Personal Style Transcript

Mickelle: Jeanina Zgirie is a personal stylist that has come into international life while making sense of the transition. Through personal style. She sees everything through both fashion and history and combines that with her clients on personal history and style to make something new.

Mickelle: Originally from Romania, when we first met, we bonded over questions like, why is the white trainer, a Dutch style staple when it’s so rainy here? The perfect day of vintage shopping in the canals of Amsterdam and how a personal style can evolve or not. With each place we wander, her goal is to help her clients feel that they reflect their individuality through the language of fashion and loves to help people edit their closets when they are in transition, whether that’s a new baby, a new country, or a new role.

Mickelle: As anyone knows who has moved to a new country, it is a process of metamorphosis. We chat about this process of becoming and unbecoming each version of ourselves. Reflecting each chapter of our lives and our personal style. If you love what we are up to at House of Peregrine and want to follow along, please like and follow us and feel free to check out our website at houseofperegrine.

Mickelle: com for the latest on how to live an amazing life abroad. Okay. Thank you so much for coming on, Jeanina. I really appreciate you coming in and being our first guest in studio. So thank you so much for being willing.

Jeanina: Of course. My, my pleasure. Absolutely.

Mickelle: So when I first came across you, I really loved everything you were bringing to the idea of your personal style and how to create that. But I want to back up first and how did you become Jeanina? What is your story that way?

Jeanina: First of all, thank you. I think we do have a lot of things in common and that we see style, we perceive it in a, in a very similar way.

Jeanina: So I’m a stylist here in Amsterdam. I work with small brands for editorials where with personal clients with people that are on a journey to find their own style and to project them their soul into their image. I was born in Romania. I moved to Amsterdam almost two years ago. It’s a long, I think we all have long journeys until we become the current version that we are in.

Jeanina: We’ve been several other versions in the past. I would say me moving here, it’s, it’s a crucial moment in my, in my life and the time of, of change and rebirth almost, of going back to, allowing myself to going back to style and to fashion that I, I, I love and cherish always in my life.

Jeanina: And so start, so you were grew up in Romania and I want to, I really want to go into this because I think your story, your story of getting here is really, really beautiful.

Jeanina: So. Let us know where you were born in Romania and then how, what you did before the stylist’s life.

Jeanina: I was born in Romania in the nineties, immediately after the, the communism fell in, fell down here in Romania. So I was born in a transition period in the, in the history of my country, a very difficult time of, of also rebirth for a country.

Jeanina: What was that like? As a kid I, the, the fact that we were in a transition towards something, and that was the theme on the news. We are in transition to get to the EU, to get into NATO, all these changes. We were on a transition towards democracy. I felt like all my childhood, I had this feeling that I have, I had to hold on to things until we, until the whole situation in the country got better. I was born in a very, very small town in the south of the country, which is historically a poorer part of Romania. Definitely not many opportunities when I was growing up. As a kid in a, in a very small town, I did have a very happy childhood because of the, my family and the people that surrounded me.

Jeanina: I had a childhood enriched with education and private French lessons. My parents would do everything to invest in my education and mine and my brother’s, but this theme of transition was there across. across all my childhood that I will, I will, would all as a nation had to hold on until things would get better.

Jeanina: That I personally would have to just get to a point where I would finish high school and then would go to Bucharest, the capital for college. And then it was. Like, proper life will begin later. It was always pushed a bit later. Later, things will be better. Later, you’ll go to college. Later, you’ll have financial freedom.

Jeanina: I believe that it was this constant state of transition. And I didn’t even realize it necessarily at the time we’re growing up. But now that I’m looking back, it was a constant thing, yeah.

Mickelle: So that, upon reflection, has been part of your story from the beginning. And so when you were growing up, was it always, you were always looking forward to it being better. Yeah.

Mickelle: But you felt like you had a happy childhood, but it wasn’t. I did. For sure I did. Did it suit you? So you always knew you were going to go away. Yeah,

Jeanina: yeah,

Mickelle: yeah. And that is an interesting way of growing up.

Jeanina: Yeah, I grew up with this idea that I would never stay and live in Alexandria, our small town.

Jeanina: My parents brought me up with, with this instilled in me that that town could never contain me, that it was too small for me and my potential and my brothers and that to fulfill ourselves, we’ll have to go. away to, to the capital. And, and, and it felt like, like that many times. My small town felt like something that could not contain me, that you cannot fulfill your potential there.

Jeanina: You don’t have enough access to, for example, something that really it, it, it’s still important for me. And I feel like it’s a, a Pain that I have. We never had a theater in my hometown. We never had a cinema. We barely had a small library. Everything, all the education, you would have to really work to get it to you.

Jeanina: I had the luck to be surrounded by amazing teachers, and they would be the substitute for everything else that I didn’t have. But I always envied the children in Bucharest, like, oh, they can go to museums, they can go to theaters, they have ballet. I remember after moving to Bucharest, I had this period of being obsessed with ballet.

Jeanina: I would go every Sunday to the opera and see all the, all the major ballet shows because I never had the opportunity to do it as a little girl, you know, and, and, and,

Jeanina: and I went through this phases of getting everything back. What I, I didn’t have the opportunity to do. I was getting back. And you know, in a, in a sense, I believe fashion is, is that for me too.

