Interview with Courtney of A Bevy Of!

Some of you may already know of Courtney, the lady behind the blog A Bevy Of (for those of you that don't know who she is, click that link right now!!). I love that Courtney's blog is a delightful mix of outfit posts, DIY's and personal ramblings (probably my favorite part). Below are a few outfits as well as an interview with said rad chick. Take the time to read this, you will not regret it!

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.

A: My name is Courtney, I am 24, I live in Los Angeles but I am from Michigan from a nice little town just 30 minutes from Detroit, I went to school at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit where I studied Graphic Design.

Q: What are the best (and worst) parts about living in LA?

A: The weather is beautiful.  The "coldest" it gets is 45 and that's super rare.  I had the opportunity to do design work for one of the owners of The Drybar (a blow dry salon) which opened up so many doors when it came to getting all of these fabulous clients I have now.  It wouldn't have happened if I didn't live out here.  And there is so much to do on weekends if you think it's worth the drive.  You'll never have to do the same thing twice!

The worst?  This is going to sound rehearsed because it is:  The traffic, there is traffic all the time pretty much wherever you go.  It sucks trying to go some place because even if it is only 2 miles away, it could take you a half hour to get there.  Oh, and a lot of the people are weird and/or rude.  I had one guy see me walking in behind him and he shut the door, like, pulled it closed behind him….. all while making eye contact with me.  I just stood there until he closed it and I opened it up for myself.  I had a homeless guy steal my cell phone last year.  I had a guy tripping out on drugs try to break into my apartment all while claiming he lived there and that I needed to get out.  I have a neighbor who yells from his balcony at traffic (we don't live that close to the road) and says he's going to come down there and fight it.  So yeah, I guess my point is that the people are weird and rude and suck!

Q: Where are your favorite places to thrift in LA?

A: I always go to the Goodwill by my apartment.  It doesn't always have amazing things but I pretty much always find something.  There's also this antique market that is held once a month in Long Beach.  It's amazing.  And there's this one vendor in particular that has 3 giant tents filled with gorgeous vintage clothing.  I would probably go every weekend if they held it that often.  Oh, and there's a vintage/thrift shop on Fairfax in the Hollywood-ish area that has rows and rows of amazing things.

Q: What's one clothing item or accessory you can never have enough of?

A: It always changes depending on my style at the time, which can change every week, but for the most part it's dresses and necklaces.  Lately, I have been buying/making a lot of tie-dye things and I just added my first official bracelet to my collection which means a lot more will be added soon.

Q: What led you to become so interested in fashion?

A: I had been kind of interested in fashion before this, but one day I was on Flickr and came across the group Wardrobe Remix.  It was like Lookbook but anyone could post and there was no hyping and all that drama.  There was one girl in particular who always had thrifted things and I thought they were so amazing.  So I went to the thrift store and that's where the real obsession began as well as the mixing and matching of things that just shouldn't go together.

Q: What inspires you in your daily life?

A: Other people interested in fashion!  I also go on numerous blogs, fashion or not.  I love going on design blogs like boooom.com and ffffound.com.  I also love tumblr for the beautiful photographs everyone posts.  Pretty much anything that is considered art can inspire me.  Music is definitely something that inspires me.  I love Pogo, Major Lazer, Die Antwoord, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, First Aid Kit, Tennis, Yeasayer, Lykke Li, Tallest Man on Earth, Gold Panda, Yacht, Local Native, Battles, The Wailing Wall, I could go on and on.  Oh, and coffee.  It's so weird.  Get a large coffee in me and I can't stop thinking and making things.

Q: What are a few things you hold dear to your heart?

A: My boyfriend, we've been dating for 5+ years.  He's so amazing and funny and perfect for me.  Michigan is dear to me, it's an amazing place to live filled with inspirational people and ideas.  Detroit is going through this beautiful artistic renaissance right now and I can't wait to move back (which I will be doing on April 20th).  My pets!  I have two cats, Ponytail & Mustache.  Plus, my parents have two young Golden Retrievers and two cats that I miss so much.  It's difficult to find affordable dog-friendly apartments in LA so that makes me miss my parent's dogs that much more!

Some inanimate objects would be my wardrobe, Futurama, my camera collection, my book collection, coffee, and food.  It sounds funny, but they all put a smile on my face in one way or another.

Q: What's your favorite cuisine?

A: Pizza….  I can eat and eat and eat when it comes to pizza.  Asking me to pick my favorite pizza is like asking me to pick my favorite item from my closet.  Oh man, now I want pizza…

Q: Are there any particular hobbies you enjoy that don't relate to fashion?

A: I have been ice skating since I was three years old.  In particular, I was very much into ice dancing which is like ballroom dancing on ice.  I trained at one of the best facilities in the U.S. and had so many amazing coaches.  I would train 5 days a week for about 4 hours a day during the school year and then 5 days a week for about 8 hours a day during the summer.  The reason I didn't pursue it after high school was because I had trouble finding a guy to skate with.  I still skate occasionally, but not as much as I used to.

I also play the cello.  I'm not amazing at it, but I'm pretty good.  Every time I watch a folk-type band that has a cellist in it, I want to start a band. Which might end up happening.

Wow, can you talk about awesome? Courtney is such a sweet, interesting gal and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to interview her so all of you could see how truly wonderful she is. After seeing some of her eclectic, awe-inspiring outfits, I'm sure you'd like to see more, right? Well, you can find her blog here. Go ooh and ahh at all of her posts to your hearts content!!