1. Who is Paige Festa?
I am an entrepreneur, designer, and fitness enthusiast. I’ve never been a very traditional person - my career and life have taken me down a less traveled route, a riskier route, a route that allows me to follow my gut and passions even when it’s not the most stable or safe. From studying fashion in New York City to becoming a group fitness instructor to launching my own fitness and lifestyle brand, it’s been a non-stop, chaotic, empowering journey, but I am just getting started.
2. How do you define fashion and or style?Style is so individual. It’s how we can creatively express ourselves where words can’t. It can be empowering, whether it’s the shoes you wear, the leggings you sweat in, or the lingerie underneath. What I love about style is how it can make you feel: strong, confident, empowered, beautiful, sexy, free.
3. What influences your style? ie travel, work, movies, magazines, social media trends, celebrities, color, etc.New York City and the fitness industry definitely play a huge role in my style. My brand, Thirteen Fit Apparel, is all about functional and purposeful apparel that can be worn casually or in a workout so when I’m getting dressed or designing new collections I always ask myself: how can this translate from the gym to the street? The bottom line is I want to feel confident and comfortable, and that’s what drives my style.
4. How has your style evolved?My style has changed so much over the past decade. When I first dipped my toe in the fashion industry, I loved bright colors. I loved mixing unexpected prints together. I lived for anything loud and was a stickler about “matching.” As I’ve explored fashion and grown both personally and with my brand, I’ve refined my style. Now, I am much more drawn to minimal shapes, designs, and silhouettes, and neutral colors… but the old Paige still likes to come out with pops of neon, iridescent, or gold.
5. What does your dream wardrobe consist of?So. Much. Athleisure! At heart I’m a designer but I’m also obsessed with fitness. Mixing activewear/athleisure with sportswear is my jam so my dream wardrobe would be filled with all kinds of leggings, crop tops, strappy sports bras, fun sweaters, and a collection of sneakers to mix with jackets and gold jewelry.
6. If you were to give fashion advice to your younger self what would it be?
Stop being so hard on yourself! I used to give myself “rules of fashion” that I’d force myself to adhere to; in a place where freedom and fun should be encouraged, I put limitations on myself. When I was in high school, I was convinced that everything had to match exactly - if I had a yellow shirt, I needed to have yellow accessories that were an exact match. So, younger Paige--loosen up!
7. How important is it to be body positive and to appreciate the skin that you're in?Extremely. So much of what my brand and I stand for is body positivity. Coming from someone who has struggled with body image issues for much of her life, I’ve come to a place in my fitness and fashion journey where feeling confident in myself is the priority. We are all so unique and imperfect, and that is something to celebrate.
8. What do you love about jewelry? What is your absolute favorite is it earrings, necklaces, etc.I love that jewelry can level up any outfit. I’m very much a leggings and crop top kind of girl so I love that I can wear an outfit to workout in OR dress it up with cute shoes and jewelry and I have two completely different looks. My favorite piece of jewelry is a toss up between earrings and necklaces - minimal and gold.
9. How do you incorporate accessories and jewelry into your daily looks?I am very minimal in my style so a lot of my wardrobe is #allblackeverything. That’s where I like to play with accessories. My top and bottoms might be black but I’ll throw in a pop of color in my jewelry or shoes, grab a cute jacket and bag.
10. What are your non-negotiables... What must you have / wear / do? and what are your, “I’m never ever doing or wearing that”?Leggings will ALWAYS be pants in my book. Shoes I can’t walk in are a no-no, I have to feel comfortable to feel confident. And lastly, I am a firm believer in dressing for my body type - that being said, things that are trending like wide-legged pants are non-negotiable. I won’t wear something that doesn’t flatter my body no matter how “in” it is. Again, style is about empowerment and confidence so I will only wear things that inspire those feelings.
11. Tell us why you choose fashion and style. So what we mean by that is, we don’t have to dress up, we don’t have to adorn ourselves with jewels and embellish with accessories, but we do, we choose to… why do you?
I choose fashion because I’ve never been good with words, and I need an outlet for my personality and my creativity. If I can’t speak it, I’ll show it. And like I said before, style and fashion are so powerful- when I dress the way I want for myself, my day feels lighter and brighter and I just feel good in my skin.
12. What’s your favorite fashion/style quote or mantra?THERE ARE NO RULES. We are in a time where fashion and style have become so freeing, rules are for the birds. “No white after Labor Day,” If I want to wear white, I’m going to. “Don’t mix metals.” Watch me. “Wear heels when dressing up.” But why? If flats or sneakers make me feel more confident, I’m going to wear them.
13. How and where can people connect with you?My personal Instagram is @paigemariefesta (https://www.instagram.com/paigemariefesta/) and my brand is @thirteenfitapparel (https://www.instagram.com/thirteenfitapparel/).
You can also check out our website, www.thirteenfitapparel.com and our podcast Move More Worry Less available on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1562705818) and Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/34KxgMAIpu0v6DYV4ytKuA).
So well said, Paige. We do put all of these "rules" and restrictions on ourselves and what we can wear. We hope to take inspiration from you and feel confident wearing whatever we want, whenever we want!
XoXo Golden Stories