Soft Academia in Southeast Portland

Two looks in one historic location, all reminiscent of bygone days —

I styled these two looks for a late-afternoon shoot with Abigail. For a location, they offered the idea of the Reed Campus, which I surprisingly had never stepped foot on before this — but after a bit of scouting, I knew exactly the vibe I wanted to achieve.

Reed College opened its doors in 1908, and the architecture really embodies the style of the early 1900s. Around this time, the Victorian era is coming to a close and steel construction on a mass scale is still a few decades off — hence the expansive brick buildings with dramatic facades that are reminiscent of the previous century.

With this historic architecture in mind, I began building these looks. I went in a heavily masculine direction for the monochrome look, using a cane, slacks, and loafers, but softened everything up top with a lacy corset, and billowing blouse, and a beret. I had these gloves in my kit waiting to have their moment, and they absolutely tied everything together.

For the second look, I wanted to invoke some of the tones of the campus with a warm-brown hatbox as a prop, and cream garments. I aged this look further with these lovely clip-on earrings that look like Roman coins.

Wardrobe: Recollection Co.
Model: Abigail VanSteenberghe