Anyone that has cried over a pair of Marni shoes that were found on the last day of the Barney’s warehouse sale, for 90 percent off, in your size, that were jammed under the shelf, is a member of my tribe. We see completely eye to eye on the fact that it is more about the hunt and visual stimulation, than it is about purely consuming. Ariel says that things in life are intense for her, “I like intense color, intense fashion and I am very emotional… people say that I am Pisces to the max” (I am also a water sign, Scorpio, and intense is an understatement.) I love Ariel’s passion for detail in the way she describes her Bill Blass vintage two-peice, pastel set, how it reminds her of the contemporary designer, Isabel Marant, and how the neon fuschia pump she wears with it has nothing to do with it stylistically, but works perfectly color-wise. Ariel approaches clothing like the art historian that she is. She wrote her thesis on “Clothing as a Cultural Medium in Contemporary Art,” where she enlightens us about artists that reflect on the cultural phenomenon of clothing and are completely divorced from the marketing of it. Among a few she is particularly inspired by is virtuoso Yonika Shonibare, who turn garments of dutch wax printed textiles into opulent theater. She was the first girl to wear a tie to school in her hometown of Virginia Beach, a town with a vibe that she carries into her current urban life in her floor length Diane Von Furstenburg printed dress and pink floppy hat. However, the “greatest thing” that she owns is her red Valentino gown that she got for fifty dollars at a sample sale, and of course, she cried when she got it.

Check out Ariel’s Blog.

If you like Ariel, you may also enjoy Haley Wollens and Sarah Hamilton.