Episode 10: The Platinum Rebellion: Wear Cool Sh*t with Erin Odell Bradley
Download MP3Welcome to this week's episode of Local Threads. I'm Molly, your host. And this week, we've hit a milestone, 10 episodes. We're 10 episodes in, but we're not stopping here. And what better way to celebrate this milestone than to have one of my favorite human beings, Erin Odell Bradley, multidimensional artist, also known as Platinum Rebellion on this week's episode.
molly:There's no amount of time that could properly convey how cool and how creative Aaron is. Grab your coffee or sit down, relax, take a walk, whatever you're doing while you're listening to a podcast. And let's get into it. Thanks for coming. Thanks for recording with me a second time.
erin:Of course.
molly:You were the very first, my test subject.
erin:Love being a test subject.
molly:I think we got like an hour in and it was like something died. And I don't remember what it was.
erin:I can't remember either. It was, like, ages ago now.
molly:I know. It feels like it. I have to say, like, I credit all the creative things that I've done, whether it's, like, paint the inside of my house, really hone in my own personal style or start this podcast. I credit all that to meeting you, which is what, two years That's so sweet. I know I'm gonna cry.
erin:But it's not true.
molly:No. You're definitely creative people hanging out with each other.
erin:Yeah. That's true. We inspire each other because you do the same thing for me for sure. But you're your own creative force. You're just like, once you got going, you're just unstoppable.
molly:I may not stick with the same thing over and over.
erin:Well, me neither, as you
molly:know. It goes
erin:on and on, and I switch it up a lot.
molly:Yeah. Well, that's what I love about everything that you create. It's it's still in the same vein, like, not necessarily aesthetically, but maybe, like, thematically, but everything's so different.
erin:I Whether it's just clothes or get bored so easily. Photography inspires me, then I just see, I think, oh, if I'd had this outfit, and then I wanna design an outfit, and then Fiona will inspire me to do something, you inspire me in directions. So it's just kind of like, I just let it happen at this point after years of trying to make things to sell, and kind of going against the grain of what I really loved and not doing what I really wanted to, I was just like, okay, I'll just follow my heart and see where it leads.
molly:Would you say, like, when you were trying to make stuff to sell, was it kind of soul sucking?
erin:It was terrible because I felt like people didn't appreciate it, they didn't understand the time that went into it, and I wasn't doing what I really wanted to be doing, putting a lot of effort into things that ended up not selling anyway. So, yeah, it it was very soul sucking.
molly:Yeah. Your whole family is kind of like, to me in my mind, like, could be I don't know. You all deserve like to be in a movie of some sort. It's almost like knowing you and your husband and Fiona and and Finn. It's like, you guys are so cinematically like, I don't know.
erin:We're like, we we kind of match in a weird way. We're different. But somehow and I think we've just always really encouraged them to be unique and different when a lot of people I think because it is hard to be different. A lot of parents try not to encourage that because they think it'll be harder for their kids. But you also realize when you come from generations of weird people that it's just in the genes and you might as well just figure out who you are and just do what you love and not worry about what anybody else thinks.
erin:I think that's so important.
molly:Yeah, I mean it's so cool to see how individual you all are, but also fit aesthetically, which is so interesting. It's like, I don't know, it's like you guys are walking art, literally.
erin:Yeah, it's just really fun to, I think we all like vintage, right? So we all like to shop in the same places, but like in different decades, or we all have a different perspective and aesthetic. But yeah, it's just really fun to be all together, you know?
molly:Yeah. I mean, you don't see people, and why I'm so dumbfounded by it, guess, or awestruck is like, you don't see that.
erin:You don't see it much.
molly:You don't see that with couples, let alone a whole family. It's really
erin:Yeah, think it is
molly:Yeah, and pretty even your home, the art you make, the art Fiona makes.
erin:I just love being surrounded by it and have just tried to instill that in them, now they're young adults, to just surround yourself with the things that you find interesting. And I do think, when I think back growing up in a very, like, you know, hippie sort of family, that my parents were like, they tried a lot of things and they were always making things and experimental. And so it definitely influenced me and then influenced my kids, because I do think houses where you see your parents making things and doing things tend to be families where you're not afraid. Once you grow up, you saw your mom paint, you saw her maybe do embroidery or whatever, and then you're willing to try it yourself. I think it helps not that you can't do it totally on your own, but I think it helps if your family members are creative too.
erin:For sure. Being creative yourself.
molly:And speaking of, you know, growing up, I know you had mentioned that you used to steal your mom's clothes and wear them to school.
erin:Yes, yes. From a very young age, my dad was supposed to wake up in the morning with me and take me to school, and he didn't. And so I would put on my mom's cocktail dresses and go to school, and they were called in, and my mom was really pissed about it.
molly:And then so you started doing that super early.
erin:Yeah. That was probably like third grade, maybe third grade.
molly:Yeah.
erin:I wore her platforms and a cocktail dress. Yeah.
molly:And you were just sick of, like, the clothes they picked out for you? Or
erin:They didn't pick out clothes for me. That's the thing. It was like, wear what you want. So I took that very literally. I'm like, okay, then I'd rather wear my mom's cocktail dress than a boring outfit that I was supposed to wear to school.
