s totally true though! You get to know people’s interests, and personalities up front, you don’t have to wait around after awkward small talk to actually break through to see people’s souls!
Jess: I love your Instagram account, it’s definitely one of my favourites. I’ve noticed that you travel to LA a lot. I have a fascination with California and LA at the moment (partly because I’ve been watching a lot of Buffy and partly because I think of it as this magical sunny place filled with creative people.) What is your experience of the city? Would you ever live there?
Isabel: OH MY GOD BUFFY! RIGHT? BEST SHOW EVER TO HAVE GRACED THE PLANET.
I was actually born in San Francisco and lived there till I was 7. I moved to Minneapolis, MN and lived there until I was 21 (with one year in Portland, OR). I moved to LA to intern with Tunnel Vision and to meet all these blogger I had befriended. LA was pretty intense for me so I moved back home to Minneapolis but I visit often. I like the people of LA but not really the city too much. I would live there again but probably in Long Beach or somewhere a little quieter with a calmer atmosphere (I’m actually planning on moving back there, I just don’t have a date set).
Jess: Where do you get your visual inspiration from? Are there any brands, bloggers or other creatives that have had a particular influence on your aesthetic?
Isabel: There are so many bloggers and brands that I get inspiration from. I have a whole list of bloggers and shops that I love on my blog.. but I’ll just name a few here.
Blogs:
Bells Fashion
Jean Greige
Velvet Cloouds
Velvet Goldmine
Shops:
Crux and Crow
Discount Universe
Feeling Vague Vintage
Isolated Heroes
Miracle Eye
Some Velvet
Jess: You’re always posting incredible vintage finds on your blog. Do you have any tips for finding fun and unique vintage clothes?
Isabel: You just have to be open! Search your favorite thrift stores often and when on road trips stop by local thrift stores to find unique stuff!!
Thanks for letting me quiz you Isabel!
P.s. On an unrelated note, check out this awesome kickstarter campaign and help the independent lingerie label flimsymoon come to life! More on this coming soon 
