What is your favorite store? Do you like shopping online or in-store more often?
Mrs. Morales: It’s like choosing favorite children. I have a very strong weakness for Target. I cannot walk through Target without buying something. I also love J-Crew, Madewell, and Zara. Also, a little bit of Forever 21, but it’s kind of hit or miss there. I don’t like to shop in-store– I’m more of an online shopper. The H&M website is not easy to navigate, but if I’m in the city, oh yeah, I go to H&M.
Who are your fashion role models, both inside and outside of school?
Mrs. Morales: I love the outfits of Mrs. Katz, Mrs. Riverain, Ms. Gawad, and Ms. Holzschuh. Also, Ms. Torres, and Mrs. Decker have really great shoes. There are some people who have nice game, and it does feel like a threat. In terms of people outside of school, I follow Dani Stahl on Instagram (@thedanistahl)- she’s really funky. Do you know who else is great? Iris Apfel. She’s like 800 years old (really 93 years old), wears these huge glasses, and has big white hair. She’s amazing. The best way I can describe her is that she dresses like a Sesame Street character every single day. I also like just sitting in New York and watching people. I always think about how they picked their outfits. That’s what always interests me.
Do you plan your outfits in advance or just “go for it” in the morning?
Ms. Morales: I have a separate planner where I plan outfits. Every Sunday, I look at two weather apps because I cannot trust just one. [Then] I plan it out. If I know it’s a day I’m going to be up in admission running up and down all these stairs, I have to think about that. If I’m walking to Brunswick, I need to think about that. I enjoy planning out my week, so I drag it out about an hour or two. I’ll sit in my closet (I have a little stool in there) and look at my clothes and think about it.
How many pairs of shoes do you have?
Mrs. Morales: I would say maybe about 130 pairs of shoes in total. The reason I know [this] is that when we moved to New York, I decided to get clear boxes for shoes. So I called the container store and ordered about 80 boxes, and they called back saying ‘Oh, because you’re opening this shoe store, we are going to give you this discount.’ And I was like ‘Yes, I am! Thank you for the 15% off!’ I use all my shoes because I feel sad for them if they are not in the rotation. This morning, I rotated them around because I feel [bad] for you if you aren’t being used.
What is your favorite piece of clothing?
Mrs. Morales: I just love shoes. I think that it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing as long as you have some fly shoes. But in terms of articles of clothing, there is [a favorite] piece that I have. I used to be really into thrifting. I found this long jacket- it’s all gold, and really heavy, and has this long zipper. I think someone really made it for a stage [performance] or for a celebrity, but I have worn it just with black stretchy pants, a black tank, and heels, and I love it, love it, love it. It’s one of those pieces that I just want to frame and hang up in my house. It’s a great jacket. It’s a beautiful jacket.
