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| © Charity de Meer 2011 |
“Why aren’t I famous yet?” mistress of style, Charity de Meer asks me over crème brulee at Smith Street’s Bar Tabac. “What’s going on?!”
Since 1998, the native Floridian has been documenting images – everything from editorial/backstage fashion to pet portraits to Taylor Swift “when she still had her baby fat.” De Meer, still shooting fashion, commercial, and portrait work – “I only use available light, so when I show up, people are always like, where’s your equipment … and I point to my camera,” her most recent undertaking is her style blog, What Charity Wears. All of her projects fall under her brand (though she probably wouldn’t use the word “brand”) Rebel Glam. Her explanation of the moniker: “I asked the Brazilian husband of my make-up artist what he thought of my photographs. Because he barely knew any English, I appreciated the care with which he chose his words, and knew he had to be onto something.” Beautifully macabre; a mix of couture and road kill, creepy and elegant, de Meer’s photographs capture something predatory, partly because as a style seeker, she’s “always on the hunt.”
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| © Charity de Meer 2011 |
For years, she’s found freelance work as a fashion photographer, frequently flying between FL and NYC so her clients, including the New York Times and WireImage thought she lived in Manhattan. In June of 2010, she made it official, moving to Bushwick and joining finalist in the 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, Gary Graham and his team as a retailer in both the flagship Tribeca store, and at the ABC Carpet & Home outfit. “One of my nerdy hobbies is that I enter sweepstakes. I’ve won a trip to Vegas, a Tiffany necklace. I made it two years in a row as finalist in W Magazine’s Individual Style Contest, and both times I was wearing Gary Graham. I emailed Gary, and he was like, ‘You wear it well.’ So I came and starting working for him.”
Not all of her working experiences have been as serendipitous. “I got in trouble with WireImage because I was supposed to be shooting Danny DeVito promoting his Limoncello Premium Lemon Liquor, which I had already done, so I asked Rhea Perlman to take a picture of me and Danny DeVito. She did, gladly, but WireImage didn’t like it so much. They docked my pay! But the photo is totally worth it. I like to hope things work out my way; I’m not a rule breaker, I mean well.”
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| © Charity de Meer 2011 |
Charity de Meer’s Spring Picks
- Keeping a high-low brand mash-up (i.e. Gary Graham/Conway; Alexander Wang/Target; Phillip Lim/H&M)
- Neon (something small, like a neon bra peeking through or neon anklets -- J. Crew has good ones)
- Joan Jett black mullet cut
- Jessica Kagan Cushman Nantucket Bangles
- Kelly bag in a crazy color
- Textured stockings
- Layered-on costume jewelry
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| Charity wearing Jessica Kagan Cushman Handmade Resin Nantucket Bangles |
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| Gary Graham's FRT'11 |
Charity de Meer’s Spring Look Inspirations
A beautiful girl in the woods, her dress ripped
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Thrifted locket, with an 18k gold razor blade from eBay and fox claw from Odette NY |
Ultra-posh hotel as backdrop for with a girl in tutu
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| © Charity de Meer 2011 |
Owl heads. Always.
Contact Charity de Meer at charityphoto@gmail.com