Jeanina: I grew. Yeah. So

Mickelle: tell us that story. So when you went, your first work out of university. You went to university in Bucharest. Yeah. And then what happened?

Jeanina: I went to university in Bucharest. I studied political science, taught in French. Part of my, my colleagues were from France, were from French speaking African countries.

Jeanina: Some of my. my teachers, they were coming from Paris to Bucharest to teach us. Everything was in French. At that point, I remember when I got into university at 18, I felt like I had this duty of changing the country. I wanted to go to, I wanted to pursue a political career. That was my dream at the time.

Jeanina: But again, when I, when I, I was out of university, I, I have the political scene in Romania was still left was mixing with the right. We were still having this unclear things in the social and the political

Jeanina: situation in the country that was It was not matching with, with, with myself and I felt I didn’t, I also, I didn’t know exactly what’s the next, next step to getting into politics. What would I do? I felt a bit like a bit lost, I believe. And my salvation was the fact that I was speaking French and a lot of companies, Romania was already starting to grow.

Jeanina: A lot, a lot of companies would come to, to Bucharest and they would need French speakers. And that was,

Mickelle: that was your, that was my,

Jeanina: my first, my, my first jobs. I got them just because I was a fluent. French speaker and how this is how companies hired me. Yes. Because of my, I knew to do some Excel and Excel and I was speaking fluent French.

Jeanina: So please hire me. I have this two skills. Yeah.

Mickelle: Well, and so being multilingual really helped you.

Jeanina: Most, most people in my generation are actually multilingual in Romania. You, it’s very often to find someone that speaks two or three foreign languages.

Mickelle: And French came through your parents because they just knew that would be

Jeanina: French came

Mickelle: the tutors.

Mickelle: You said, yeah,

Jeanina: Through my parents, French culture was appreciated and seen like from the 19th, in the 19th century, Romania had this very strong connections with, with, with France. And we. imported or the, or the culture or the French culture. And even through the communism, we still, we were still valuing the French culture.

Jeanina: We were seeing like the, the, the height of culture and of European culture. And I think my parents had that. They weren’t speaking French or knew much about it because in communism you were not allowed to read certain books or you were not, it was actually very dangerous. But. Even so, they would feel like, yeah, if she would speak French, if she would be educated in that sense, it’s, it’s, it will be good for her.

Jeanina: And then in high school, I had this amazing teacher that basically, I, I really, I, I believe he changed my life forever. He was not just a friend. an excellent French teacher that was fluent, and, but he was extremely cultured. He would introduce the French culture. He would introduce fashion brands to me. He,

Jeanina: and, and cosmetic brands and lifestyle brands, and I’ve, I had this taste built up by him. For a country and the culture, I’ve never met face to face, right? Yeah,

Jeanina: but I I do believe he I For fashion, I think I have several influences in my life. It’s my grandma And it’s, it’s very far away from that. She was almost illiterate and, and the peasant woman, but she had a taste for doing things of her own mismatching, remaking clothes, making clothes for her, her own children.

Jeanina: She was suing. She was, she had a taste for color that was in her blood and, and she was amazing like that, and very dynamic. And then it was this French teacher. He was, he was. He was amazing and he taught us so much. And he taught, he taught me, he was the first to teach me about luxury brands. And look, this haute couture things exists out there in the world.

Jeanina: And it’s art. It’s not just clothing. Wouldn’t you love to see that with your own eyes and twinkles in my eyes? Yes, I would. Yes, please. Yeah, and I believe they, they influenced me a lot and my taste tremendously.

Mickelle: And so when you moved into your, your work life from this, this transition from communism to democracy, from, yeah.

Mickelle: Kind of being in a more rural setting to a more city. Yeah,

Jeanina: yeah.

Mickelle: And then, so you were in a place where you wanted to be, where there was a little bit more access to the arts and

Jeanina: culture. It was all the access that any European city would have.

Mickelle: Yeah, perfect. So then, but when you started working, you started working,

Jeanina: what was your first work?

Jeanina: My first work experience, I worked for a, for a big telecommunications French company. It was customer service. I, I recall, and it was all very French, not

Jeanina: just the language I would speak at work, but many of my managers do. And it was the same time I visited France for the first time and Paris, I was completely mesmerized.

Jeanina: It lived up to the expectancies and more. So yeah, that would, that I believe was my, my first type of job. So why not

Mickelle: fashion? Why not move?

Jeanina: Was it just not there? It was, I, I just wouldn’t dare. I was brought up with the, in the spirit of you invest in your education and you culture yourself and you do everything to, to grow.

Jeanina: So you can get a better life and fashion at it’s something where more privileged people would get into. And it wasn’t that practical. Yeah, it, it was in the back of my mind, but I would not dare to hope that I would do something in that field.

Mickelle: So were your parents like, Artists are poor.

Jeanina: Yeah. Yeah. I definitely grew up with this idea that artists are poor.

Jeanina: You are artists for the privilege is for, for those that can afford it for children that have a lot of money and you have to make everything on your own. So I, I pushed aside this, I w I was manifesting myself through fashion and suddenly I had access to a lot more and I was making my own money so I could manifest my soul.

