I’ve been a long-time fan of Amina of Studio Mucci. Ever since she came up in my suggested photos on Instagram years ago (fellow pastel people tend to pop up for me- who would’ve thought?) I’ve been swooning over her incredible tassel creations, her magical life, and her super inspiring stance on compassionate living and self love. When we finally met in person last September she was just as sparkly, friendly and fabulous as I has imagined, and we instantly hit it off over berry lemonade and sweets at Bottega Louie.
Since our meeting we’ve stayed in touch- she’s sent me a few packages with tassel surprises and product previews, and I have sent her little notes and some cotton candy tea to try. When she texted to thank me for the tea, we got to talking, and she told me all about a special summer look book project she’d just wrapped with ModCloth. We chatted a bit about the shoot, her new blog, what she had chosen to wear and make for the look book, and in the end we decided it probably made sense to run a little writeup here on RAOP!
Scroll down for the full interview!
What was your inspiration for this collaboration? //
I was inspired to do this project with ModCloth because I’ve been a longtime customer of theirs, and I feel like our brands are a natural fit. Like Studio Mucci, they sell fun playful items that have a sense of humor. I was also really encouraged by their inclusive approach to fashion- they carry clothing from sizes 0-30.
You mentioned earlier that you haven’t worn a swimsuit in a very long time when we spoke earlier- can you tell me a bit more about that? //
I have owned maybe 2 swimsuits in the last 15 years (one of which remains in my drawer with the tags still on). I guess you could say that I’ve been in hiding for a long time. Until recently, I had internalized all of the messages I’ve received throughout the years… the ones that told me that I should remain in hiding until my body was “swimsuit ready”, until I had lost weight or changed myself enough to be acceptable to society. All of this, coupled with the fact that I’d been dealing with major body image issues and an eating disorder my entire adult life, made it pretty easy to avoid swimwear or even going to the beach or pool parties.
How did it feel getting into that sweet little ice cream suit? What made you decide to do it for this shoot? //
I’ll admit that I was terrified at first… I knew these pictures would be online and people on the internet can be really mean! So even though the swimsuit was my idea, when I received all of the clothes from ModCloth for my initial fitting, I almost chickened out! But then I thought about the excitement I had originally felt when I was choosing the looks. I had seen the Ice-cream suit and thought, “I really wish I could wear something like that. Other women were swimsuits, so why not me!?”
It was a struggle, but ultimately I feel like I finally put an end to 15 years of hiding myself.
What’s your favourite clothing piece from the shoot, and your favourite complementary Mucci decor item? //
I fell in love with the “Flavour Fave” Dress the minute that I saw it! It’s pure ice cream minty perfection, and it’s extremely well made. Naturally I also love the garland Vintage Ice-cream tassel garland that it inspired. It was probably the easiest one to design, because I knew the exact vibe I was going for: Sweet and pastel with a vintage vibe.
And finally… how did you decide which hair colour to have for the shoot? (this is something I always struggle with!) //
Oh my gosh me too! I went back and forth between all pink, and a peach-pink or lilac-pink combo for awhile. Ultimately the pink-lilac won because I wasn’t ready to part with lilac yet, but I think I’m definitely doing all pink next!
Clothing and decor styled and modelled by Amina Mucciolo
All decor can be found here at the Studio Mucci shop
All clothing can be found on ModCloth here.
Photography by Lauren Comes, Makeup by Amanda Bourne