Presidential Fashion

by Kyla Willms

and Hillary Jorgensen, drawings by k.w.

As the Doxa team was coming up with a theme for this issue, we discussed what fashion is like at CMU. One person came to mind in this conversation: CMU President Cheryl Pauls. We recognized Cheryl instantly as a CMU “fashion icon.” Hillary Jorgenson and I wondered what it could be like to interview Cheryl, as a woman in a position of power; how does style contribute to or not contribute to her every day? Does Cheryl’s eclectic fashion taste connect with the inner workings of CMU? We thought we would find out by interviewing Cheryl on her fashion philosophy, where she shops, and how she thinks about her own style.

Hillary Jorgensen: Where have you found inspiration for your style?

Cheryl Pauls: So, I have no idea. There would be two things to consider, because there’s something different between style and the clothes in your closet, right? So, clothes in the closet … I like searching for gems. Just like searching in the library, I like to search for gems. So either second hand or just last call Winners kind of thing. Whatever store emerges. But the inspiration will be I found a gem on that rack that I didn’t necessarily know I was looking for. Which is also scary because that could mean you are buying all kinds of things you don’t need. There’s something that’s kind of terrifying in that admission.

HJ: I think everybody who thrifts understands that’s just the reality of going thrifting – you always come across something that’s so unique and you just have to get it, but do I need it? I don’t always know.

CP: Right, so you get it. So, finding gems. Finding a library book and finding an item of clothing can kind of be the same thing for me. In terms of style, I certainly don’t read fashion things or have any sense of that. I mean occasionally maybe I like what a person’s done with their style, but it’s not like I’m trying to emulate somebody else. So, if anything it would be more about the intentionality, because I figure out my clothes at night. So, when I’m doing that, I sometimes try to put some combination together that I haven’t done before just for the fun of it. I just try combinations and see if they work. As far as colour combinations in style, it might be that you see a painting, or you see some natural phenomenon, or some sort of plant life or whatever and think, “Oh, I like the way those colours work together! Maybe I should try those colours together and see if they work in clothing.” It would be the colour and shape of things I would be interested in.

HJ: Could you elaborate more on what you mean by shapes and getting inspiration from your environment?

CP: I kind of play off the symmetry and asymmetry thing, like even how far do you push the asymmetry? I’m interested in asymmetry. And how often do you have earrings just in one type? How many people are going to tell you, “You wore the wrong two earrings”? The other shape aspect would be about patterns in things and shape in fabric. I don’t think I’ve played radically with the lengths of things or arms that go way down to here, though.

Kyla Willms: What’s something you tell yourself when you’re getting ready for your day? What are you thinking about?

CP: As I figure out my clothing the night before, I need to release the day, so I just need to think about colour and shape and what might fit together. I’m not thinking about other things, it lets focus on something that’s fun and playful.

HJ: Where do you like to get your clothes?

Cheryl kindly took this moment to pull out some pieces she brought from her closet that spoke to this question. Some examples are drawn alongside this article.

CP: So, I bought these directly from artists – I like buying directly from artists when I can. I’ll do the thrifting thing, but if I’m going to spend money, I’m going to spend money on the artists that made the things.

Describing the bag and coat from Croatia as pictured, Cheryl comments: These were from someone who has just a tiny shop, almost like a kiosk, and she was the sewer and designer herself. I love to do that – I don’t necessarily do that that often, but I like that. pieces longer?

CP: Okay, so this will get into the later question on philosophy, because of how I try to deal with the thrifting and overconsumption. I really am trying to think about how I have a responsible amount of clothing and can use it up before I die. What’s someone else actually going to want? Well, this is my mother-in-law’s dress. I wish it would have been passed on, because people from every decade would’ve found this amusing or worn it for something else. You want to actually see what are pieces that, for whatever reason, will have some interest for others. Also, what can you wear out enough? What can become sleepwear? Things like that.

KW: Do you have a fashion philosophy?

Cheryl then broke down the outfit she wore to the interview: a mid-length lavender purple dress, with purple tights, purple heels, and the Croatian jacket that had intricate, colourful, flowery details.

CP: The purple dress that I have on underneath, I got this at a high-end store that had a last call at Portage Place when Portage Place started to realize their regular high-end store was over. So, I got this dress there. That kind of combination is probably the most common.

