Like something out of a Wes Anderson movie, I e-meet Essex-born LA producer Alicia Sadler in her ostentatious Beachwood apartment, nestled close to the Hollywood sign. The first things that strike me are the plush sofas and big luscious palms as her background. This isn’t even the main event, Alicia, with her wavy orange bob styled with large tribal earrings hanging to her shoulders and a brilliant alluring smile, Alicia is a woman that is a feast for curiosity.
Alicia has creativity spilling out of her pockets, she has a keen eye for quintessentiality in her creative short film productions and this has been beautifully manifested in her sense of style.
“I have always remembered that I wanted to look different. Even when it felt uncomfortable, there are lots of times when you’re a kid and want to look the same as everyone, and I didn’t necessarily feel much confidence wearing different clothes, I just knew that I wanted to.”
Alicia’s love for clothes stemmed from her parents, who were always dressing her in items that could be seen as “alternative.” However, it wasn’t until she left Essex for London at sixteen when she began to dress more elaborately or, as Alicia says in her own words, “I began to dress how I felt.”
“I’ve always been inspired by music and film, for example, I was really into sixties music and cut all my long hair off and made it into a completely symmetrical bob and dyed it peroxide blonde. I wore sixties mini-dresses and peep-toe shoes for years.’
Over the years her style has evolved to be very unique; “By the time I was twenty-eight I was wearing a lot of Hawaiian shirts and kimonos, and I think ever since my style has been ‘seventies Japanese cowgirl’ and although I am still being influenced by films and music this is now a continuous undertone to my style.”
Her style covers the decades and Alicia is certainly not one to follow the latest fashion trends. Nonetheless, fashion has been taking a wild turn recently with the most desirable items being those that are preloved or vintage.
“Vintage fashion has been happening for a hot minute and terms of the internet, everyone is selling their personality to make a profit; individualism makes money, that is why second-hand shopping has become so popular. I honestly think it’s a trend. The style at the moment is very eclectic and in the last three years it’s a new age for vintage dressing.”
So what separates Alicia from other vintage dressers?
“For sure I am a consumer, but there has to be a story entangled in the clothing. I think it’s funny that we’re scared of clothes, I think I’ve conquered that [fear] as I love clothes so much. I always joke that my wardrobe is disgusting or amazing and sometimes I can’t tell the difference! It’s more of a feeling and the trick is not caring. I enjoy when clothes express someone’s authenticity.”
With an abundance of vintage stores in LA, Alicia has the creative eye to buy something seen by most people as borderline grotesque and can give it a new lease of life and allow it to be an extension of her radiating personality.
So what’s next for Alicia?
‘I would love to be at a stage where I am designing my clothes, but I have always been drawn to vintage over new shopping. It gives me a lot of joy in finding treasures.”
If we can take anything away from Alicia’s style is that individual personality is infectious and considered an admirable trait desired by others. And if we can reflect this idea into the way we dress, we already externally solidify our place in the world and how we can better it.
