← Next On Scene: The Human Behind The Brand
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome back to Becoming Next on Scene everybody. It is another awesome day for another awesome podcast of how to become Next on Scene in your field of business or in your passion. Before I bring on my amazing guest and in honor of next on scene's 10 year anniversary this year, I am so excited to share that. If you have not checked out tickets on Eventbreak for next On Scene's 10 year anniversary showcase supporting humankind, casting photo clinics that support the disability community from children to adults to get mainstream media opportunities, definitely be sure to do so on Eventbrite. We cannot wait to see you there. Tickets are flying and we have such an incredible lineup of seven designers. Is it six or seven? Oh my God, I always forget. Either way, it's an incredible lineup of designers and we have such amazing people showcasing at our cocktail hour. We have incredible sponsors like everything is listed on the websites. Be sure to check it out. It will be an event not to miss. Definitely an event of the summer and people are coming from all over the country so really hope to see you there. Outside of that, I am so excited to bring back the amazing Tiffy G. Who when we met really started out her blog in fashion, grew as a stylist outside of styling. She also has an incredible background spot, special education, teaching and she has grown so much and we're so excited to bring her back for our 10 year anniversary and today we're going to talk about all about where fashion's gone over the past decade and how it continues to change what's trending and even in the education world we deep dive into that as well. So she is an absolute rock star if you don't know who she is. So if you don't know Tiff, be sure to definitely tune into the podcast. And if you love her and know her like I do, you're going to learn so much more. I feel like I always learned so much from her. She is a wealth of knowledge. So stay tuned for the amazing tpg.
- [02:03]
B
The ups, the downs and all the in between. What it takes to become Next on Scene. Are you next? Follow us at Next on Scene Foreign.
- [02:23]
A
Welcome back to Becoming Next on Scene everybody. This is such a special episode because me and Tiffy G go way back and I am so excited. In honor of our 10 years we are bringing her back and we're talking all about where fashion's grown all over the past decade. She is one incredible fashion columnist now. So if you don't know her, you need to check out her blog and all the things Tiffy welcome back to the podcast. Hi.
- [02:44]
B
I'm so excited to be back on the podcast. I can't even believe it's been almost 10 years for the magazine. That's such an amazing feat. Congratulations. And I'm so excited to circle back from where I started.
- [02:59]
A
I know. So let's talk about, like, first of all, how did you even fall into the world of fashion for people who don't know you? Like, how did that become a hobby and of interest to you?
- [03:08]
B
So I feel that I was always kind of born into fashion, I guess you could say. My parents love clothes. Definitely both of them on trend. I used to spend my Saturday shopping with my dad in Boston. He would say, let's give your mom a break. Let's go into town. We would go to Filane's basement. If you're from the Boston area, you definitely know what Filane's basement was. He would teach me how to hunt for all of the deals, all of the good sales, and I just, I loved it. Like, I loved hunting for the bargain. I love spending that time with my dad, my cousin, who I look up to a lot. We're like sisters. She was discovered at 16 as a fashion model. And she lived between New York and Miami for a long time when I was in my late teens, early 20s. And I would go visit her and just be like, immersed in the fashion world, what she was doing, all of the makeup artists, all of the stylists, the clothing. And I was just enamored by it all. Um, so I kind of on the side, I guess you could say, like, I freelance styled for my friends. They would say, here's $300, get me a fall wardrobe or help me pick out this dress for an event. And I was doing it for free, out of enjoyment, like a hobby. And my best friend said to me, you know, people are like blogging everywhere. I'm seeing it all over social media. It's popping up. They had that app at the time, Blog Lovin. And people that wrote blogs would put up their blogs. She's like, why don't you just do. I'm kind of an anxious person. She said, it would be so good for your anxiety. So a few days before I turned 40 in 2017, I was literally googling, how do you even write a blog online? I had no idea how to even set it up as a website. So it was completely self taught. I did it. I released the article. 900 people read it in a few days, just from word of mouth. Friends and family sharing it on Facebook and social media. Platforms and it just, it blew up. And then I started, you know, you found me. I wrote the article for you. You were my first article. And I just started writing subsequent articles all over overseas in England, different Boston magazines, different podcasts.
