Client Feature Friday: Unpacking a Suitcase of Vintage Treasures & Big Emotions

Jezebel VonZephyr loves to shine a spotlight on women of every age and size. We live to connect with each client; and we pride ourselves on holding space for each of them so we can hear her stories and capture her unique spirit. We believe that every session is special in its own way, and we want to share that magic with the world. On Fridays we shine a spotlight on a client so she can share a part of her story. 

Today we unpack a story from a Belle who brought in a treasure chest of lovely vintage items–and a lot of emotions as well! Feeling a lot of feelings leading up to a boudoir session is something that is completely common. We do our best to help women work through all of their feelings before, during, and after their sessions and aim to make you feel as comfortable as possible. Let’s hear how her experience was!

Age: 30…….8..? 

Where are you from? I’m from Great Falls, Montana and Kingston, Washington. 

What is your theme song? It really depends on what kind of mood I am in! “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys as an everyday theme. “Glamorous” by Fergie for workout days. “Blood In The Cut” by K.Flay if I need to get out some angry. And “I am Woman” by Emmy Meli for self-care. 

 What are three words you’d use to describe yourself? Fierce, introverted, comic. 

Is this your first Jezebel shoot? If not, how many have you had? It was kind of my first shoot. My friend did a shoot and posted about it on Facebook, and she introduced me to Jezebel via the Facebook group, Jezebel’s Future Belles. I dipped a toe in 6ish months ago when Jezebel offered a headshot promotion. I consider myself very hard to photograph (my face gets a mind of its own), but I ended up with so many images from that experience that I love. And not even the typical qualified love, like these are good for being photos of me, but I still experience a little jolt of surprise each time I look at them. That pretty lady is ME.  

Why did you decide to book a session with JVZ? It was a ‘want’ that came to fruition fueled by impulse. I had been in the Facebook group for a little while. 

I wanted to schedule a session but just somehow could not justify it for myself: I’m not that good-looking, I should spend my time and money on something else, how vain am I?!

I saw a lot of people posting about what a life-changing, wonderful experience their shoot was. I wanted life-changing. The last few years have seen me through a lot of life-changing. A lot of life-changing work on my ‘shit.’ Ok, actually admitting that I have shit I need to work on, and acknowledging that that shit is still impacting how I operate in the world and with others, even if I choose to pretend otherwise. 

One early theme of my work was being kinder to others. When I started intentionally practicing kindness towards others, I realized that my internal narrative was not particularly kind to myself. About anything. What I did. What I said. How I looked. When JVZ offered a Black Friday special I drank some wine, closed one eye and in the name of kindness to myself, booked a session. 

How did you feel before your shoot? I almost chickened out the night before and day of my session because I was so nervous. When I originally booked the shoot it was far enough out that I didn’t have to be nervous yet, and I had plenty of time to work on being my ‘best’ physical self for the shoot. And plenty of time to plan all of the outfits. 

Life happened between booking the shoot and the date of my session, and I felt so unprepared. I felt uncertain about my outfit choices, and a little silly with my suitcase of stuff. 

I felt critical about every part of my body that I had intended to ‘fix’ before the shoot. 

I was also SO excited! I was going to get dressed up, and get my makeup and hair done, and have photos taken! 

How was your session? What was your favorite part? My session was… life-changing. In a very slow burn kind of way. 

Thinking back, the whole shoot felt very much like I spent an afternoon with girlfriends playing dress up. My silly suitcase of uncertain outfit choices was laid out on the bed and became a treasure trove seen with new eyes.  

Each piece was taken out and admired with my girlfriends while I talked about my favorites. 

The long, red, velvet gloves. 

The real silk stockings. 

The shoes. 

The tights with a back seam that says “unbreakable.” 

The Medusa necklace. 

And how I envisioned using each. 

Contrary to my worries, many of the things I brought worked for my shoot, and were expertly styled and supplemented with gems from the client closet. Pearl shirt anyone? 

I loved getting my makeup and hair done, and being told over and over that I was beautiful. I even believed it. 

What was your favorite look from your session? Why? My favorite look from the session is the Audrey Hepbern style dress, long velvet gloves and smoke and mystery. It was the outfit I planned most for, and it surpassed everything I envisioned. 

How are you feeling since your session?I left my session flying high, and went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. Even though it was out of my comfort zone, I wore one of the dresses from my shoot. With the long red velvet gloves. I had one gal tell me that she loved my gloves: ‘Not everyone can pull that off!’ 

Did you bring anything special with you to the studio? Why? I brought a lot of stuff that I love with me. One of my favorite pieces is my Ruth Bader Ginsberg face leopard print scarf! 

How was your reveal? I don’t remember everything about the session, so there was a whole outfit/set that I forgot about and it was a total surprise during the reveal.

I remember seeing this social experiment where people drew portraits of themselves, and someone else drew a portrait of that person. The self-portrait was compared with the one drawn by someone else. People drew themselves with their ‘faults’ magnified. Faults that the other person’s drawing did not even observe. It made me think about how we see ourselves in a mirror, our images distorted, faults magnified. 

The reveal allowed me to see myself how others see me. My images were undistorted by my minds-eye lens. Comical. Beautiful. Fierce.

…and I have a great ass. 

Any advice for anyone thinking of booking a session with JVZ? Book the session. And make sure the bottoms of all of your shoes used for the shoot are clean and pretty. =) 

Does playing dress-up sound like fun? Do you want to feel glamorous, beautiful or like the best version of yourself? Then pack your pretty things and come to our studio! We’d love to help you feel amazing, glorious, and lit up! We’re scheduling sessions for this summer and early fall, so if you’re looking for a reason to dress up and look amazing then this is it! We can’t wait to welcome you in!