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Posted by Sarah Lorsch 
About to head back to The Network offices with what I thought was my blog idea for the week, I caught a glimpse of a girl across the street and instantly changed my plans. If you know Melrose, you know there are almost no prime spots to cross the streets, so like a stalker, I secretly followed this mysterious fashionista for a block or so. Luckily, she popped into Brooklyn Projects, a skate shop, and I had just enough time to sprint across the street and catch her as she walked out.
She was decked out in a white fur coat that swallowed her frame (a coat which, I learned later, had been made especially for her), sported fuchsia streaks in her bleach-blonde hair, and balanced in a pair of to-die-for black lace up platform heels that Lady GaGa would drool over. I asked the mystery girl if I could take her picture for my fashion blog.
“Of course. I’m Jazzie Bella, a fashion stylist,” she replied as she handed me her business card. I had hit the jackpot. Heart pounding with excitement, I took a picture or two of her outside before she invited me to go to the back of Brooklyn Projects where they have killer graffiti and a skate ramp. We headed to the secret outdoor skate-park-for-one and sat on a wooden bench.
As she searched through her oversized Fendi bag for a match, a tattoo clad, washboard abs skater showed up to play on the ramps. After I took a few pictures, we headed back outside. Jazzie realized she was craving Starbucks, so we walked the three blocks to where she ordered her skinny vanilla latte. Jazzie regaled me with stories of how she began working in fashion at the tender age of fifteen, along with how she once turned down Steve Tyler at Coachella two years ago (he now has great respect for her).
Resized to 84% (was 600 x 269) - Click image to enlarge
We sat down in the shade. At 83 degrees, Jazzie was a hardcore fashion champ, wearing her fur coat. Fashion over function! She rolled up her sleeves just enough for me to see the bracelets that covered her arms. Chains and fabric in every color decorated her from wrist to just below the elbow.
Gothic-Hippie is Jazzie’s honed style, and I couldn’t describe it better if I tried. A Pisces, she recognizes that she is ridiculously creative and embraces that fact with every outfit she styles, including her own. As I grinned like a star-struck fool at every word she said, she told me about her most hated brand (Marc Jacobs) due to his Chanel rip-off quilted bag, and some of her new favorites (Ann Demeulemeester, Gareth Pugh, and Kite and Butterfly) all of which I checked out/drooled over as soon as I got to my computer.
The most important thing I learned in my brief, yet phenomenal encounter with Jazzie? The words didn’t even come out of her mouth; rather, they were scrawled on her left arm in old typewriter style:
“Bleed my heart, feed my art.”
For more insight into Jazzie's world check out her blog http://jazziebella.blogspot.com/
