Timo, California
I’m gonna try something different and do this backward.
Do you express yourself through clothes, or you don’t give a fuck and just wear something on?
I definitely express myself through clothes. Depending on my mood, that determines what I usually decide to wear. So if I want to just be lazy or comfortable I’ll pick something that I can just relax in, and sometimes I go around town that way too, if that’s my mood. But other times I love to celebrate fashion and act as more of a mannequin for a particular design, if it has a really special cut or texture or anything like that, I love to get into the character and, you know, dress for each different experience.
The name of my favorite kind of clothes.
Hmm, underwear. Is that true? I don’t know. I mean I love underwear. So many people that I know like to sleep naked. I don’t like to sleep naked, I always love underwear. Unless I’m walking around naked, that’s one thing. But if I’m sleeping I want underwear. So I think I like underwear.
Should there be male and female fashion, or all unisex?
This is a complicated question because I think that traditionally female and male fashion has… the fact that there way always male and female fashion has given us opportunity to break the rules and to express ourselves through breaking the rules. If everything had been unisex the whole time, there would be nothing interesting about switching it up or breaking the rules. That’s not to say that that wouldn’t be a better alternate universe, but that’s not how it happened, so I think it’s important that that is the history, but I also celebrate breaking the rules, and I love the fact that women are dressing in a way that used to be considered masculine, and men are dressing in a way that used to be considered feminine.
Do I wear skirts and dresses?
I’ve been wearing skirts and dresses since I can remember. Yeah, when I was a little kid I would put them on and close the door. This is when I was probably like 2 or 3 years old, I start memories of that. I used to steal my sister’s skirts and I would put them on and close the door. This is when I was probably 2 or 3 years old, I still have memories of that. And I was always fascinated by the way the fabric would move, especially if I was spinning in a circle. I liked seeing how different cuts of the skirts would move differently. If it was like a full circle skirt or if it was a narrow skirt, I just loved watching the fabric spinning in circles. And now as a professional dancer, once in a while I would wear long skirts for my flamenco dancing, and I’ve always been fascinated with skirts.
Would you rather exist nude or dressed up?
You know, I’m not gonna lie, I love to be just in my natural state, I love to be without any clothes when it’s possible. It’s a very liberating feeling, but I love the shelter and the character of clothes. So I kinda live the way I want to. Sometimes I’m in a place where it’s ok to not have any clothes on, and I love those moments, and then other times in my life I’m not so… I think having both options is important.
What do you love or hate the most in the concept of clothes?
I love that we’re able to express ourselves, and I love that sometimes we can kind of hide in the clothes, like if you don’t feel like exposing your feelings or letting the world know everything that you’re going through, sometimes you can just cover ups and hide. And I like that. Something I don’t like about the concept of clothing is that people can get very judgmental, it’s another tool for people to bully or put each other down, because there are different classes of clothes, expensive clothes, or more affordable clothing, or recycled clothing. And I don’t like it when people use clothing as a weapon against other people, I think that’s, you know, just another medium where people can show the ugly sides of their personalities.
How do you identify your gender?
I identify as a male, but a male who isn’t trying to live in such a stereotypically masculine way, because I believe that all of us have so many colors in our personalities and different characteristics that might be seen as masculine or feminine. And I do my best to not live by society standards of what those two words mean. I don’t always succeed because it’s instilled in us from a young age. But that is my goal.
Do you remember when you first felt your sexuality?
Ooh, that’s a good question. The real question to me is, what does sexuality really mean? Does it mean like when the first time when I wanted to have sex with someone, or does it mean the first time I felt free within my sexuality. That’s interesting. I’m gonna go with this. I remember the first time that I couldn’t control the way my body was reacting, and I was 14 years old. I’ll stop there.
Is your body your perfect dress?
Listen, the topic of bodies is so complicated. Just like gender roles in society – we’re taught from such a young age what bodies are supposed to look like because of magazines, and because of Hollywood and modeling and everything. So this is something that’s always been a challenge for us. I am on a journey still to completely love my body, no matter what the state is of my body. If I’m completely what society would call‚ in shape, or if I’m a little bit more relaxed, and maybe I didn’t watch my diet completely for the last month or something. It is what it is, and I think the body changes and it’s ok to have goals for your body, as long as you’re trying to achieve them in a healthy way. It can change, you know. My body has changed so many times in my life and it will continue to change. But the most important thing is that your body is healthy and that you have healthy goals. So yes, it’s a constantly changing perfect dress.
What defines me?
Wow, what defines me. That is a very… I don’t know what defines me… wow. I think all of us want to be meaningful, we all wanna have purpose, and I think finding that purpose is what defines me. Helping others defines me, the way I interact with people defines me. My family, my friends, a stranger… You wanna go through life treating people well, and being a person with integrity is what I think, I hope to be defined as, when people look back at my life, or when I look back at my life at the end of it all, I wanna know that I treated people well and helped people the I could. Yeah, that’s what I aim to be.