Jeanina: Through clothing, and that brought me a lot of happiness, and I always felt like I was building my style step by step, but I never dared to dream that I would work in, in that.

Mickelle: Yeah. Got it. So you built yourself up into working into more, if I can have this correct corporate environments. Corporate environments.

Jeanina: Yeah. I’ve changed different corporations in Bucharest, French, American ones, also big American corporations. And yeah, that was,

Mickelle: and at a certain point you decided to stop doing that and move on to.

Jeanina: To a non profit. It wasn’t that sudden. It wasn’t? No. I was working in a corporation still, and I was doing a lot of volunteering.

Jeanina: In about the same period, a bit earlier, I also did fashion classes because I was pursuing this. It wasn’t me. It was impossible to, and I’ve said to myself, at least I will get a bit of education in the, in the field, even though I would never work. Just a little bit. You never know. You never know. I will do it for my own soul.

Jeanina: And I took styling classes and editorial styling classes when, with one of the greatest stylists in Romania at that time. He was also a great influence for me. What’s his name?

Jeanina: It’s a man. It’s a man. His name is Ovidiu Buta. He was this type of mythical person. He was working in editorials with Elsa Hosk and all the great models and he was doing Elle Romania and other and commercials and I was like, Oh, I can’t believe I see him in person.

Jeanina: He would come and throw his luxury bag on the table and he was smoking, even though it was not allowed to smoke inside, but still he had this big personality and he was It’s a great influence on me with this big personality he had. But yeah, going back to, to, to my story I took the fashion classes at the same time I was still working in a corporate environment and I thrived.

Jeanina: That company, I loved it. It was an American company. a very multinational environment. I was still working with teams in France. I was traveling a bit France and back to Romania. I loved it. I loved it. That it, it was comfortable. It was, I was always learning something new. Growth was on the table for me.

Jeanina: Colleagues, my colleagues were amazing. My managers, I had women managers that were like, for the first time in my life, this powerhouse ladies that were building their career from Basically, they’ve started with zero, the same as I did, and they were there. These are inspiring powerhouses, women that I can learn from.

Jeanina: And I loved it, but I also had something in me that couldn’t do only that. And I was doing a lot of volunteering with different organizations in Bucharest. And I was doing a lot of CSR in my own company. I was volunteering for all the CSR projects in my company. At one point, the country manager, he really, of the company, really saw that I was doing that a lot.

Jeanina: And he was a Danish guy, very open minded guy. And he Let me do a lot of things in CSR in communi, in, he, let me go back to comms that to everything I’ve learned in, in faculty, basically. Because in political science, you, you learn a lot about communications and fundraising and everything, not just history of, of politics.

Jeanina: And he allowed, he created this space for me to go back. He. Because many times when you’re trying to expand past your role, you, you get a pushback,

Jeanina: but I had the space to do all that. And he was also so, so gentle when I decided, I fell in love with one of the, of the NGOs we were working with, and I was being a volunteer for them.

Jeanina: already.

Mickelle: And what was the organization?

Jeanina: It’s called Magic Association. They, because they started with magic camps they started organizing camps for children that were sick with cancer. And in time it grew to providing all all kinds of, of services to families that have children sick with cancer and other very severe illnesses.

Jeanina: And Mickelle: this was in Bucharest?

Jeanina: It was in Bucharest, yeah. Okay. We would help people all around the country, not just in Bucharest, people from, because people from all over Romania, when you have a severe illness, You come to the greater treatment centers and they usually are placed in the bigger cities in Romania, like Timisoara, Cluj, Bucharest.

Jeanina: So people would come with with their, their, their children for treatment and it, it, it is. It was a transition so natural for me. I, I loved it there. So

Mickelle: you were, you were working and then volunteering and then all of a sudden fell in love. Yeah. And I

Jeanina: had to, I had to move. I had to make the change. I felt it was really my call to, to do something.

Jeanina: And also I’ve realized that Maybe I don’t have to be a politician. Maybe I can change something for the best with some other type of work. If it’s either volunteering, or working in a non profit, or corporate social responsibility, I can make things better for people. the country or for myself or for others, from other roles and other positions too.

Jeanina: And I believe my work with magic, it’s still, I’m still immensely proud of it.

Mickelle: Yeah, of course.

Jeanina: And yeah, working with all those people has been an honor. They are amazing, amazing, amazing people. Not one bit of selfishness in them. They give everything. They’re out of this world.

Mickelle: And there you were helping them on the corporate side, but also when you were volunteering, you were actually befriending these

Jeanina: these children.

Jeanina: Yeah. I’ve been a volunteer in the camp first and you would go in, in this camp and you would stay with the children for a week, and you would do all kinds of activities with them and be by their side. It’s very important for sick children to have this anchors of childhood, of normality in between treatments.

Jeanina: So when they are having a rough time during treatments, when they have a relapse, they can have the, the, the strength to look back, Oh, I had this amazing summer. I will keep myself. I will keep whatever strength I have so I can get to the next summer and still have fun again.

Mickelle: So it’s like peak childhood experience, happiness that they can hold on to.

Mickelle: It

Jeanina: was amazing. We had a pool. We had, we took them with, to a balloon and fly them with the balloon over the village. They had this tree houses. everything. It was amazing, even for me as a grown up before a child. I can imagine that was the experience of a lifetime and many times parents, even after the the Children would pass away because many of the Children in this type of situations, not all everyone unfortunately survives.

