Welcome to ‘Chic && Unique’ my music festival lifestyle blog. This is my first post and I am so happy for you to be here!
I’m Elektra Flora- a self-proclaimed fashionWHORE && musicADDICT.
My love for fashion started at a young age. When I was in kindergarten, I was arguing with my mother that I wanted to pick out my own clothes for school. In second grade I started idolizing Cher from Clueless. In fourth grade I was claiming “Posh Spice” at all my slumber parties. In the sixth grade I won a contest by Disney Radio to host a back-to-school fashion show with my answer to this question- "what was the best and worst decades of fashion in history?" I respond with "1770's as the best and 1980's as the worst." I grew up loving Marie Antoinette then visiting Williamsburg, VA I thought their fashion in colonial America was beautiful and so detailed. Then on the flip side the 1980's with that excessive hairspray and unnatural make-up. Those styles did not stand the test of time.
My love for music also started at a young age when my parents gave me a stash of their cassettes around 7 years old- including Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, and Whitesnake. Mariah Carey’s “Music Box” was my first CD in the first grade. Around the age of 10 was when I was really starting to get addicted to music and became a super-obsessed Hanson fan. I was even bullied and made fun of for it, but I always stuck up for them because I knew they were genuinely talented musicians. I honestly felt bad the band’s reputation couldn’t get past their “Mmmbop” hit and how unfortunate it was that the general masses wouldn’t give their new music a chance. I defended them constantly and I was the only one reppin’ Hanson while everyone else was arguing Backstreet Boys or N*Sync.
I begged to learn how to play an instrument by time I was 11. I joined the middle school band and when asked what instrument I wanted to play I said “drums.” I was told that “drums are for boys and flutes are for girls.” I was forced to play flute and quickly dropped out after one year. I then begged for a keyboard for Christmas which was given to me one year. I was grateful, but coming from a family with zero musical background they did not know how to foster my interests. I basically would write my own songs and bang on the keys. I would make up songs for my pager/beeper welcome message that would piss off my parents. I remember one being “You’ve reached hell” and another being “You’ve reached Hermione Granger.”
By the time my teen years hit, I basically lost interest in trying to make music. I started cheering competitively and partying on the weekends with my friends. I had to grow up and go to college. I then decided to major in civil and environmental engineering because that was a viable career option.
Flash forward- I had been studying and working in the engineering industry for almost 15 years and got burnt out. I reevaluated my life and realized I was unhappy. I wasn’t passionate about it at all anymore. I hated dealing with clients, budgets, ordinances, permits, AutoCAD, meetings… WEARING BUSINESS CASUAL CLOTHES.
I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I remember just looking down at my V-neck cashmere sweater, plaid kick-out pants, and loafers and thinking to myself “I hate my outfit.” I felt like a kindergartener again.
My clothing didn’t even reflect who I was as a person. My career didn’t reflect my values or passions. What was I doing with my life?
I scrapped everything. I deleted all my socials. Quit my job. Got a new phone number. Sold my clothes. Moved. I created an entire new identity for myself. I became a new person. It felt good. I started radiating. I became positive and happy all the time.
As of today, I have been on the most amazing spiritual journey to self-discovery. I have been pushing my boundaries and exploring myself like never before. I honestly didn’t even know what I looked like naked because I was sheltering every piece of me.
I’m tired of living under a rock. I’m done. I’m putting myself out there and I don’t care what people think anymore. I’m living unapologetically me. I’m not following society’s rules anymore. I’m wearing what I want to wear. I want to make music. I want to write. I want to create beautiful things.
I know it’s in me. I’m a Pandora’s… I mean Elektra’s Box full of ideas. The top had been popped off and the creative energies are flowing ever so freely. I have so much in store it’s going to be a fun adventure.
xo,
Elektra
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