When I bought fabric because someone was sewing my wedding dress, I just found these cool fabrics and got someone to sew these two dresses. It’s just this [2 nice dresses made with colourful patterns]. The designs are what attracted me. [Pulling out a blue dress from her bag] But this is a dress that my mother-in-law made for herself in the late 40s or early 50s. I just think it’s so much fun! I mean, look at all this detail, it’s totally hand sewn. It’s hard to know where to wear this, because if people don’t know you, they might wonder: why are you wearing this? But if I go to a Christmas party where everybody knows me and I can tell this story that this is my mother-in-law’s dress from the late 40s, then it’s fun to wear, right?

Cheryl then proceeded to pull out a navy blue jumper that connected to the high school that both Cheryl and Kyla’s mom went to, as it was part of the older uniform

CP: This is my oldest item, and Kyla, you’ll get this, this is my Eden jumper. We used to have to wear a uniform. Just so you can feel it, it’s polyester. You had to wear things under it, but now I wear it as a summer dress and it’s totally fine. It works! I wear it and I just think it’s funny. Anyway, I’m not actually a “keeper” type of person. I’m a little more streamline. My mother-in-law wasn’t, and this is why she still has these kinds of dresses. But I did hold onto this jumper because it’s funny.

KW: I was just about to ask, do you feel like you hold onto

CP: Okay, I’m not critical of anyone who wears jeans. But I don’t wear jeans. And it’s because jeans have taken on a moral authority that they’re the grand equalizer. Dress them up, dress them down, they fit everywhere. So, good on them, their marketing worked. But there’s the moral part of it, that somehow, you’re an elitist person because you’re not wearing jeans because the jeans are the grand equalizer. That bothers me. It’s not that I’m saying that people are thinking that, but I just thought, how can an industry claim to do that? Because you can wear jeans everywhere, the implication is that there is nothing else you can wear everywhere. So, I’ve done mocking things about this at times like worn dress skirts and a jean shirt, trying to point out how stupid it looks to do the opposite. Part of this also connects to where I get my clothes and considering the issue of local clothing. [Cheryl proceeds to pull out two pairs of jeans] The only two pairs of jeans I have are so old that they are made in Canada! I have blue jeans and they’re totally fine, but you know, they’re not even worn out. And these old purple ones are more worn out, but they’re much older. It’s not like I was intentionally buying things that were made in Canada at that time, but that’s what I’m trying to do now more. That’s a hard thing.

Another part of my philosophy is that it doesn’t take any longer to put on something that’s a little out of the ordinary than something ordinary, so why not just do it!

Another thing, often the bizarre colours are cheaper. My kids hated this. I would find these cool coloured pants and they’d be like, “Mom, I want black or blue.” But that’s the part of it, that they’re cheaper. Like these purple shoes –they are actually comfortable, they’re sensible shoes, and they’re well made. But they’re way cheaper than a black shoe, so things just kind of evolve for different reasons. This part started with an economic care that kind of drove these things, and then you try adding the ecological concern of how different fabrics will decompose.

The other aspect is walking the edge of a bit of art, but not so much that its distracting. And this applies for performance, or everyday life, or in my role right now. You don’t want to get up on stage and your dress is so much the centre of attention that people don’t listen to what you’re playing, or, when I’m speaking in public, the clothing makes people ask, “What are you doing?”

I love the fact that the most radical colour I have is my snow pants. And the reason my snow pants are my most radical colour is because they were so cheap. I bought them thinking Nic or Will [Cheryl’s children] would wear them, but they weren’t interested in them. So, this is [Cheryl pulls out a pic of the snow pants where her bottom half almost disappears into the warming room at the Forks as it is painted the same colour as the snow pants]. We were walking out there, and I disappeared! You know I get confidence from those snow pants. They are by far the most neon crazy colour of anything I have, and they were unbelievably cheap, and they are really good snow pants. But the thing is, they’re warm, they’re safe, they’re colourful. You know what I mean? They’re doing these things all at once!

Anyway, that kind of a neon colour, I’m not going to be wearing anywhere else. So, it’s about watching the edge, or trying to watch the edge of having some artistry but not distracting from your purpose of being somewhere. You’re not there to make fashion statements, we’re there to do something else. And clothing is still serving a purpose. We wear clothing – you might as well have fun with everyday things you do. But that’s that. That it’s not distracting and that there is room for everyone in the room, there’s not this huge attention to yourself.

And on the distracting note – oh, this was very funny actually. I was in a meeting once, and I made some sort of comment about more with less, less with more and less is more. I was pointing to the need for less is more in paying fair trade, and those kinds of things. Brian [Cheryl’s husband] and I talk about this a lot in terms of the jazz improv he does. Often fewer notes is more – more effective, it’s an aesthetic thing, it’s a beauty thing, and so on. Anyways, I was trying to make this comparison across these three, because we are still in a “more” culture, whether it’s more stuff or whether it’s people thinking, “We’ve got to work harder, we’ve got to be smarter.” I used this analogy that I decided to wear certain earrings and no necklace, right? And these people at the table look at me like, “We have hired a president here who uses analogies of putting on her jewelry to think about her role.” That was a bit much, but it was funny. They were thinking, “Okay, this is weird.”