Jeanina: Parents would call and would say, thank you. It was the best summer of his life. I will forever be grateful for, for what you did for, for my child.

Mickelle: Wow. Yeah. Talk about impact. Yeah. Like that’s an incredible impact. And so it is. That was really important for you. It sounds like, it sounds like you felt this call to make a huge impact and you, you did it there.

Mickelle: And so then we You end up in Amsterdam, so tell us that story. I

Jeanina: end up in Amsterdam yeah after magic, I, I feel I gave it my all. And I was aware from the day, from the first day that I would not emotionally be able to do it for a very long time. When I got there, I said, I will give it my all till the last drop, but I will not stay here till I will grow old because I just will not be able to do it.

Jeanina: Yeah, to do it mentally. I’m not capable of holding for so long. So I always seen this as a As a gap in, in my professional life where I would go and give everything and end it proudly and move on. And I moved on for, with comms and when, and working for a very large corporate for the communications and marketing team, I felt that it wasn’t so fulfilling that I did what I did with the, with the nonprofit trying.

Jeanina: You’re on

Mickelle: different

Jeanina: planets. Yeah. Yeah. It’s. It’s like, what am I doing here? I’m trying to convince people to buy a new phone every month when I, I changed the world the other day. But I, I’ve still got a lot of, of education in, in that environment too. And yeah. I’ve learned a lot, but it wasn’t fulfilling.

Jeanina: At the same time, I never lost contact with the fashion world, with this passion of mine. I, I’ve never stopped counseling friends where, whoever would, would have the need to. I I’ve never stopped going to the museums to get inspiration. I’ve never stopped being. all the time in stores to see what’s happening or we’re We’re waiting with my heart beating for every new fashion season and and to see the old couture creations so But again, I I would not think that this would be in the cards for me.

Jeanina: Yeah, and we had this My my partner got this opportunity for this It was either London or, or Amsterdam, and we wanted Amsterdam from, from the first.

Mickelle: Yeah. Had you been to either place before? Yeah. Yeah. Some people move here sight unseen like me. I had never been here before. Oh wow. So I had never been to Amsterdam.

Jeanina: Major. Yeah. Leap of faith, I believe. No, we, we knew the city. I’ve been to Amsterdam twice before moving here. The first time I remember I, I’ve said I would never live in this city. It’s so funny. And then here, here I am after some years moved. The second time I really loved it and I felt that maybe I’ve Misjudge the first time the city and it has a lot, a lot more more to offer than I you can see on the on the scratch on the surface.

Jeanina: And we kind of also knew the neighborhood where we would love to move. I remember we had coffee one morning and in Can I say the name of the coffee place? Yeah, of course you can. In coffee district, when we were visiting the, the city, the coffee district in, in, in the out south.

Mickelle: Oh, yeah.

Jeanina: And we said, oh, we really love this neighborhood.

Jeanina: If ever we move to Amsterdam, we’ll, we want to live here. And when we moved, we found an apartment. Three minutes away from that coffee district. Like we are basically living in the same building.

Mickelle: And that’s what happens sometimes, right? Like you set your sights and then you’re, you’re transported. That’s what happened with us.

Mickelle: Like we were like Amsterdam and two months later, I kid you not. We packed up our stuff. I moved and it

Mickelle: was just. Like that, as soon as you made the decision, all the doors opened and it, it happened. And for me that I hear that story a lot, actually, where people make a decision. And of course not everyone is able to do that, but when it does happen, it’s these moments where you set your sights on something.

Mickelle: And so when you made the move here, was that, when did fashion, you’re like, when did you allow yourself or did you allow yourself? Or what was that process? I, I

Jeanina: feel, I really feel that moving to Amsterdam felt like a rebirth to me from many points of view. I felt liberated. I felt that I didn’t have this pressure of changing the world in Romania on my shoulders and that I could do something for, for my own soul and allow myself to, to be.

Jeanina: free and happy on a different level. That not that I wasn’t happy back in Bucharest. I loved my, my life there, but it, it came with a lot of freedom, Amsterdam. And even in my clothing and in my style, it it, it manifested with when this freedom of choosing whatever I loved to wear and not thinking twice, not feeling constricted in any way anymore.

Jeanina: And so I believe this allowed me also to, to tap into. This desire I always had in me, what if I would finally put to use my, my styling education? And what if I would allow myself to think that this might be something on the table for me? And it’s like you said, once you put your mind to it, It doesn’t happen by night, but if you’re doing all the right steps and you’re keeping your eyes on the prize to say so, and insist on that, and if you insist, and if you’re willing to do the work, because it’s not easy to start from scratch in a new city after a big change.

Mickelle: I want to back up because when you decided to move here, were you aware that it was going to be such a big change? And was it like a conscious thing where you were like, I’m going to change everything I’m going to. So what was that process? Cause when you move to a new country, you do have to decide what you bring with you, or you have to tell me about that.

Mickelle: Were you aware of that at the time? Or is it just in hindsight, you’re realizing this was the process?