- [05:26]
A
So awesome. Like, I just feel like since we met, I'm just like, I love the growth that I've seen. And even outside of fashion, you have such an amazing background and special ed teaching. Can you talk about that briefly too?
- [05:36]
B
Yeah. So I always wanted to teach. When I was little, my mom said I would line up my Cabbage Patch Kids and play school and ask for a black for Christmas. It's really ironic because my mom was actually a teacher, but I didn't know her as a teacher. She was a stay at home mom with me for 12 years. But I, I innately just had the passion for education and I started out teaching first grade in East Boston and then I felt I really wanted to help kids struggle with reading. So I love literacy, hence I write, I'm a columnist. It all kind of, I guess, comes full circle. Right. And I started working with kids that were dyslexic and had language based learning disabilities and I became a dyslexia practitioner. So I've worked with the dyslexic population for 21 years. And I also educate graduate students who want to teach reading. So I do. I have a lot of years in that field as well. And it's nice to help educators want to continue to foster literacy in students.
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A
I love this. Do you ever tell them about this cool fashion blog that you've blown up?
- [06:41]
B
Like, I, I do, I do tell them the teachers I work with are great. Like my magazines are in the teachers room, so they're very supportive. I find if I have a hard to reach student that I think might be interested in this or need to see me as a real person or a cool person to relate to me. Because we know, you know, you could be the most educated teacher in the world, but if you can't get students to feel comfortable with you and open up with you, they're not going to open their mind to be receptive to what you're teaching them. So I will show them and they think, you know, I'm a cool teacher. So they're more apt to, to pay attention and read and talk about fashion and things. Because really you want kids to read what they're interested in. So if they're interested in clothes, great, we'll read about clothes.
- [07:31]
A
Totally. And who. I mean, majority of people are interested in fashion at Capacity. So I think that's amazing. Now, like, speaking of that, let's talk about where it's gone over the past decade. Like trends you've seen. Like, let's get more in depth because I feel like this is your zone, so feel free to start.
- [07:47]
B
Oh, my God. So I feel the last 10 years of fashion has shown a remarkable transformation. In general, obviously, we have a huge dominance in athleisure wear, right? Like, especially from the pandemic, which I will get into. But I would say the last 10 years, athleisure wear, comfort, that has been the dominant factor pretty consistently before the pandemic. I feel that women were showing a lot of skin then, right? Like it was a ton of crop tops and high waisted pants came about and like everything was a crop top, whether you were 20, 50. And I remember styling, like a lot of women that were older and they felt they couldn't wear that. And then my platform kind of became aged, really as an age, you know, it's just a number and you can wear trends and all right? How can I style these women that are 55 with a crop top and throw a blazer over it and show a millimeter of skin instead of the whole stomach? And that was kind of where we were in 2019, in, you know, right before COVID hit. And also that nostalgia of the 1990s, early 2000s, that look came about. Um, so I, I then feel that when we got into the pandemic, everybody was in sweats, right? So for me, thinking of how I used to dress when I first started teaching, it was really so impractical. I was teaching first grade on the floor with six year olds. We had to wear suits, very professional attire, heels, longer skirts. And nobody has really trul. Gone back to that. Before COVID we started to be able to wear like jeans on a Friday. Business casual, but still pretty much like formal dressing, right? Like Monday through Friday, we were in like heels or comfortable ballet flats, dress pants, blazers, nice sweaters. We haven't really gone back to that since COVID We wear sneakers, leggings, jeans, presentable. I would still definitely call it business casual. We're not in gym attire, but it's so much more practical and attainable to wear to work. I also feel like streetwear, because of this trend in athleisure wear has become big hip hop style, lots of sneakers. Designer sneakers became really popular again. Chunky sneakers from the 90s, bold logos, brands like Fear of God, essentials. Those are the hoodies to buy my 16 year old son loves them, things like that. Sustainable fashion people are thrifting. They want eco conscious materials when they're buying clothes. Now even huge companies such as Gap and Old Navy, they, they wear sustainable fashion. I have a sweater from them and their tag, it literally says like recycled sustainable fashion. I will say the last year or so, I'm seeing a return to people wanting to come out of sweats and streetwear every day. They're not able to work from home five days a week. There seems to be a mix in most companies of three days in two days home, vice versa. So they want clothing that's comfortable, but they don't want to be in a hoodie and sweats every single day of their life. So trying to find that balance, I even find myself in 2019 when I first started this blog. I would wear clothing that was so uncomfortable just to be on trend in stylish because I felt I was a stylish and that was the world I was in. I would never do that. Now if you find a pair of jeans that works for you, you should buy them in light wash, dark wash, like there's no need to be uncomfortable anymore. And I think that's the biggest change we've realized over these last 10 years. You need to find almost like a balance in dressy versus casual versus trendy.
