An Optimistic Fashion: The Eccentric Style of Carla Rockmore
For myself, someone more inclined to consume media about fashion and style rather than fret over my presentation and outfits, it is a debilitating struggle trying to suddenly put all this knowledge, creativity, and inspiration into my outfits. It is difficult to take all that information collected from countless hours scrolling through fashion accounts and analyzing runways and fabricate it to match your own taste and style.
I don’t know if this is universal. Maybe I’m just not great at styling myself. Yet, from my experience, there is also something very restricting about fashion advice online. It’s very… serious. Caters to specific body types and styles categorized under the market definition of universal. Also, especially as a plus-sized individual, fashion advice never speaks to me. I sit outside the common denominator of the online public they think will benefit from their advice.
This is all to say that I struggle with fashion advice. However, I recently found a Tiktok page I can’t stop revisiting because of how it stands out among the stereotypical and derivative fashion advice circulating the content of fashion Tiktok. Her name is Carla Rockmore (@carlarockmore), and I am in love with her and her aesthetic. The 50-something influencer has recently grown popular— just reaching a million followers back in January—in the online fashion community because of the energetic positivity of her fashion advice paired with colorfully elevated stylings. So, that is to say, follow Carla Rockmore now, and I am not the first nor the last to talk about this fabulous woman in detail.
Her videos, filmed in the signature Rockmore walk-in closet, usually focus on a singular fashion topic. Although, sometimes, she will integrate fashion history as well. It always starts with something she already owns, a colorful sweater, a necklace, or a pair of colorful pants, and then she offers many ways to style that singular piece. Using this formula, she helps her audience understand different aspects of fashion using clothes readily available to them. She answers so many common different questions: How to compliment colors? When and where do layered accessories work? How can I take the mismatched pieces and revitalize them into something? While never providing these answers with condescension or negativity. She aims to affirm her audience. She tells us not to be afraid to tackle certain choices, such as bright colors or new silhouettes. What is so great about her advice is how she speaks to us directly. I feel like I’m in the closet with her, listening to her ramble and explain her fashion choices, giving me suggestions and ideas. Her advice is more so a suggestion laced into her thoughts about what she decided to wear.
I want to talk about Carla because of what she unknowingly represents. She cares about fashion because it makes her happy and encourages her audience to adopt that same principle in their own mindset surrounding style. She is the representative of an uncommon and optimistic approach to fashion online. An approach that doesn’t concern itself with designers and trends but promotes fashion in terms of an artistic medium that contains techniques and suggestions but is entirely up for interpretation. You can utilize every piece in a closet in some way. Everyone has the potential to be fashionable as it only takes a positive imagination. Fashion is an art that should alleviate stress, not nurture it.
I am inspired by how this optimism speaks to everyone. Scrolling through Carla’s content, watching video after video set on the backdrop of her closet, my closet sheds its daunting presence. Carla Rockmore is a reminder that one can find a gratifying optimism in fashion through an open-minded and imaginative approach to what is already there. You don’t need designer pieces or specific items to be fashionable. All it takes is some experimentation, exploration, and an optimistic attitude to all that you can offer. Versatility is never an obstacle for Carla, but the heart of what is so great about fashion.
Header Via