molly:Honestly, if anyone follows you, they're gonna know that makes 100% sense. Like, I don't think it could be any other way. But also, you and your husband, like, all the photos of you guys growing up. Like, literally, it should be in a photo. Like, I would buy that at like, honestly would buy a photo album of you guys, which sounds kinda creepy.
molly:But it's true because it's like you guys are style icons.
erin:We just always, I guess, we're inspired and we like dressing together. It's like a hobby, you know? Like wearing clothes and kinda matching or, I don't know, it just became like, not that we do it all the time, but it became kind of second nature, that it's fun to vibe off of each other's looks, you know?
molly:Yeah, I mean, time I'm with you guys, people stop, multiple times. And it's like, I don't know. I just I'm like, how can like, I see people that are quote unquote famous. And I'm like, why?
erin:Uh-huh. You
molly:know, people that need a stylist. And, you know, I'm not hating on that. Maybe you just don't care.
erin:Uh-huh. Or, like Yeah. It's hard
molly:for you to find stuff. I get that. But, like, the people that just kill it every day, like, you don't wear sweatpants.
erin:Not really. Like, I'm probably gonna wear them, like, layered with another pair. Yeah.
molly:I would be shocked if I saw you in a pair of sweats, yoga pants.
erin:Yeah. I don't really like dressing like that.
molly:So you went to FIT,
erin:and that was when? I graduated in '88.
molly:And you said that back then it was really hard to get into school because you have to go through so much more than you have to do now?
erin:Yeah. Well, back then you had to actually design and you had to I mean, you had to design the clothes and bring them there. And they were they looked at construction and they looked at your portfolio, your artwork. Now it's all online. So I think it's a lot easier to get in because it's harder to know that someone made something too back then when they're touching it and they're looking at it up close.
erin:And I think we had to bring three garments. You can tell if somebody made all three. It's pretty, you know, pretty easy. And it was so cheap. FIT was so cheap back there because it was part of Sunny State, and it still is.
erin:And it's still really cheap, but at the time it was really, really reasonable for such school that had such a reputation for fashion, you know?
molly:So you spent your 20s in New York. How long did
erin:you Well, get went to University of Maryland before that and was studying art history, And then I moved to New York. And then my husband, we were a couple at that point and he was in medical school. And so I went back to finish my degree in art history in that time.
molly:So you graduated at FIT first?
erin:Yeah, well yes, I graduated FIT first and then went back to finish. So I had been there for a number of years for art history and figured I'd just finish while John was finishing. Then we moved to San Francisco, which we moved a lot. Yeah. I went to San Francisco originally and worked for Jessica McClintock.
erin:That was the first fashion designer I worked for. And that was hell.
molly:Yeah, you mentioned something about garlic.
erin:Yeah, she was just a miserable woman who hated garlic. She would tirade through the place, yeah, oh my goodness. She'd been a teacher before she started Gunny Sack and she ran the design studio as a teacher with her desk facing everyone's desk. It was very strange.
molly:Oh my gosh. So how from growing up on the East Coast and moving to the West Coast, how did you feel that did you feel like that influenced your art style at all?
erin:Yeah, I think it did. I think it influenced it a lot because style was so different between the two. There was a freedom in California that I had never experienced being originally from Maryland. And I really loved there was something about the freedom of expression that and a lot of kindness and caring about, like, the environment even back then. I mean, you know, it was like the, I think, number one recycling city in like, you know, 'eighty nine or 'ninety.
erin:It was a really creative place at the time. I worked for her and I had designed jewelry all through college to pay for college. So I was selling jewelry on the side while I was there. That was kind of my creative outlet at the time. And I started taking jewelry classes at night as well.
erin:At the university, I started doing casting and stuff like that for jewelry.
molly:Which nightlife did you prefer? I know the answer probably.
erin:Well, I was really into rockabilly. Yeah. Yeah, very into rockabilly. Still loved the kind of like, you know, punk and goth. Like, we just liked everything back then.
erin:He born as much like as they are now where they're like super in like the deep, deep genre, like one genre
molly:or Yeah. They wouldn't be caught dead listening to a different one, which I feel like good for you, I guess, but I just can't. I'm too multi.
erin:Me too. That's why we get along
molly:so well.
erin:We can go from one thing to the other. I'll send you one thing and then write something totally different. You do the same thing all the time.
molly:I love that we both like listen to a lot of different world music.
erin:Yes, I love world music. And the harder and weirder and stronger the better.
molly:Yeah, exactly. And your sister was in a band.
erin:Yeah, she was in Cheaperfume, which was an all girl band in the late '70s, early '80s, mainly the '70s in New York City. So she was always such an influence to me in a million different ways, because she was nine years older, she was cool, and I was just like a kid, and yeah, always inspired by her. Now she's an actor out in LA, and just like killing it.
molly:Always. Did she influence her style?
erin:Yeah, she definitely influenced my style when I was a kid, because she was really hippie and really into her own thing. And she went to her prom as a guy with her girlfriend at the time. She was just so unique, so cool.