Jeanina: I moved to Amsterdam with a feeling of great excitement and great dread at the same time. I remember the, the two weeks preceding the move I was extremely anxious. I was crying from time to time. And now thinking back, I believe that is a good thing to mourn a little bit for, for phases of your, of your life that are ending.

Jeanina: Morning is a huge part of it. Yeah.

Jeanina: I had no idea what it would bring. And I believe in the first six months I was so caught up in the process of just settling in. We, we’ve stayed for a month in a hotel here in Amsterdam until we found the apartment to rent. You go through all this process.

Jeanina: You need to get the papers you need to feel whatever furniture is missing from your new apartment. I, I, I believe I still have this parts of in, even though I’m super free in my thinking, I believe I still have this parts of me that believe that it, it’s almost my duty as a woman to make a house, a home.

Jeanina: And I, I would be the one to bring the small. details and to cocoon this apartment to make it work for us here.

Mickelle: And is your partner from Romania as well? Yeah,

Jeanina: he’s Romania as well. We, we have been together for three years and a bit before moving here together. So it wasn’t a new relationship.

Mickelle: Right. So you both came here from a different culture.

Mickelle: So did it turn into, would you say, you said you made your apartment a cocoon like a cocoon to go inward and how did that manifest? He was starting a new position. You were reinventing yourself or maybe thinking you might. And so, How did that manifest in what you put, brought into your space? It’s a mix

Jeanina: of old and new.

Jeanina: It’s a mix of less intentional because we, we rented a normal, a semi furnished apartment. And we bought it. We bought some new furniture here in, in Amsterdam, but at the same time, I brought as much little things that I could from Romania to make it feel like it. I have a red thread through my, through my life and my little possessions would be that red thread because they have emotional attachment to them.

Jeanina: So in my bedroom I would have this carpet that was made by my grandma 50 years ago by hand woven by her hand. My grandma and my great grandmother, actually, both amazing women. I, I love them greatly. I have these shells from the beach in, from the Black Sea in Romania. I, I framed photographs of me as a child, and I still have to do that with David’s photos, but I, I brought photos from his mom’s house to, to put them.

Jeanina: I did little art projects. And because I felt that when I was still anxious in moments, because you often feel like that, or at least that was my experience after moving in. Sometimes you feel, you ask yourself, was this the right decision to make? Is this lifestyle really suiting me? You miss your friends.

Jeanina: I miss my friends so badly. I miss my brother. We lived in Bucharest, both of us, and I’ve always been super close to my brother and not to him. not being able to have him close is discomfort. If I need to in half an hour, I can see him. And suddenly I didn’t have that anymore. So I brought whatever kind of objects with, which remind me of of, of myself, of my old self.

Mickelle: And that was that part of the cocooning process. And then as you’re, as cocoons go, you’re creating. A new version of yourself in a way, and whether, whether or not you do it intentionally or not, it happens. And so was that an opportunity for you to do that like with fashion, with your career, with I believe so.

Jeanina: It allowed some, some to, to tap into creativity and it allowed myself to think a bit more about who I am. in a different perspective about what I’m going to do. Like I’ve said, it came from Serenki for me with, with a lot of freedom and it came with the freedom to pause and think what I, I, I would love to do further on with my, my life, my personal and my professional life.

Jeanina: A type of luxury I never had before in my life. I was going from job to job, from career move to the next career move, never where I had. I spent more than two weeks between my, my jobs, two weeks of pause to think, was this really the right, is this what I really want to do? I never had that luxury. And then having these sabbatical months when I moved here, Even if I had to do all the cocooning and the changes and everything else, it gave me the time to reflect on myself.

Jeanina: Something like, like that can be scary. It was scary for me at first because I realized that I wasn’t looking exactly from the, for the same career path and feeling the need to, to reinvent or approach a different part of yourself can be very scary. Or, or at least for me, it was, because you give up all the comfort of building something for years.

Jeanina: And then. Pre inventing, it’s, it’s, it’s deep

Mickelle: work and it’s not super easy. No, it’s the hardest work that someone can have the privilege of doing, I think. So when you move, well, when I moved here, what I noticed was I had to decide. What do I, what do I keep from where I’m from, and how much do I want to express that, how much do I want to look like an outsider, and how much do I want people to not know.

Mickelle: And I have the luxury of that because I’m white, I don’t speak Dutch, but if I don’t speak I can kind of pass off as someone who lives here. And so that was a consideration. And so when I first moved here I tried to fit in more. And I think this is a process a lot of us go through where it’s like you were saying the first six months is like a vacation.

Jeanina: Yeah.

Mickelle: And then after that six months, you start wondering, what did we do? And then after a year, you start finding your places and your people maybe, and then by two years, you can kind of feel like you, you know. Are have arrived in a meaningful way. And for me, that process looked a lot like that. And so when people come, their style, I see many types, but it’s like, there’s those people that just stay with what they, they don’t want to come here visually.

Mickelle: And, or maybe they think it doesn’t matter. Or maybe it thinks they think. They’re being loyal or something to their personality.

Jeanina: Yeah.

Mickelle: And changing it up would be somehow superficial. And so I see those people that stay and those people that completely fit in. And then where I like to play in, I think you do too is bringing all parts from everywhere I’ve been and all the parts of me and all the versions of me I’ve been in and bringing them in.