- [12:16]
A
So like, like for you for example, like can you give an example of how you utilize it in your wardrobe?
- [12:23]
B
So I feel you have to find a good pair of jeans for sure. I'm definitely a fan of jeans. I wasn't a few years I said, I don't know how I used to wear jeans all the time. But I think that was just that mindset. Right? We're in leggings and joggers. I love a straight leg pair. I feel like they're very versatile. They're the perfect mix between skinny and wide leg. Although I do love a good disco fit with the big wide leg, bell bottoms. But straight leg looks good with sneakers, it looks good with flats, it looks good with heels. You can wear it with a T shirt, you can wear it with a blazer. It looks great with a bodysuit. Definitely high waisted. I, I think the return, I mean we could get into that later. But there's like a few trends that have returned that I are just like a big no no for me. But like things I would like.
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A
What are they?
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B
Things I would like never wear I don't see the point of. So low waisted is really trendy again for the summer. I think maybe 2% of the population can actually wear a low waisted pant and have it look flattering. It's just not flattering. It's not practical, it's not flattering. It's really hard to pair like certain tops with. You kind of have to wear a crop top with it. It falls down. I just, you'll never see me in that again. I don't know how I did it in my early twenties and I don't like a three quarter sleeve top. I don't. I feel it should be tank, short sleeve, long sleeve. A three quarter sleeve is kind of hard to layer with. It's uncomfortable if you put a blazer or a sweater on it. It's so true. My mom and I debate that all the time because she like loves a three quarter sleeve. She likes to cover her upper arm. But I would rather wear a blazer and roll the sleeve up almost like to the elbow. It's just more comfortable to wear.
- [14:25]
A
I'm just thinking like when the last time I've done that, like, it's been a long time.
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B
Like I feel like a three quarter set.
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A
Yes. Like, but you know what I would say for the women who are self conscious about their arms, Like, I can understand that because I think it covers the exact area you want it to cover.
- [14:39]
B
It covers the exact area. But I would love to see a blouse. If you see those blouses that they have that button on the elbow that you can put the button. It's the same look as a three quarter sleeve. But I just feel it's like a little more comfortable.
- [14:55]
A
No, it makes sense. I really. Listen, you're the expert in this. I respect your opinion.
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B
Yeah, those are my two don'ts. I just, I, I can't put those.
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A
And what are like, you're like, what's your take on heels? Because I feel like heels are becoming more and more painful. I don't know about you, but I feel like I've just worn them a lot and it's not.
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B
I feel heels are becoming painful because of the sneaker trends lately. Right. So sneaker. I love sneakers. I, I am, I love heels. But I am a sneaker girl. Like that is my thing. I have numerous colors, brands, I love them all. I just cannot have enough sneakers. My mom comes over my house and says this is absolutely ridiculous. Like the amount of sneakers you have is ridiculous. So I do think heels have become more painful for the population in general because we're not in that. Right. Work doesn't require that. Look, as we just talked about so people are wearing sneakers. I think you have to find a heel that works for you comfort wise. So as much as I love a 5 inch heel, it's not really practical. That would be a dinner shoe for me. Like I label all my shoes by occasion. So like a great dinner shoe is like a stiletto heel. That's not a heel you're going to wear walking around the city or an event that you might be dancing. You might want a kitten heel for that. Or a platform heel. Tends to be more comfortable. If you're looking for a designer shoe. My favorite designer shoe that is super comfortable. They are my go to heel if I really want to wear a nice shoe to an occasion is the Valentino heel.
- [16:37]
A
I've had a pair. They're amazing.