molly:Well, let's talk about how we met, which is so weird.
erin:Yeah. That's when the Internet makes sense.
molly:Yeah. The only time I love it is when I can meet people and also, like, listen to different music or, you know, obviously keep up to date with the world.
erin:Yeah, there are so many good uses for it. One of the best is just like that it can bring two people together from totally different worlds, different ages, everything. And yet our interests were so similar and it just went.
molly:Yeah. So I was doing, I don't know, TikToks from my house. And my husband was gone, like, most half the year probably at that time and on and off. And so when when I'm alone, I was like, I'm going to make TikToks about fashion and sustainability. Somehow it got on your For You page.
molly:Don't know how because It
erin:sure did. And I was seeing your videos all the time because we were really talking a lot about sustainability and not buying new stuff like that. There's so many amazing things out there that you can use to your advantage.
molly:We had not met in person, and then I happened to go to Little City Thrifty.
erin:That's right.
molly:So I guess it would be two years in a couple weeks.
erin:Yeah. Think so.
molly:Shout out to Little City, that's October,
erin:I Yeah, which is a great, great place. It's just small enough not to be totally overwhelming. And that's how we met. I feel like if it had been twice as big, we wouldn't have stopped to make that connection.
molly:Honestly, though, when you guys walk in a room, everybody notices. So it doesn't matter if there's 300 people in there. You guys always just look like the most important people in the room. And I'm pretty sure I was like, oh my god. I love you guys.
molly:You guys have the best style here. And you looked at me like you knew me.
erin:Yeah. I was like follow each other on TikTok, and you're like, we do. I'm like, yes.
molly:I feel like I imagine myself when I'm in public, like no one's ever gonna recognize me. I just have that, like, idea that I'm invisible because
erin:I not. Absolutely not. You stand out.
molly:The reason I think that is because I've moved so many times. Uh-huh. And so I'm used to being the person nobody knows.
erin:But you have incredible energy. I feel like when you walk into a room, people definitely are like, and when we walk into a room together, it's really funny because they're like, What is going on there?
molly:They're like, What?
erin:It's awesome.
molly:Yeah, know. I love it. I do, I
erin:love And I wear a lot of white, you wear a lot of black, so Yeah, it's even
molly:I wish I could say I'm still on my fashion fast. I've been consuming too much lately. I think it's just the state of the world and everything, but I'm locking it in.
erin:Yeah, I think it does happen. I've been buying a lot, but I try to buy things that are already on the planet, like whatnot. I'm just like, I'm like a whatnot fanatic these days.
molly:Yeah, I really am trying to I should get on there, but I'm gonna wait because I've been just going crazy with The RealReal and everything else, and fluctuating sizes. It's really hard to find cool stuff
erin:Yeah. Is. There's not a lot of choices.
molly:And, you know, I've made some things, but I need to get back to doing that.
erin:Oops. That's always good too, to make things out of things that you already have. Yeah. I put all my stuff in a bag that I think I don't want anymore before I figure out where it's gonna go. And then I put it in the closet and then I pull it back out in six months.
erin:That's just because I've too many times I've gotten rid of the thing that I'm like, Why did I get rid of that? And it's crazy in six months how my perspective changes on the things that are in that bag. And a lot of times what really happens is that part of my brain that likes to reimagine stuff really kicks off at that point. If I had tried to do that when I originally decided to get rid of it, forget it.
molly:Yeah. So that's that's such a good tip because I. There's things that I look for and I'm like, where did it go? Yeah. And I'd either given it away or something, lost it.
molly:I feel like some of my stuff's probably in a bin somewhere between my storage and my house. So I don't know. But yeah, there's many things where I'm like, man, I wish I still had that.
erin:Yeah. And it's the worst. It's like a haunt in your It's brain like when you don't buy the really cool thing that you con yourself out of and you're like, I should have bought it and then it haunts you forever.
molly:So let's see. The beginning of this year, but really ever since I've known you, you've been making cool shit. That's kind of like your your motto.
erin:Yes.
molly:Wear cool shit, but you also make cool shit. So do you know off the top of your head how many garments you've made this year?
erin:Oh, I don't. I haven't made as many as I made last year, because I got into the three d printing. So I have made maybe five different tops and maybe four hats with the three d printing pens since started this year.
molly:But I think in January, like you made January, February, March, you were like a production facility.
erin:Oh yeah, maybe I did make I think you're right. I think I did make all those shirts this year. Yeah, I lose track. I was gonna try and go back and look at because last year I posted a video of everything I made that year, and it was so much fun to look back. And I'm gonna really, yeah, I need to do that and see what I, but yeah, I do make a lot of clothes.
molly:You made this I made
erin:what I have on.
molly:Yeah. This year, right? I think. Because I think you made that two piece.
erin:I might have made it this year
molly:I don't know. Or less this year. Kind of blurring together. Yeah. But if anybody needs a fashion show, it's you.
erin:I would love to be involved in one. That would be so much fun. That's kind of like a goal for the next year from this point out is to
molly:We're gonna make it happen.
