Today, we finally meet Christian, get a look inside their home, and find out how many Trashy Diva outfits Vera actually owns. The butterfly dress worn in today’s series was originally owned by her friend Wendi Hardage, who worked at CrazyBeautiful. Vera explained that the older Trashy Diva dresses are very collectible and, as evidence of her obsession, has joined a Facebook community called Desperately Seeking Trashy Diva. Today’s dress is Trashy Diva, of course. The butterfly print is highly sought after.
“I love bold, happy prints — the busier, the better. And the bangles were given to me by Christian for Christmas. He gives seriously amazing gifts!” says Vera about her husband and bandmate.
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He would jokingly recommend we skip past the number of Trashy Diva outfits are in Vera’s personal collection (answer: over 60) and talk about music instead. In this case, let’s talk about music and dance as Vera describes how he won her heart.
“Christian was born and raised here in Memphis, but we actually met in my hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, at a Contra Dance Festival. Contra dance is very similar to square dancing with a caller doing the calls like “Swing Your Partner” and “Do Si Do,” but it’s done in long lines rather than square sets. And it’s always done to live music — usually an old time string band featuring fiddle, banjo, guitar, and bass. That’s really how I first got exposed to old-timey style music — through dance. Christian literally swept me off my feet with his fancy dance moves!”
Their love story is surrounded by many mutual loves — dance, music, and all things vintage. Their home covered with vintage music posters and an array of instruments. Though Vera describes it as a rare treat, they do love sitting in their living room or front porch playing fiddle and banjo tunes together.
“We also find it really relaxing to sit at home in our living room and to listen to audio books together. As opposed to watching TV together (we don’t have one), it seems more like quality time. We started out listening to audio books when we were traveling to play shows, and then we enjoyed it so much that we started just listening to them at home. I’ll crack open a beer, and Christian will have a root beer, and it’s the most relaxing thing ever.”
Outfit Details
Butterfly Dress by Trashy Diva
Peep Toe Clogs by Lotta of Stockholm
Vintage Wooden Bangle – gifted from Christian
Trashy Diva is a line carried at Red Velvet Vintage.
Stay tuned for the final post in Vera’s style session tomorrow as we find out more about the band and see them on stage.
