why yotr

year of the rat was finally created after one too many disheartening days at work; truth be told, I think yotr always existed, I just wasn’t ready for it to “become”. until recently…

“You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.”

The Velveteen Rabbit

I didn’t know it then, but I bought this quote on a poster for my first classroom in 2018 after having the line “you become” stuck in my head for weeks. When it arrived at my house, my mom laughed and said, “I used to read you that story all the time as a baby.” Something clicked for me then like it has a few other times in my life, I call those “God moments.”

I think the reason I held off on yotr so long was because if I admitted to myself it needed “to become”, it would mean I was being honest about no longer fitting in where I am. And we all know that old saying about a frog sitting in a pot of boiling water; she thought it was a jacuzzi until the state she worked for kept taking away her rights?

You see, since I was five years old, I knew I wanted to be just like Rachel Weisz in The Mummy. Was it because I was in love with her? Admittedly, yes. But, she also opened up my entire universe to the possibility of being the only thing cooler than a teacher, a knower.  She was as close to a beautiful, walking encyclopedia as you could get. And could slice you with her words like a paper too. What more could you ask for in a girl? I didn’t need an entire cinematic climax to fall for Evie, but her being the only one capable of communicating with the dead was pretty rad too.

Through the course of my life, I thought I’d be a million different things in a thousand different places (okay, Gemini). At three, I wanted to be a teacher. At five, a librarian. At seven, I wanted to run away to the traveling circus. At ten, I thought I’d be a Michelin star chef. At twelve, an actress. At sixteen, a film star or dead. At nineteen, an attorney. At twenty one, happy.

I’m twenty eight now, but I am still twenty one, nineteen, sixteen, twelve, ten, seven, five, three. I’m every girl I ever was (thanks Sandra Cisneros), and I refuse to continue ignoring her, or quieting her down to accommodate for a state that values my reproductive rights, or lack there of, more than they value the lives, literacy, or education of their children.

In an effort to remain true to myself despite, I’ve created yotr to serve as an online collective of cool girls- a cult of conscious creatives that understand that fashion and art are necessary, and integral parts of the human existence. Using the tools and skills I’ve learned through school, and life, my goal is to reach like minded people with an interest in sustainability and unique pieces; ones that are meant to be loved forever, not just for the season.

Always expressing myself through fashion and performance, I took a great interest and immersed myself in queer culture from a young age. Because of minority creatives and artists,  I’ve been able to experience art and cinema that feels the most authentic to and resonates most closely with me and my experiences. Because of minority creatives and artists, I am able to express myself authentically and create yotr.

I strive to curate a virtual studio and online closet that feels like every girl inside you. Playful, nostalgic, funky, cute, authentic, real, you.