erin:Just for fun, you know what I mean? Yeah. I'd love to do more styling and I'd like to do a fashion show. And I'd also, I really wanna start YouTube. That's the one thing I really wanna do this year because I wanna share my process of how I make things.
erin:Yeah. And I just, I start making them and John will be like, You should film that. And I'm like, Oh, but then I have to get the light and I have to get the whatever.
molly:Yeah.
erin:And so I'm just gonna set up something in my studio so I can just let it tape me and then try and make some videos.
molly:Yeah, you definitely should because I feel like more people need to see you. What's your favorite thing you've made this year?
erin:Oh, I think like the hat I wore to the fashion show. I think that was my favorite thing because I love Marcel waves. Those that's that hairstyle from the twenties. Love so much and making a hat like that and like getting it because I made two before, but making it less of a helmet and a little bit more wearable, I just love it. I feel like I'm gonna make a lot of things like that.
molly:That was really cool.
erin:Although right now I'm working on something for Fiona that's really cool too. Like a red leather. It's gonna have all these eyelet, like lace up parts and stuff. She's an inspiration. I love designing stuff for herself.
molly:I mean, how lucky, right?
erin:Yeah, it's so fun.
molly:Fiona's like, I don't have to shop. My mom will just make it.
erin:Yeah, it's so fun. And I think our aesthetics are really similar.
molly:Yeah.
erin:I think I know what she likes because she does wear it to like her best events. Mean, wore a new, I made a leather top out of Brimfield, such a great place to shop. Yeah. And I got ostrich leather there. It was $5 a piece, and I made a halter for that she wore to Lady Gaga, which made me feel really good, because I'm like, she must have liked it, or she wouldn't have worn it there.
molly:Yeah, it looked so good. I mean, everything she wears But, looks yeah, everything you make for her is awesome. Let's talk about Queer AF. That was really fun.
erin:That was so amazing. And it gave me so much hope. And the thing is, like, if if I didn't know you, I wouldn't have even known about it. And that's why I'm like, you are so in touch with so many things going on. And it makes me so happy because when I look, all I have to do is look at, you know, your story and I'm like, Oh my God, a lot of times I have to watch them like seven times to catch all the info.
erin:I loved it. I thought it was incredible. Me And it gave me so much hope in Massachusetts that it's not just this totally dreary place where everybody wears gray, you know?
molly:Yeah. I've been getting that a lot. Like, I also feel like it's really interesting how, like, people in Providence dress, people in Salem dress, people in Boston, or people in Cambridge and Somerville and hang them. Or the cape or
erin:Oh, yeah.
molly:But there are creative people in each of those locations. I just feel like they're just not getting enough.
erin:Yeah, you never see. I have no sightings in my town of anybody I like feel like I'm the only one, yet I can't be. There have to be other people, but I never see them. When I see somebody just, you know, kinda unique and doing their own thing, I just wanna, like, be like, we need to be friends.
molly:I know. I know. Same. I love being around creative people. And I think because I wasn't around creative people for most of my life, or they didn't express that part of themselves.
molly:Like, I didn't realize how much I was missing. But, yeah, the Cory f fashion show was amazing. Like, just imagine being a kid being able to have that resource, but also, like, meeting someone on Project Runway when you're
erin:Oh, yeah. In the school. Excited
molly:to meet
erin:you to come.
molly:I'm so mad because I was, like, filming around and interviewing, and I didn't do the I didn't get to do the photo op.
erin:And it was really, I mean, were so sweet. Rasha and Utica were so nice. Yeah. They were super sweet, and they had been sitting there taking so many pictures that they took the time, you know? Yeah.
erin:It was really cool. And I think what excited me so much was to see that many people showing up for it. People So amazing.
molly:The cheering, every single person was so awesome. The
erin:energy was beyond compare of just such positive energy, like a room full of the most positive energy you could ever And it was the creativity, amazing outfits, amazing people. It was so fun. The space was incredible. I know. I had such a fun night.
molly:Everyone was so happy. Talking to the models in the back, people who had never modeled before, just felt like they were really supported. And like that was so inspiring. And I had been feeling like the past couple weeks because I had to reschedule a recording. And what I've noticed is like if I don't talk to somebody or if I don't see you, I get really low.
molly:I get really dark.
erin:Yeah. Yeah. No, it's important. Yeah, it's really important to your mental health for all of us. They've done studies about it, you know, that like interacting with people that are same like mine, not identical or anything, but like if you're creative, being around creative people, if you're really into books, really cerebral.
erin:Yeah. You know, it's it's just to share some of the ideas that you have and not feel alone.
molly:Yeah. It's it's so fascinating and, like, yeah, I just I think I would shrivel up and die if I didn't surround myself with creative people. And Me I feel like I'm not really creative.
erin:No. You're very creative. But like, I guess This whole podcast is creative.
molly:I guess traditionally speaking, like I'm not making a physical object like I'm making a digital object, which kind of feels weird.
erin:Yeah, it does. I get that because when I do photography, I feel like it's somehow, when I think about what I made, I don't include that And you print it out or like And I never do.