- [16:39]
B
Yeah, they're amazing. The studded ones, the rock studded ones, even the real high ones in a nude color that goes with everything. Closed toe. That is my go to shoe. I can't recommend them. If you want to splurge on a heel, they last for years. A little tip I have is when you get an expensive shoe, you should always take them to a cobbler and ask them to seal the bottom of the shoe. So even the red bottoms, they can seal them with clear or just like another red panel because you'll ruin them the first time you wear them. Especially if you're a Bostonian and you're walking on the cobblestone, you're going to ruin the shoe and your money is drain. So it cost about $20 to have a cobbler seal them. And the last four years.
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A
I love this tip. That was a great tip. Like I'm.
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B
Yeah, that's a. That's a tiffy tip.
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A
Yeah, I love this. So what is, like, what are goals you have as like a fashion columnist? Like growing this like over the next decade. What would be the goals? Like what do you see for yourself?
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B
I mean, I would love. Oh, I have so many goals. I'm just like a very driven, goal setting person. I feel like. So when Covid hit, I did have an amazing opportunity with an overseas magazine. They actually featured me on the COVID It's a magazine that's not in publication anymore, which is sad, but it was called Uploader and I wrote a. I wrote a column, but they also featured me and I thought that was great. Like that was a goal for me to branch out into another country. I mean that was amazing. I never imagined that for my life. I would love to maybe write for a mag newspaper in Boston. Like, like Boston Globe. Boston Herald. I think that would be a big feat. I would love to be featured, maybe do a style segment on a Boston news station like Fox 25, Channel 5, Channel 7. I think those would be goals that I would have in the near future, over the next few years.
- [18:40]
A
I love that for you. That's amazing. And then with the teaching side, like, where do you see that going for yourself?
- [18:47]
B
So teaching, it's like bittersweet, right? Because I have 26 years in, so I mean, I have less than 10 years left in public education as far as how many years I would be required to work for pension purposes. I really love working in higher education. I don't see myself ever not being an educator. Like, that is my true passion since I was a little girl. And I love working at the college level with college students and inspiring them to work with the youth of America because, you know, I won't get into like my whole spiel on the teachers and like how important I think we are. But without teachers, you truly wouldn't have any other profession. So there's a shortage of teachers in this country. It's, it's scary. If you look at some states, I work with educators in the whole northeast region right now. I'm their program supervisor and they're, they're school districts I work with and they can only go four days a week instead of five because they don't have enough teachers. And it's, it's like mind blowing. So I would like to continue to work with educators and help frame their teaching, especially educators that want to work with special education students. Because that, that really is like my niche.
- [20:08]
A
Right. And I was thinking too, like your specialty with reading comprehension and writing, like, that's like something everybody needs. Like everyone needs.
- [20:16]
B
I mean, no matter what you're going to do in life, whether you take a college path or, you know, a vocational path, you need to read, you need to read it at least a fourth grade level to, to read documents and anything you're going to do. So it's just so important to, to have talented educators be able to teach the science of reading and deliver literacy to students.
- [20:44]
A
I think it's amazing. You're just a full, like, full of it all tip. You've always been.
- [20:48]
B
I love. I thrive on chaos. That was like my motto when we first started this.
- [20:53]
A
And also you're a boy mom, which we didn't talk about much too, but your son is an amazing runner now, right? You were telling me all about this.
- [21:00]
B
So I am a boy mom. When we first started this, he actually played hockey. He was always fast, right? So he was a fast skater. And you get to high school and things change. And he kind of needed a spring sport freshman year and I encouraged him to run and he just, it was his it. That was his niche. He excelled at distance running and he's thriving. He has an amazing program in my town, amazing coach, great teammates. And it's so healthy for him physically and mentally. He's running six days a week, three seasons. He wants to run in college. Coaches are looking at him. We've had meetings with coaches. It's like such an exciting time for him. I can't believe though, he's driving and going into senior year and he's this mini adult. And when I started this, he was, you know, crazy. Nine years old, crazy.
- [21:56]
A
I love that. But it makes you a proud mom, right? To see all the amazing stuff he's doing.
- [22:00]
B
Oh, I'm such a proud mom. And he's such a joy to have. He really is. And he keeps me very busy. Even though he's driving, he still keeps me very busy busy.
- [22:12]
A
I'm sure that's true. So how can people check out your amazing blog that also has 700,000 readers, which is unbelievable. Like, go girl.