Mickelle: And then the new city incorporate that into this visual representation of who I am. And so how was that for you?

Jeanina: I, I remember when, when I came, I came with, it was important to me to bring all my clothes. We had this immense boxes with a lot of, of things. Many of them were my clothes. And, you bring everything, and then reality strikes. You, you visited Amsterdam. I visited twice. Once in the summer, once in the fall. You, you, I never got a taste of all the seasons and see whatever I needed to, to, to wear. Clothes are, are a shield. They can be an emotional shield, but they are also very necessary shield from the weather and the cold and everything else.

Jeanina: And I’ve discovered I was missing a lot of faces. Context. Yeah. Rain. Context. Rain. Wind. Wind. Different type of cold. I was used to cold, but it was the cold I endured on my high heels and my, and on a dress with a wool coat for a 10 minutes walk until the subway. And then I will take the subway until the office and then I will go to, yeah.

Jeanina: But. Not that cold you experience when you’re on a bike and it’s raining and it’s heavily raining and you have to protect yourself differently and it’s a whole new like life experience. Exactly. It’s completely different. So step by step At first I had this intention of staying the same because I felt like I should stay loyal to, to my clo to my closet and this version I’ve built up myself and then step by step I’ve realized clothes, they are there with a purpose.

Jeanina: They have to serve me. They have to be loyal to me, not me to them. It’s the other way around. And I’ve started to change bit by bit and adapt I would say that my style has adapted quite a bit, not in the sense that I’ve, I’ve come to look like an Amsterdam girl now, but in the sense that I don’t feel any type of pressure to look in any way.

Jeanina: And I, I shed And I feel the freedom to dress myself in whatever way I feel fitted. And I love it.

Mickelle: As long as you can do it in the rain. Yeah.

Jeanina: As long as I can do it in the rain, exactly.

Mickelle: No. And, and when you came and now actually, so now when you are I feel like that Matt, sorry, I’m going to go back.

Mickelle: So when you were going through this cocooning process, it seems like you were doing that same thing with your personal style.

Jeanina: Yeah, I did.

Mickelle: And that I think really goes back to how style is cultural and how it’s a language and how it’s a language. Not everyone speaks fluently. And different cities have different things.

Yeah, of course.

Mickelle: So like for here, I’ve noticed people don’t really like it when you wear sunglasses, you can’t see through white shoes. Why? Like rain and white shoes, but it’s a thing like someone pointed out the other day, a really good friend of mine that I, I was kind of, She’s Dutch and I was poking, not fun, but I was asking her about the white shoes and she said, yeah, but all Americans wear belts.

Mickelle: All American men, especially wear belts. And I was like, she is right. Why is that? You know, so that I got me thinking. And so I think it’s a really beautiful, for me, at least idea that you would go through this cocooning process and also with your personal style, your house, your, the language you’re learning, the languages you’re hearing.

Mickelle: You know, even the way the sun hits you is different. So you’re, you’re fundamentally changing. And so now you help people with that. Yeah. And that’s like your, maybe we could say the next iteration of what you’re doing.

Jeanina: Absolutely. I do work with, many times I find myself working with people that are coming here from another country and they need to adapt and they feel a bit lost when they arrive and they feel suddenly that their clothing doesn’t match either the climate in, in the Netherlands or they feel the.

Jeanina: They, they look different from example, in Eastern Europe, we women dress a lot in dresses and in dresses that would consider to be more like a wedding, a day wedding. guest type of dress and they would wear that in the office without any type of problem because it’s accepted, it’s valued there, but here I believe would be a bit odd to see everyone like that on the streets.

Mickelle: I always felt overdressed when I first moved here.

Jeanina: Yeah. And how do you adjust that? Do you adjust internally and somehow you accept it? Yeah, maybe I’m still over, I’m, I’m overdressed, but it’s in me and I fully accept that. Because this is how I feel comfortable and that is comforter looks very different for everyone Do I suddenly give up my dresses and I change to jeans or to another type of pants?

Jeanina: So I I guide people through through this process and it depends a lot of on everyone’s personality. I always say the way we dress depends much more on our background and personality and our likes and dislikes, our values, more than our appearance. More than clothing, more than anything a store might have to offer, or a designer, or, it’s not about the clothes as much as it is about the person, and how the person perceives herself or himself.

Mickelle: So. And what they’re saying to the world. Like what they’re. What they want to say is sometimes really important. And so maybe you want to say. I’m an outsider. I, I, this is who I am and I hope who I’ll always be. And I want to,

Jeanina: and that is, I will wear that dress

Mickelle: to the office when all of the rest of you are wearing jeans.

Jeanina: And that’s a choice. And that’s a choice. And that is absolutely fine. Well, my job is also to make people feel comfortable with their choices. Not just a question. I, I, I hate getting hate. It’s a, it’s a strong word. I dislike, let’s say, let’s put it like how would you dress me? It’s not about how I would project an image on you.

Jeanina: It’s asking the right questions until you figure out yourself. How would you love to be dressed? How would you love to express yourself in the world? It’s about yourself. It’s not about my vision of someone else. Yeah.

Mickelle: So you’re not the person that’s going to project your own style. And that is an interesting inner journey as well, right?