molly:Which should because I would buy your prints. I would buy them and put them on my wall. Need to. The one that you did with, like, the feminine rage. Uh-huh.
molly:I would buy I would buy that and put it in fact, can you print one so I can put it
erin:up on the I will.
molly:Art that needs to be in the in the studio. Also, new location if you're watching, but it's the final boss. Like, I've moved too many times.
erin:Yeah. This is perfect. Super cozy.
molly:Yeah. And it's not hot. It's not a thousand degrees.
erin:Yeah. Not hot or not cold. That's always important.
molly:Oh my gosh. Should we talk about alright. So last year, on your birthday, we did seance.
erin:Oh, yeah. Oh my god. That was the funniest thing ever. Worst I I think she had no idea what she was doing or she just didn't care because we did find out it was her last one. Right?
molly:Your birthday was so funny because we all dressed up cool.
erin:Yeah, to go to the seance and it was like, they didn't get that. They didn't even get it in Salem. They didn't get that people dressed up for Seance were dressed up for Seance. Like, I felt like they just didn't get it. Yeah, like you From beginning to end, she wasn't dressed up.
erin:Mm-mm. Like, oh my God, if I'm doing a Seance in Salem, if I'm running one, I am gonna be dressing Yeah. Like all in black with a veil. I am gonna knock it out of the park. Victorian.
erin:I
molly:mean, honestly, if you're
erin:gonna Missed opportunity. If you're gonna do it. Right?
molly:And be kind of shitty at it. At least make up Yeah. Make it an adventure.
erin:Especially in Salem. Yeah, it was bad in every way and wrong. Like she didn't get anything about any I remember she was like, Does anybody have a dachshund? Is that what she said? And everyone was like, Nope.
molly:I think it was a corgi actually.
erin:Oh, corgi.
molly:Was even more, like, unique.
erin:That's so funny.
molly:I feel a corgi coming through.
erin:Nobody had a corgi.
molly:There was just all these, like, people grasping at straw. Like, she's grasping at straws and there people were, like, maybe rationalizing, like, well, maybe, you know It was because so they all felt bad. And then I, like I don't know. I don't remember what she said to me, but, like, she didn't, like, talk about anything to me,
erin:Yeah, which was yeah, Like you intimidated her, I think.
molly:She I don't did not
erin:mention you. And I think she asked me three different things, I was just like, and I got mad at least once because she was kind of being rude. Yeah. It was just so weird.
molly:It was really bizarre.
erin:It was a disaster of a seance, but hilarious.
molly:Yeah, the story.
erin:And the place where they had it, the bathroom was beyond the pale
molly:Oh yeah, in the Salem
erin:Yeah, Terrible.
molly:Blow that mall to pieces. Yeah. I mean, blow that bathroom to pieces.
erin:Yeah, it was so gross. So gross. And you can't have a business and not take care of a you just can't do that.
molly:I don't know whose whose bathroom that is, but that was a disaster. It's almost like Salem needs those like, you know, in Europe, there's the bathrooms that are self cleansing and they're just on the street. Please, Salem, do something because every time I get there I have to pee because guess what, I drove an hour and a half
erin:to I get know, there's not many places. Then I need to go to restaurants or coffee places, you know? I just think that I would expect not a hokey thing, but a really amazing seance in Wrong place. So if there's a good one, you need to tell us about it because I'm dying to go to a good one. I want to so badly.
erin:I think it would be a blast.
molly:So what are you thinking for Halloween? What's your costume?
erin:Oh my gosh. I have kind of been thinking about it, but I haven't come up with any, like, any sure. I love vampires so much that it's probably gonna have a vampire. It's probably gonna be a vampire of some kind. But I wanna do, like, a unique kind of vampire look.
erin:Yeah. Probably. It'll probably be a vampire.
molly:I don't know. If it if no one's watched this movie, it's called the Hourglass Sanitarium. It's a nineteen seventies movie. Yeah. It's Polish.
erin:So cool.
molly:It's on YouTube, but it's dubbed in English.
erin:I've seen just pieces, and it looks amazing.
molly:So it is honestly the the closest I've ever been to watching or being able to say, okay, that is exactly what dreaming is like. Uh-huh. When you're having a crazy dream, that movie
erin:It just goes from one thing to the next. Yeah.
molly:That kind of thing. Nothing really makes sense, but it kind of does. Yeah. And it feels just like, it's just surrealism at its best, I feel like. And that's kind of the decor I think I'm going with.
erin:We definitely have to do a collaborative project. That's the next thing.
molly:Yeah. Should we talk about what we're doing? Yeah, why not? Yeah, we are gonna collab on a short film and I'm excited.
erin:Me too, I'm so excited. I think, just like our aesthetics and the things that we're interested in, we bring different things, different skill sets to the table, I think we can make something really cool, just for the sake of making it. That's all I wanna do at this point in my life, is make things because, and I know that sounds like being super privileged and I am really lucky that I can make things, but I just feel like such a need that with all the things going on in the world to just like make pieces that have some value, like personally to me, some kind of statement. Like with the three d printing, I want to do some political pieces like for fashion shows. I do think that it's probably something I've learned as I've gotten older that making things for yourself that have great meaning probably equals success as well, rather than trying to chase what people want to see and making something over and over again that has no meaning to you.