- [22:20]
B
It's unbelievable. I just had my anniversary of eight years for the blog on March 27th. And I always check, I check my stats frequently, but definitely around the anniversary date. And it has over 700,000 readers from over 200 countries. It blows my mind. I used to publish my blog three days a week. I don't do that anymore. Just time purposes. I just don't have the time. So I try to get a blog out at least once a week, three to four times a month, and the readership is still sustained. I mean, it's growing and it's sustained. And I can't believe that people actually care about what I think is my top 10 favorites every month. That's always a hit. And it's so flattering, but it's also so surreal that I'm influencing people and hopefully I'm influencing women in a positive way to have body confidence and good self esteem.
- [23:21]
A
I think also too, one thing that I've enjoyed is you hit like all the price points. Like you don't just talk about high end stuff, you don't just talk about low end. You hit all of it, which I think is. Makes it relatable to anybody.
- [23:32]
B
And I think it's important. I try to focus more on affordable fashion because I think 80% of the time that's what people want. But I also think there's times of years like the holidays or the spring and people want to splurge. They want a nicer bag or nicer shoes and they want to make a conscious decision and not just drop 700 on something that you know, they don't understand or know about or want some advice about. So I do try to include articles like that as well. And I will hit on sometimes makeup or perfume or just just beauty products because people also like that. Right? It's like the whole package, the whole deal. Capsule wardrobes. If you want to ramp up your summer wardrobe. I have not done a summer one yet, but I will soon. What are seven pieces you can mix and match? Every Memorial Day I do a bathing suit blog article on trendy bathing suits for the summer. What can you buy? What should you get? Prints, things like that. That's always a big hit every year too. So if you want to my blog, it is linked to my Instagram, which is tiffy g77. But also you can go right to the website the Thrill of the Hunt by Tiffy G. You can find it both ways and you can subscribe. And every time I post a new blog it'll just go right to your email.
- [24:54]
A
So good. So you would say the best avenue is Instagram and your website.
- [24:58]
B
Yes, if you go to my Instagram you can just click on the link and subscribe that way. But if you're not on Instagram you can go right to the website. Perfect.
- [25:05]
A
But even just to follow you, like would be Instagram would be your place place to do that.
- [25:09]
B
Yes. Instagram is mostly my fashion content. I do include family pictures too. Right. Because everybody likes to know your real life. You're. I'm a real person. I'm a mom. Another thing that's crazy to me with the blog too is I'm very short and petite. I'm 4 11. So I never thought that I would walk in a fashion show or model for anything with my height. But really it's all about it. Inclusivity. Right. So I think when people see me and they're like oh, I'm under five'three and she can wear that. So I can also wear that in. I'm also 48 years old and a mom and oh, you know, she's wearing that trend. She's wearing a crop top but she put a blazer and high waisted jeans and it actually doesn't look out of place. When I go to dinner in a restaurant.
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A
I love that. That's I think that's where the world is literally going. Like, everything's inclusive. Like, that's just the way that it is is right. I love that.
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B
And as a special ed teacher, I love that. Right.
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A
I can just relate to that. I love that so much.
- [26:11]
B
So.
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A
You are amazing, Tiff. Thank you so much. So everybody follow Tiff on her Instagram @tiffy g77 or her website, the thrill of the hunt dot com. Right? That's right.
- [26:21]
B
Yes. That is right. The Thrill of the Hunt by Tiffy.
- [26:24]
A
G. There we go. I knew I was missing something, so thank you.
- [26:26]
B
Yes, it's the Tiffy G. Yeah, yeah.
- [26:29]
A
No, no, go ahead, finish it. I mean, to interrupt.
- [26:31]
B
I was gonna say it's the Tiffy G. That's like the main thing, right? You rent her that name. That's like my main platform. Which is funny because that was my nickname as a kid that my dad started, and it just stuck.
- [26:42]
A
So cute.
- [26:44]
B
It just stuck.
- [26:45]
A
That's adorable. Well, thank you so much, Tiff. You're amazing. Everybody, stay tuned for who's next on scene and be sure to follow Tiff.
- [26:52]
B
Thank you. The ups, the downs, and all the in between. What it takes to become next on scene. Are you next? Follow us at Next on scene.