Hey, I Like Your Style! Inside the wardrobe of Melbourne stylist and photographer Rose Pure

IMAGES VIA @ROSEPURE/INSTAGRAM

WORDS BY DAISY HENRY

“I like to see myself as a Sim I can customise: I like changing up my hair, nails, tattoos, piercings and clothes depending on my mood.”

We know personal style is a journey (I’m looking at you, Tumblr years), so we’ve introduced a new series Hey, I Like Your Style!, diving into the fashion psyche of our favourite creatives. We’re talking the good, the bad and the 2007.

While the internet has made our fashion icons feel closer than ever before, even the most effortless of outfits came from a closet with some (well-dressed) skeletons. Clickable product tags, photo archives and lives chronicled in 30-second clips just don’t tell the full story.

For more fashion news, shoots, articles and features, head to our Fashion section.

These are the stories behind the wardrobes, exploring how we develop our own personal style. There’s a brilliance behind the way we choose to express ourselves and at FJ, we know every outfit has a story.

This week, we’re delving into the fashion evolution of Melbourne stylist, photographer and the founder of local label Pure Obsession, Katherine Rose (aka Rose Pure). Having moved from Queensland down to Naarm where “people take more risks” and “care less about what everyone else is wearing”, Kat likens her fashion sense today to a Sim: customisable and constantly changing.

Since being diagnosed with endometriosis and chronic fatigue syndrome, Kat has been an advocate for opening up conversations about chronic illness. In order to balance fashion with comfort when the pain hits, she has created a thoughtful fusion between function, accessibility, and “uncle and bimbo core”. Read on for her style journey.

Who are you and what do you like to wear?

My name’s Kat! I am a stylist/photographer under the alias Rose Pure. I like to wear a fusion of uncle/bimbo core – always making funny and dorky pieces sexy and mixing with elements of high fashion. My best friend said my outfits look like they are picked out in the dark. And that’s on style.

What has your style evolution looked like? Do you feel like you’ve gained confidence in the way you dress?

I always loved dressing up and putting together outfits! I was super into fairies when I was younger, then moved to a surf girl phase followed by a indie Arctic Monkeys era throughout high school. Then a renaissance goth (very Tumblr). I’d listen to The Cure and would wear corsets [and] pearls and had long black hair.

I feel like moving to Naarm from Queensland really helped me with the confidence to explore wearing whatever I want. People take more risks here and care less about what everyone else is wearing. I think the phase I’m in now is integrating all of these phases in different ways.

I like to see myself as a Sim I can customise: I like changing up my hair, nails, tattoos, piercings and clothes depending on my mood. A previous manager said every time they’d see me they wouldn’t recognise me [and that] I’d come to work as a new character everyday. I love that concept.

Personal style is a journey. Have you ever felt like you needed to fit into a particular fashion box?

I think being in Queensland during my teenage years surrounded me with more beachy/feminine fashion choices. It’s still politically quite conservative and traditional there so if you dress like a freak you’ll be called as such. But this also pushed me into the other direction towards the end of high school and I wanted desperately to be ‘alternative’.

Working in styling, sometimes I feel a pressure to present myself and my work in a way where I’m always on top of trends [or] using big brands. I really try not to be influenced by trends but integrate them in an updated and unique way using local designers and secondhand items so that my looks are still present and accessible. I refuse to believe you need money or a brand name to express a style or be deemed fashionable.

Take us back to those awkward teenage years. Do you have any fashion regrets?

Definitely awkward. Maybe 3/4 tights under skirts in my tween era, [a] full tie dye look in my surf phase, or the neon Supre craze in grade eight. I hope I won’t wear a head-to-toe neon yellow look again, but I can’t rule it out.

On my first day of uni I wore these fugly op shop golf shoes that looked like platform brogues – I thought it would be very Alexa Chung. I tried to make a fedora work but that was recently. I think fashion regrets are funny and important to develop your style. It’s always better to be doing something risky and I hope I continue to make them!

What are the most expensive and least expensive items in your wardrobe?

My most expensive piece is probably my Dior Hardcore handbag which features all of these piercings (found her secondhand and brought [her] back to life). [My] least expensive pieces are a lot of op shop items but most importantly my funny shirt collection. Some favourites are: ‘I’d Rather be Larping’, ‘Yes, They’re Real’, ‘Time for a Little Anarchy’ and my tuxedo shirt.

What is the most meaningful fashion piece you own?

[My most] meaningful piece is the baroque style cross pendant my jeweller dad made me with a ruby and pearls. My mum has a matching one. Also, my mum’s gorgeous floral/lace/linen dresses she’s handed down to me from when she was younger. I love wearing them in the summer!

What’s in your cart at the moment?

In my cart at the moment is a Telfar matching tracksuit, Posture Studio compression top, 604service mini shorts, Kick In The Eye Mall Goth ring and the Pigsuit Goth Band Skirt… not that I will be completing all of those purchases. I have a custom crochet bikini from Crochet Bae on its way to me and I can’t wait to receive [it]!

What fashion piece are you saving for right now?

So many things on my wishlist for my birthday coming up… dreaming big! I want the Fanci Club Garden of Eden Dress. Anything Diesel with that cool metal D logo. Big Balenciaga sunglasses, Kalda Jean Boots and I’m still trying to find/buy my dream jeans – Barragan star pants. Also, [the] Ashley Williams piercing slip skirt and the Diesel S Prototype sneakers.

What are the wardrobe items you wear on repeat?

Very high cut leotards, wearing my ugg boots everywhere, Telfar cut-out jeans, bikinis and wearing them on the outside of outfits as layering pieces (I have too big of a collection), baseball hats, big chunky skate shoes, Maroske Peech butterfly skirt, my hot pink Balenciaga knife heels.

I’m obsessed with wearing big shorts/boardshorts over pants this winter and have started sewing them together for my [label’s] new collection, Pure Obsession.

Who are your favourite local designers?