erin:You know what I mean? And filling the world with more stuff that's like as long as it has meaning to people, it's great. But there's a lot of stuff out there that, you know, we all just do. We repeat because you can get some kind of monetary. But then if you put that energy into something you really cared about.
molly:I think that's the authenticity takes it a lot further than, know, oh, I'm making
erin:this to sell it. Yeah.
molly:Or I'm diving deep into this aesthetic because it's popular where I Exactly. Eventually
erin:Being authentic maybe is the word.
molly:Super phony. Yeah. People it's it's it's odd how easy it is to spot someone that is being kind of like, I guess phony isn't the word, but maybe inauthentic to themselves.
erin:Just to make your phone.
molly:Yeah. Like, that's so bizarre. Like, we've picked up on this, like, these social cues through a stupid device.
erin:Yeah. Know? Yeah, definitely. You can definitely see and feel. But I just think, as I'm getting older, I just think being authentic and just doing what really matters to you will probably pay off way better.
erin:I think I spent years either working for designers or making stuff on my own hoping it would sell. Like it's just not, it's not where it's at. I really don't think so. And if I put that energy just into my art creating beautiful pieces that I'm proud of, I might be a famous artist by now if I'd done that, rather than just chasing money and trying to, it's just been very unfulfilling for me.
molly:Yeah, Well, I mean, everything that you make is just like you really need a gallery as well. I think your fashion like, fashion show wise needs to have all your art around.
erin:Yeah, that would be really cool. Yeah, that would be awesome.
molly:Because I mean, you've probably made enough pieces to have 50 models.
erin:Maybe. I'm so interested in so many things, and I get so excited about so many things. I want to learn the things that are really high on my list is I want to build a dollhouse and make my own Blythe dolls. Like, I have, like, modified some for Fiona, but I wanna dig deep into that, re carve their faces and make the most amazing dollhouse that's Blythe scale. The other thing on my list is I really wanna learn to DJ, and I wanna have my own DJ set up, and DJ some cool event somewhere would be, that's high on my bucket list of things, you know?
erin:And I wanna learn how to play my djembe better, my African drum. I'd like to have lessons with somebody who really knows what they're because I feel like I don't have enough confidence.
molly:They can teach you. Cool.
erin:Yeah. That'd be amazing. It's like, you you can look at me and be like, oh okay, she's an older woman, I'm 60, but I always wanna be learning new And I have such a list that the saddest thing about dying to me is missing the people that I love and also not being able to make anything anymore. Like, that makes me so sad. Like, that's the only thing that makes me sad right now.
erin:Being 60 is that you feel like your time is running out compared to when you're, you know, 40 and your life isn't half over yet. You know what I mean? Or you hope it's not. I mean, who knows? But we all hope that we could live a long life.
erin:It's just one of those things. Like, I just always want to keep, like, learning new things and being excited by new things.
molly:Yeah, I mean it's really inspirational, all the things that you But you're also very talented. Not everybody can pick up three d printing from a pen and make
erin:And that's so fun.
molly:A wearable garment.
erin:It's literally my favorite thing of the moment. It's just so it's so gratifying because you have this it's like a glue gun, for anybody who doesn't know, and the filament goes into the gun and it melts. And you just you can design on a mannequin. So you just go to town making an outfit. It's just it's really fun.
molly:It's so cool. But again, you you are not like your average person. Like, I think if I did that, I would just have shit everywhere.
erin:I just think it's like years of
molly:Yeah.
erin:Designing things. It's like it all, like, comes together.
molly:Yeah.
erin:And so then whatever if you're not afraid to take on something, because a lot of people are, they stick with what they know because they're so afraid of failure. You gotta fail, fail, fail, fail, fail. I fail every single day. Know, with everything that I make, I fail. And then I'm like, okay, so what did I learn from that?
erin:I kind of sit down before I go to sleep and think about what's the takeaway. What was the part? Because I used to get depressed when I was younger. I'm like, oh, terrible at this. Never mind.
erin:But as I've gotten older, I've learned this skill of what went well with it and what didn't. And then how can I do it better and just keep trying?
molly:Yeah, it's super important.
erin:And that's everything. I mean, if there's one thing I've learned at this point, the people who just don't take no for an answer and keep doing it succeed. And the way that, and what I mean by succeed is not necessarily from other people's perspective, from their own.
molly:Yeah.
erin:Because if you keep doing it, you're gonna conquer the thing that's not going well.
molly:Yeah. I will say that I'm glad I have dropped the perfectionism.
erin:You have to.
molly:Because I used to could not. I couldn't do that. Now I'm just like, whatever. And obviously, if you've seen my content and my videos, you'll know I'm not a perfectionist.
erin:They're amazing because you let it flow. And I think perfectionism is an absolute waste of time.
molly:Yeah, it is.
erin:It's really a waste of time.
molly:You can't get better until you screw some stuff up.
erin:And then the not being perfect actually makes things better.
