Deirdre's Wearapy Session
My friend Deirdre was going through a rough time. She needed a little pick-me-upper and since alcohol, coffee, and tea were all out of the question, we decided a little "wearapy" was in store. A quick makeover never hurt anyone (except these people). Also, I moonlight as a stylist anyway so I was more than happy to do this for her.
Wearapy
She arrived at my apartment bringing a bag of clothes. We decided to go with solid colors and a neutral cardigan to top it all off. She was super nervous but I really appreciated that she trusted me. I think we steam the skirt too just to get the wrinkles out. But I love the blue and pink on her, especially against the backdrop of the weekend market. I feel there's a certain calm about that palette too, even while there's busyness around her. Calm, which is what Deirdre needed.
Face Time
It's ten in the morning. Nobody needs to see a fierce smoky eye at the market. Although good on you if you can pull it off! Deirdre has great skin, so we just concentrated on making it better. Dabbed a little bit of undereye concealer and topped it off with eyeliner close to the lashline, nothing too fancy. Added a little bit of cheek tint from Benefit, defined her eyebrows with a pencil and voila! We were set!
The Shoot
Benjamin Arnold is two things: a talented photographer and a good friend. I may have taken advantage of that friendship and asked him to get up early on a Saturday to take photos of my friend and I. He was compensated, but was very generous with the rate he gave us.
I wanted Deirdre to be comfortable, and she's really not used to posing, so we had Ben follow us around the market covertly. Of course, he managed to capture this moment of me looking stupid with a half-eaten pancake in my mouth. Thanks, Ben.I actually bought two pancakes: one had chocolate filling and the other strawberry. Strawberry was mine but there was no way to find out which was which, so after much discussion I took a bite and whaddaya know, I ate Ben's pancake by accident. I think I got him a fresh one after the shoot.
Ben was excellent at directing Deirdre, and super patient with me even though it was both our days off and he didn't HAVE to come all the way to Jaime Velasquez Park for this. Deirdre loved the photos, and she says it makes her feel good. I'm no doctor but was that a breakthrough after just one wearapy session? 2016 update:Deirdre sent me a nice note after my wedding. I'm not crying, you're crying!
Love you, Deirdre! And I'm so inspired by your work at the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies! Keep blooming where you are planted!