These maroon Doc Martens are a staple in Wilkins’ closet.
Wilkins enjoys the small details, seen with their choice of accessories.
In the future, Wilkins would like to learn how to sew, mend, and resize their clothes.
Nadia/Aidan Wilkins ’24 layers a lime green blazer with leaf stitch patterns over a mountain gray top. They emphasize the floral embroidery design on their magenta wide-legged pants by pairing them with patent leather boots of the same color. Utilizing thrifted and reused clothing, as well as combining feminine and masculine pieces, Wilkins creates a whimsical and eco-friendly closet.
Wilkins first started focusing on fashion because of their mother, who taught them fiber arts, mending, and sewing.
“My mom used to sew clothes for me and my two younger siblings. I remember sometimes helping her pick fabrics, and my favorites always involved a lot of color: stripes, floral patterns, or rainbows,” said Wilkins.
The evolution of Wilkins’ fashion reflects their journey in self-discovery. With their current style, they experiment with combining conventionally feminine elements such as pink colors, glitter, and skirts with more androgynous pieces to create a look that helps them feel more comfortable and confident with their own self-expression.
“Style has become a way for me to explore and express queerness. When I first came out as genderqueer, I avoided wearing things that were ‘girly,’ like pink items, glitter, makeup, skirts, and so on, [because] I was convinced that my clothes would equate to my gender. As I’ve become more comfortable with myself, I actually find that I enjoy exploring femininity with my clothes because I’ve realized that gender is not always inherent in style,” said Wilkins.
Being a strong supporter of a sustainable ‘capsule wardrobe’, Wilkins usually buys interchangeable clothing pieces that complement their statement pieces easily. They take inspiration from upcycling content on Instagram and scour sites like eBay, Depop, and Poshmark for second-hand pieces.
“I believe really strongly in working with what you have… A lot of my favorite pieces are either thrifted or they are repurposed from things my family [already had]… There’s something special in finding life in a piece that is…old and has already been loved,” said Wilkins.
Wilkins characterizes their style as an amalgamation of “whimsigoth, maximalist, [and] cottagecore.” They also favor nature-themed colors and embroidery patterns, as reflected in their favorite brand, Solstice Handmade. They described their signature scarf they can’t go without.
“I have this giant scarf that has color blocks of brown and red on it; I wear it all the time in winter. It must’ve had a previous life as a shower curtain, but I find it goes with lots of my outerwear and can also serve as a makeshift hat if things get really desperately cold,” said Wilkins.
Overall, for Wilkins, their style and self-expression have offered them a valuable casual outlet to express an aspect of their identity without requiring too much effort or thought. Going forwards, they hope to try more with creating and modifying their own clothing.
“I want to learn more about sewing my own clothes and mending or resizing things I already own. I want to be able to wear the clothes I already have for a long time, so I want to build a wardrobe that can be worn multiple ways and can accommodate a body and a human that changes over time,” said Wilkins.