molly:Yeah.
erin:You know, the imperfections make things way more interesting because if you want a perfect bustier, just go buy it from like a designer or some company. But if you want like when somebody makes one by hand or whatever, it's not going to be perfect because they're not sewers making hundreds of them where they have like every single seam is the same or whatever. It's going to be super unique. Right? But that makes it more beautiful.
erin:The hand seeing those little parts that aren't perfect make it handmade and make it more beautiful.
molly:Yeah. I wanna go back to when you said you your age, you talk about a lot on your TikTok about aging is a privilege and also rejecting beauty standards.
erin:Yeah, I think it's super important because every I mean, we all know every woman, you look at social media for one minute and I should actually do a test sometime and see how many things come up telling me I'm not good enough. Yeah, it's unbelievable.
molly:Yeah,
erin:they're not telling men they're not good enough. But women, the minute you get on there, it's like you're not you're not pretty enough. You're not young enough. You're not skinny enough. You're not, you know, this look or whatever the aesthetic is that your boobs aren't big enough here.
erin:And it just goes on and on. And I 100% reject it all. And I do not care. You have to develop something more to who you are and then you develop armor against it. It takes time, but you have to learn to think that who you are is is enough and to grow that into something really worthwhile rather than just defining yourself by what other people think you should do.
erin:Right? It's
molly:Yeah, just it's crazy because I see these mega influencers and I was on TikTok last night and I don't follow Mikayla.
erin:Oh, yeah. It was like looks completely different now.
molly:Well, no, it's not even that she looks different. She was just like telling people, listen, I know I'm not pretty. I know I'm not beautiful, which is so fucking heartbreaking for someone of her age to say. I mean, like her or not, like that's just that just sucks. And whether or not she's doing it for attention, which I don't I would hope not.
molly:But, like, having I love having tea 16,000,000 people tear you apart.
erin:Yeah. I it's gotta be so hard
molly:They were get nicer to her when she was 60 heavier and then she lost 60 pounds, and now they pick apart her arms or they find insecurities that she never even knew about.
erin:Yeah. That's the problem. Right? Social media can be really, really mean like that.
molly:Well, it's just really heartbreaking because, whew, I couldn't have handled that in my twenties.
erin:And I think the more people you get that follow you, the more criticism then you start to The more attention it starts to get, I'm sure, like really mean. So far, most of the people that follow me are women who are interested in growing older with a perspective that's happy and fun. And that's what I'm trying to show is that it doesn't have to be like, Oh, I'm so sad. I'm going to hide my age now, I need to do something to be okay. It's like my biggest compliment is younger women coming to my page and saying, Oh my gosh, this is how I want to age.
erin:Yeah. And I'm like, Absolutely. I just want to be like this voice that's not giving in to just like what society says, like that you're I remember my mom told me once she remembers the day she became invisible. And I was like, the heck? And that really influenced me, like really doubling down on who I am, what I'm gonna wear, and I'm not gonna be quiet for anybody.
molly:Yeah,
erin:I'm going to wear what I'm going to what I want, and I'm going to say what I want because, like, that made me so sad that she literally remembered, like 45, that men didn't look at her anymore. And women are trained to think about these things rather than who cares? Who wants them looking at you? Like, be your independent, cool self. And I've had really young guys come up to me and say, Oh my God, I love your style.
erin:So it's not I don't think it's true even. I think maybe, you know, like the crappy men, you know, look right through you after you're 45 and who needs some. You know, they can go on and I just want younger women and women my own age to take a chance, like be who you really want to be. Get that thing out of your closet that's in the back that you're like, Oh, I have to have a special occasion. Wear it to the movies.
erin:Wear it to dinner on Friday night. Get to the grocery
molly:store, who cares?
erin:Yes. And once you get those compliments, you're going to start feeling stronger and more. Wow, I wore what I love and covet my closet and I got compliments.
molly:Yeah.
erin:I just think aging aging is a privilege and we're lucky if we get to live that life. I always say, think about when you were born and all the people that were born after you that have already died around the world. That's a lot of people and you're still alive. That is a privilege, you know, and like live your best life. Don't sit around feeling sad, like, know, express yourself and go out and try and explore the world and find the things that you know that you think you can't do.
erin:Like, go for it.
molly:Yeah. Especially like if you've gained weight, I've gained weight and that I have some body dysmorphia mentally just because it happens so fast. So I pick something up off the rack and I'm like, this should fit and it's like not the same. So that has contributed to me buying more things, but also not being like, okay. Well, I wanna tone it down because I don't like my shape.
molly:No. I went full full in, like, we're gonna dress for the body that I have now, not for the body that I want later.
erin:And that's so important, because you're living right now. This is your moment. And we can't see the future. Right? And so that mentality too, that I'll wait for this or I'll wait to, you know, you just got to, like, live.
molly:Yeah. And that's been really helpful for me personally. It's just buying things that fit me. Absolutely. Because man, when they don't fit, it's really uncomfortable.
molly:Then you're insecure. Like, I had blue hair that really that really cut me. Didn't know. I like it.
erin:Did not like it, but everybody else did.