KW: That’s bringing a new perspective into the room, eh?

CP: There was something in that, it’s that fine line of less being more. What you’re actually after aesthetically that could help in other things.

There was a time that I was preaching in a very conservative church made up mostly of older people. So, a place where it’d be rare that a woman was preaching. And these women, these older women, came up to me after and it was kind of this combination of, “I like your suit,” and “I like what you say.” It was as if they felt invited in by just a few words and partially it was just paying a little bit of attention to the aesthetics of the aspect that connected to the words.

HJ: What song do you think best expresses your style, fashion philosophy, or just makes you feel very confident in yourself?

CP: György Ligeti etudes, specifically Book 1, No. 5 and 6, Arc-en-ciel and Automne à Varsovie. It’s some of the most colorful music ever, definitely the most colourful thing I can pull out of the piano. They just come to life with a rippling abundance of colour and energy. They’re almost like taking a walk through the forest, the colour, the movement of everything around you, the wind blowing at different speeds, it’s all there. That’s what this music is, an abundance of color and movement.

KW: Is there anything else you wanted to include or touch on that we didn’t cover?

CP: My sister and I challenged each other to a “buy nothing” year once, and we had to check with each other if we needed to get something. I only ended up buying one bathing suit, because at the time that was something I actually did need. Overall, I would say when it comes to fashion, have fun with it. Also, I try to have abundance, but also avoid the excesses and all the problems around consumerism such as overproduction, overconsumption, et cetera. Those kinds of things are important in all of this. My main burden on the topic is more this environmental aspect than the connection between clothing and how we think about the human body. So, I’m comfortable taking part in fashion while also being conscious of the impact on the environment and human bodies. I think the human body matters, and we can celebrate that without the excess. There are so many complicated factors of fashion, but overall, the biggest concern for me is the ecological footprint and treatment of people. Partially, I would be totally happy to be collectivist about it and just have big closets that we could all choose from together rather than everyone needing to buy their own clothes. I think that putting clothing together is fun, but it doesn’t have to have this ownership and consumerism about it.

HJ: I wonder, do you find that you consume more because you wear more unique pieces? I feel like that’s what I’ve sort of found with my own style. I have a lot of items that are just so unique that there’s really only one way to wear them where it will look good. So I have found myself buying more than I need just because there’s less mixing and matching that can be done. It’s like there’s a really weird line there that you have to ride between being unique and not overconsuming.

CP: Yes, exactly, and I do think that that’s a tough line and something I struggle with. Basically, clothing’s just gotten too cheap! I’ll be the first to say that I have too much clothing, but what I’m trying to do is work at the angle that the unique pieces don’t force overconsumption and color combinations with unique pieces work. But yeah, I definitely have too much clothing!

KW: I’m there with you. It’s kind of what we’re socialized to do anyways.

HJ: Yeah, and of course we rationalize all the time too. If I’m at a thrift store, I often make the argument like, “Well if I don’t get it, it’s probably gonna end up in a landfill somewhere, sooo...” So that doesn’t really help either, but also it kind of does.

CP: But also it kind of does, right, like it’s a temporary solution, so how is that not only a half way transition plan thing that will actually like get us to a different place? I just paid more money to fix a zipper than I did for the actual thing, so starting with something like the cost of repair might be something. The majority of people would just toss the item and buy something new that costs less than the repair. So, to commit to being okay with paying more for repairs and keeping the clothes you already have is a big deal. And that’s just one step. Oftentimes, though, putting together an outfit for me is like putting together a program. It’s very intentional for me, and there’s a lot of things to think about when I do that.

KW: Yeah! I sort of assumed that picking an outfit would be an intentional process for you, but I wasn’t sure. That’s so fun.

CP: Yeah, well, what’s intentional is me mostly picking out my outfits the day before. Because life is hard, and sometimes we get stuck in ruts and things can get boring, so how can using clothes kind of get you out of both?

Cheryl’s thoughts were insightful on the meaning behind the clothes we all choose to wear every day. What are we living into with our clothing choices? What stories do we like to tell? And how does our consumption tell a certain story of “more” or “less”? Overall, Hillary and I were very thankful to Cheryl for agreeing to do the interview with us. It was a beneficial conversation of rethinking those everyday practices in our lives that often go untouched or unnoticed.