Philadelphia Street Style: Gabby, Walnut St

Gabby, in these shots, is wearing a Boy Scout jacket, a ripped pair of jeans, art socks, and jelly heels. "I'm really tall, so I don't usually wear heels," she told me. "But I'm breaking them out today."

The Boy Scout jacket she got at a thrift shop. She's been gradually accumulating Boy Scout patches (or "badges") to fill up the back. I don't think the Boy Scouts of America officially approves of this as a strategy for accumulating badges — your are supposed to "earn" them by taking first aid courses, learning to make fires, tying knots, saving cats from trees, etc — but then Gabby is no Boy Scout. I was. Until I couldn't bare the humiliation of wearing that uniform to school anymore. I quit when I was 12 and traded that uniform for a new uniform of all black, every day. 

Gabby doesn't know how to describe her style. "I always wear something different all the time," she said. "I just wear what I want to wear, and what makes me feel comfortable. And I like to try things out." I tend to think of "comfortable" as the opposite of trying things out. It is settling into a routine, wearing the old faithfuls, and relaxing into a style. But Gabby, it seems, finds her comfort in experimentation.  

Philadelphia Street Style: Shabre', Rittenhouse Square

Philadelphia Street Style: Sophi Reaptress, Chestnut St

Sophi Reaptress is a local clothing designer, whose edgy personal aesthetic matches her designs. She has some very cool leggings, tops, and accessories on display (and for purchase) at sophireaptress.com.Check out the spike and Swarovski-crystal encrusted eyepatch! I ran into her in front of the Buffalo Exchange on Chestnut St.