Empress Of Confesses Her Secret Hangover Cure And The Magic Of Grandma Pajamas
In this week’s How I Live, the New York City-based songstress tells us about her mom turning up at Jamie XX and why she keeps lists.
While hosting Empress Of's five night-long residency a few weeks back, the East Village's newly opened Elvis Guesthouse was jam-packed. People stood on tables, straddled railings, struggled for purchase over just a few inches of proximity to Lorely Rodriguez, who patiently waited at her synth for the crowd to quiet down. Rodriguez emanates this kind of frenzied magnetism even off stage, which is funny for a petite brunette with a wild tangle of curls and a speaking voice so soft and lilting she sounds like a Honduran Björk. We wanted a piece of her magic, so we asked her how she lives.
Hair
"My hair is super curly. I don't like to straighten it myself, some people like to straighten it for me. I usually leave it curly. I let it air dry, I like to feel my own hair. Yesterday, I was trying to find out what shoes to wear and I was like, fuck it, I'll just throw on Converse. I feel more comfortable being myself. I tried straightening a lot when I was younger, but the older I get the less and less I mess with it. I use Shea Moisture, I put so much in my hair. My super good friend is a hair god and she cuts my hair, dyes it, she does everything. Literally when I come over she doesn't even say hi to me, she'll be like ‘Ohmigod, these ends.’ If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't care. My hair has been red, purple, blonde, now it’s black with light brown at the bottom. I let her experiment as long as it doesn’t look ugly."
Style
"I would say it's very sporty but with hints of feminine things. I just like to be comfortable when I'm moving. I really like wearing tennis shoes, trainers, and Converse. I love skirts though. I think it's because when you're dancing and you twirl around and the skirt curls up, it's super fun. I like a jersey, too, and cool jackets. I haven't been wearing a lot of collared shirts as much anymore. I'm super into thrift stores. I like Beacon's Closet. It's consistently good. I just got some leather shorts there that I've been wearing way too much. There's a place called L Train Vintage. You can always go to the Salvation Army if you're really ready to dig, but I'm mainly too tired to dig anymore. My favorite find might be this purple Giorgio Beverly Hills sweater, it's like a fake Armani sweater from the eighties. It's a jersey sweater that I cut down the middle into a cardigan. It's so sick and it's purple and the letters are gold. It was a pullover sweater but I cut it down the middle. I also recently found this grandma pajama too. It's so comfortable and kinda sexy in a weird kinda way. I wore it on a date and I was really feeling myself."
All images courtesy Lorely Rodriguez