Mickelle: To find your own. level of expression on the inside is actually a pretty important journey. And one, maybe we have as women anyway, you know, when you’re a little girl, you go to being a teenager, maybe you rebel, you do something, and then maybe you go to university, you can reinvent yourself or maybe stay the same.

Mickelle: Some people keep the same style throughout their life and they would stay comfortable with that. But it seems to me moving to a new country gives you the opportunity to re evaluate what you want, but also. You sometimes cannot buy things at the same store. And that’s a combination of, of things. And so do you, would you say you help people evaluate their values?

Mickelle: Of course, their, their own personal aesthetic assess their, What they have in the closet. What they brought with them. And then maybe have an adventure.

Jeanina: Exactly. If they will assess what’s in the closet and how they can use it for, or even use it differently. So they, they, you can build a different image with what you already have.

Jeanina: You just have to look at it with new eyes and an open eyes. But if they are ready and many people when they move, they’re ready to buy new things to add. They just don’t know exactly where to shop if it’s not a big, a big brand that is already universally known but they’ve, if they are looking for something more personal, they don’t know exactly where to buy and they need that person that would say, Oh, this is a great boutique.

Jeanina: I know this place in the pipe. I know this place in outside. There’s a, Do a small designer, Japanese designer store and I know this and I think you would love it and we should go there at least for you to experience something. Many times I go with people to stores not for them to buy and I have this feeling from the start that they would not be open to buy that but I challenge them to try on new things so they can see themselves in a new perspective or to know exactly what they dislike.

Jeanina: I find that many times we don’t take the time to find out exactly what we dislike or like. We wear some pieces in our closet a lot and some others we don’t. Almost there are pieces in people’s closet that are not worn at all. Yeah.

Jeanina: So why is that?

Mickelle: When we hold on to certain things. Yeah, yeah. So I once had someone, a friend that said my mother once told me I don’t look good in black.

Mickelle: So I always wear navy blue. And I thought, wow, then when you were a little girl, you’re holding on to this, this one comment. And that’s, I think a little bit of the opportunity of moving to a new country is to be able to shed, shed, shed. If you want that experience. And so you help people walk through that.

Jeanina: Yep. Yep.

Mickelle: And it mirrors your own experience. You’ve done it to yourself. Yeah.

Jeanina: Yeah. Exactly. I think it’s easy, easier for me to empathize and to, to put myself in their shoes because I’ve already done it myself.

Mickelle: And so you’re like a style therapist.

Jeanina: I think, yeah, styling is a lot of therapy. It’s, it’s a big part of it is discovering someone.

Jeanina: And after that we, we go to the

Mickelle: closet. Yeah. Yeah. It makes sense. It makes sense. And so. When you work with someone, that’s kind of the process. So you kind of help them assess that go to their closet and then show them because when I buy things here, sometimes at like a vintage market or a antique store or something, I find it’s part of my Amsterdam story.

Mickelle: Like it’s who I am here right now. And I, I like to not always because of course I wear everyday clothes as well, but like when I buy a piece, I really think of it as something that I’m going to. Have as part of my story and

Mickelle: I think that’s a really fun way of expressing. Yeah.

Mickelle: Yeah. So so when I go back home to my family or to when I go here or when they come to visit me sometimes, they’ll say, oh, and then I’ll go back to visit them and they’ll have picked up something here and they’ll say, oh, this is from Amsterdam.

Mickelle: This is part of a story we had together. And so I think there’s a lot of soul in what you buy and how you spend your money and what you put on your body. Exactly. And I think you share that.

Jeanina: Yeah, we absolutely I believe in putting intention, you know, in what we buy and I, I see the, the closet, our wardrobe, like, I always say to people, curate your closet.

Jeanina: Act like, like it’s an art gallery and you’re paying attention to everything you, you bring in. If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no. You’re welcome. Bring things that you really love that you feel attracted to it that it speaks to you. It says something you It’s not just I need a pair of jeans. I need to fill this gap and no go more into depth with Everything you’re bringing Home for several reasons that it will reflect you in the world when you’re putting it on.

Jeanina: It’s your money. We all work very hard for our money. So if it’s, even if it’s easy money with why invest our money in pieces that are, you know, It gonna last us, I dunno, two months. We are not gonna serve us well, are not gonna tell our, tell our story. Well why do that? And also sustainability reasons.

Jeanina: It’s something that I, I feel the need to, to do the right things in this direction. And I, I, I, I believe stylists can have a, a good, they have, I, I’m. Feeling tempted to say we have a duty in this sense to not just encourage people to buy and to buy and to change their wardrobes. Of course, it’s, it’s financially, it would be much more convenient for me to go and change someone’s closet every six months and to go shopping with them because that brings me money.

Jeanina: But at the same time, I feel like I have a responsibility best that what, what is, how is this going to look in the environment is. This fabric gonna be here 200 years after you buy it, then you have to own that decision and think at least a few seconds about it.

Mickelle: And I think that you’re having that outsized impact that you mentioned.

Mickelle: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a political statement in a way and not political and like, but you wanted to become a politician. So you saw your outsized impact you could have on individuals and you’re bringing that into the space now. So

Jeanina: you’re not saying

Mickelle: don’t buy it. You’re saying consider it.

Jeanina: Consider it. And many people say it’s fair to say that to people that maybe they don’t for something else.

