It’s What’s Underneath By Allison Pinski

I just came across the video series “It’s What’s Underneath” on YouTube by StyleLikeU

a few weeks ago. It spotlights different individuals discussing their experience with personal style and how it has influenced their lives. The series interviews people like Daphne Rubin Vega from Rent, Ryan O’Connell about living with cerebral palsy, and Adwoa Aboah on her modeling career. The purpose of the series is to show how each participant’s personal style influences their careers, experiences, and perspectives on life. I really enjoyed watching the interviews (although I have only seen a small fraction so far) because they touch upon important sociopolitical issues.
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My introduction to the series started with Caitlin Stasey in her video “Being ‘The Pretty Girl’ Isn’t Always So Pretty In Hollywood” (below). I follow Stasey on Twitter and Instagram, and strongly agree with her personal feminist brand and political commentary. After watching her video, I had a better understanding of her burden as being the “pretty girl” and her subsequent style experience.

Another interview I want to spotlight is Meredith Graves’ video “Punk Isn’t A Consumerist Item, It’s What’s Underneath” (below). Being familiar with the punk music community, I always find it interesting to hear about other’s experiences. Graves brings very valid concerns through her interview about what a punk female singer should look like and why her nonconforming personal style is important to her identity.

Olivia Campbell talks about body shaming and acceptance in her video “I’m Not Curvy, I’m Fat” (below). I was not familiar with Campbell before watching her interview, but have since grown to love her journey toward self-acceptance and she offers interesting insights into the modeling industry with her experiences.

The series interviews many other men, women, and nonbinary people on their experiences. If you have some free time and are interested in seeing more interviews, any of the videos are worth the ten minutes or so it takes to watch them. When I have spare time between classes or want to take a break from doing anything, I go through the master playlist and pick one or two at random to watch (and they never disappoint).