molly:I know got so many comments. It's I mean, I'm glad that people liked it, but also don't care. That's when you
erin:know You gotta do your own
molly:thing. That's when you know, like, you're you figured it out. Yeah. When you don't give a shit.
erin:Yeah. So true.
molly:I hate
erin:it. Yeah.
molly:But it was my own dumb fault. But yeah, that something so simple.
erin:But then you found that you you know, then you can double down on what you know, really like. Yeah. Because you were like, oh, you know, I'm going to try this different thing. Then you're like, oh, I don't like it. So then you know what you like.
erin:Yeah. But it's fun to try something is. Different.
molly:Don't you guys don't let me change my hair again. Yes. I'm going for long pink hair. I gotta get rid of the black hair.
erin:Yeah. I like it. I like it. But I like everything you do with your hair.
molly:Oh, thank you. I'm neurotic about my hair. I think that's probably one thing that I'm super neurotic about. What about you? Do you have a neuroses?
erin:I don't like to show my legs. So I'm very funny about, especially my knees, it's gotta be below my knees. It's so stupid, but I don't know why I'm like that. But yeah, that's definitely
molly:the thing. Yeah, actually was trying think, have I seen your
erin:knees? No, you've never seen my knees.
molly:I guess at the pool, but that's different. And I wasn't really looking at your knees.
erin:Yeah, I just don't like them.
molly:Will you take commissions from people?
erin:The only way I would do commissions is if I have the freedom to kind of like
molly:Do whatever you want.
erin:You know, do what I want within, you know, I get it. Like, you know, you don't want somebody to be I'm sure no one wants somebody who's not going to like kind of make them what they want. But, know, there are situations where I would, especially when it comes to like my photography manipulation, that type of thing. I'd be much more interested in doing to sell than making clothes for other people. I don't think I would do that unless it's for a fashion show, working with a model.
molly:Yeah, I just don't think I
erin:The But thing with sewing is I hate sewing.
molly:Which is But so I funny love because you're the
erin:end result. So like I do it because I love the end result. But the problem, the thing I don't like about sewing is the sewing machine, like you're at the mercy of your sewing machine and its quirks, and then it just gets screwy, and then it won't work, and then you've got days of then trying to get it working again. It's just like, that's what I hate about sewing. If somebody could just present me every day with a perfect sewing machine that had no issues, I would be so happy.
erin:But I feel like there's always something. And that's when usually when I walk away from sewing for months, it's because the machine was beyond the pale, and I was like, I'm just gonna, and I go move on to something else and then come back to it. And then when I have the patience, then I can deal with it. Because I just got it all back up and running, so.
molly:Yeah. I feel like I'm not delicate on machines, and I like I don't know what what a good analogy would be, but I just grip it and rip it, and if it
erin:Yeah.
molly:If it fucks up, then whatever. I break so many needles.
erin:Yeah. Yeah. No. It's yeah. Really It's it's frustrating.
erin:And that's why John got into hand sewing because he says it's just so, he does the eighteenth century clothing and he says that sewing is so easy because you don't have any of those issues. Problems, you have it pinned and you just sew, but I could never.
molly:Which is so crazy. Like how many people do you know that have the whole family pretty, I mean does Finn sew as well?
erin:Yeah, he does sew a little bit, but he would like to sew more. It's something that's on his list.
molly:Yeah. Yeah. The whole family just doing cool shit.
erin:It's fun, It's you just like what you need to be doing to, I don't know. And I do think one other thing that's really interesting is with AI and all of these things happening, was thinking about this the other day. I honestly think that you should be encouraging your kids to do art because as the world gets more complicated, people are always going to want that unique thing. Art 100% comes from your heart and your experience. So I feel like if there's one thing it will never do, it's that.
erin:Might do a lot of things, but unless you can immerse people's actual feelings and experience into, which they'll probably be able to do eventually. Until you can do that, I think the art situation is just point
molly:of So you are open to collaborations for photography or commissions for photography.
erin:Yeah, basically I just would love people, if people follow me if you're on TikTok or you're on Instagram, or when I start a YouTube, I really wanna start soon, about just like creative process. But like on any of those
molly:Platinum Rebellion.
erin:Yeah, Platinum Rebellion. I love to share my creative process with other like minded people.
molly:Yeah, and it's good. Your outfits are really cool and you show people that you can have one piece and wear it a million different ways.
erin:Oh yeah, and that's so important, and not just buying and buying and buying because if you wear it the same every time you get so bored with it, but if you wear it differently every time then it's never boring.
molly:Yeah, I mean that's really influenced me in like getting pieces that I can wear for a long time. Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming.
erin:Oh, yeah. It was so fun. I love being here.
molly:I can't wait to iron out the short film and let that thing
erin:go wild on awesome. The Yeah. It's gonna be so cool.
molly:So follow Platinum Rebellion. Okay. Bye. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. Check out where to find Erin in the show notes.
molly:Follow her on Platinum Rebellion wherever you get your social media, but especially YouTube because she just started her YouTube and I think it's gonna be great. And, yeah, I'll see you guys next time.
