SAY HELLO TO OKAY ANDIE

Well, if you are here (and not completely new) then you have noticed a “rebrand”, if you will. Yes, Larkspur Vintage is no more. It was bloody time, if I’m being honest. I have disliked that name for a few years now, and the longer I’ve had this space the less like me that name felt. I am still influenced by vintage fashion, I think I always will be, but I just don’t live and breathe it the way I used to. Vintage started to feel too much like something everyone expected of me (which was absolutely my doing…duh, the name!), and if I had any interest in a different style, it seemed like I wasn’t allowed near it. It still feels like that sometimes.  After awhile, you do start to notice what people take to, what does better with your audience, what doesn’t…my cutesy vintage looks were always a hit. But, what to do when those looks just don’t feel like you anymore? Do you just do it because it’s on “brand”, even though your “brand” is really just being yourself, or do you just say a proverbial “fuck it!” and do whatever you please. I chose being my whole self, I guess, which is to say, wearing kind of whatever the hell I want. I have noticed a change in my followers, the rate in which it goes up, the rate in which it goes down. To say I didn’t care about that would be a total lie, but I try to remind myself that being wholly me – not the version that people have come to expect, or want me to be – is far more important than gaining 1000 followers a week. All that to say, the name change was necessary.

So, the name. What does it mean? Who is Andie? Well, I’m Andie, actually, to a couple handfuls of people in this world. My family, extended family and my oldest friend Upjeet call me Andie. It was a name given to me by my older brother when I was first born, when he couldn’t quite pronounce – to be fair, the difficult and long-winded name – Alexandra. It just stuck, really. It’s a name I have always loved, a name that never really made it outside my family, but it’s a name I feel a very deep connection to. When I think of it, it feels like my soft and playful side. It reminds me of my young self, in my Elmo t-shirt, wooden spoons for microphones, socks for gloves, and Madonna. Andie is a performer, a creator and a genuine soul. So, that’s the Andie side. Now, what’s Okay? Well, it’s kind of simple, I like the word, really. I like that it can be a word people absolutely loathe (the dreaded “okay.” repsonse text), a word to describe how you’re feeling, a word of understanding, a word of confusion, a word of anger, a word of exasperation, a word of comfort…its ever changing, it’s a chameleon and yet it’s so damn simple, and it felt perfect for this space.

So there you have it, a bit of an explanation for it all. I’m hoping you guys are feeling the change. The page itself is still pretty much the same, and my content is going to stay the same as well. I just really needed this rebrand and I’m pretty happy with it so far. Thanks to any of you that have been around for years now and have followed me along with this thing. Thanks to those of you that are more recently here, I hope you stay awhile. Love you all so fricken much!