Jeanina: And my, my view on the thing is the more you have and you afford better things, the more responsible you should be with what you’re buying. I’m not talking to a single mother that she’s putting bread on the table and she can only afford that fast fashion item. And that’s a necessity for her. The reality is the, and the reports say that most of the fast fashion items and really, and even in that you can have better picks than others.

Jeanina: You can look at the fabrics, you can look at the cuts, you can look that it’s, there are no threads hanging and you can make really great. Picks from, from that area too, but the reality is that, and the reports show that the majority of very bad, fast fashion, very, very bad brands are bought actually by people with very high, high income that are trying to have a new outfit every week and not by, and it’s very unfair to put the responsibility on, but it’s the, the poor that buy from that kind of fashion because they don’t have other, no.

Jeanina: Actually, it’s the rest of the people that have the income to invest in. And that’s so interesting.

Mickelle: Wow. I did not realize that. So you’re not like, I’m not shaming you

Jeanina: for

Mickelle: anyone.

Jeanina: There is no place for, for shaming and in style and in fashion, or I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty. We are, we are entitled to, we have the right to make mistakes.

Jeanina: We have the right to make our, to change our minds. We have the right to decide when something is necessary. and to change it and bring another piece. We, we are humans and fashion and style it’s about feeling good and and wellness almost. And it’s not about shame and guilt. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Jeanina: But at the same time, I recommend to people to be intentional and to be and bring a bit more awareness in this process of buying and changing things.

Mickelle: And so you work with women. For their closets and also special events. What about men?

Jeanina: I do work with men. I’ve, I would love to have more men clients. I find that sometimes they are a bit more scared of this process than women and women are more open to it, where maybe that’s, you know, That was my experience so far, but I would definitely love to work more with men.

Mickelle: Yeah. And I think men, I have this story of my, I have a little boy, he’s 12 now, but when he was like seven or eight we were going to buy school clothes for all the kids and he has two younger sisters and he went to the store in the U S this was in the U S but he walked into the store to buy the clothes and he saw the men’s, the little boy section and then I’m putting my together.

Mickelle: It was very small. And then the The girl’s section was like twice as big, and he just started crying and he said, there, this, there’s nothing here. Everything looks the same. And for the girls, there’s so much variety. And so I wonder if that’s how men sometimes feel is there’s not a lot of options. And so maybe with a personal stylist, you can help them.

Mickelle: I,

Jeanina: I believe there is this general feeling that they don’t have enough options and what can I go for? A t shirt and a jean. There is a lot of space for creativity. There, there are a lot of, a lot of men that have impeccable taste and style and,

Mickelle: But there’s somewhere between high style styling and, and like just wearing jeans and a t shirt every day, which is fine.

Mickelle: But there’s something in between that you could express yourself.

Jeanina: Exactly. There is. a lot more space for creativity and self expression, definitely for men too. And I think we are getting better in creating more option for men and creating the space for them to express more, because I believe the styling process, it’s, it’s It’s a very vulnerable journey and many times men are not open to be that vulnerable to in front of someone else, especially in front of another woman.

Jeanina: I don’t know if in front of a man they would be more open to it. I doubt that too, but I believe this is why they are a bit more reluctant to, to the process. But when you move to a new city, what a great time to, to add new pieces and to change a bit,

Mickelle: especially a place as flamboyant as here where you can be yourself.

Mickelle: Don’t wear dark glasses, but you can wear other

Jeanina: things. Definitely. You can see it on the streets of Amsterdam that tourists, when they come here, they feel they have all, they express themselves in so many ways. and you can see a lot of outfits that really stand out. You can see a lot of men playing in this area of combining masculine and feminine pieces and mixing them together.

Jeanina: So I think Amsterdam is definitely a space that invites to, to freedom of expression and it holds the space for everyone to be themselves. Yeah. And

Mickelle: so when you see Like you, let’s say Paris, Bucharest, Amsterdam, we, they all have kind of a, I wanna say like a uniform in a way. Mm.

Mickelle: Yeah. So how would you describe the Amsterdam?

Mickelle: Like just on the street, what you see all the time? How would you describe it?

Jeanina: I would say sometimes it depends on age group. Of course it does. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And neighborhood I

Mickelle: and neighborhood.

Jeanina: Yeah, that’s true. Yeah. Yeah, a lot. I, I, I feel like. The Amsterdam uniform would be a baggier pair of jeans.

Jeanina: With a white t shirt, some necklaces, and a very oversized type of blazer. Maybe the gazelle, or trainers at the feet, and that would be it. Maybe some type, and vintage is so important in Amsterdam. A lot of the very cool girls, they are wearing oversized blazers, but they are not new, they are just men.

Jeanina: Vintage blazers and that makes it even more amazing to see and to watch and I feel that is comfortable on the bike It has certain edge to it. It’s very cool. I believe this and this would be the thing that you see most often and in this Younger type of people, young, it’s, it has a younger feeling to it, but then you, you can see the more classical Amsterdam, the, the super well cut blazers.

Jeanina: Fitted to the, to the body. You can see the classical palazzo band when you go more in the south of the city. And the, the ladies are absolutely impact elegant there. Work on the herron graft or Kaiser grass, the streets that are, the, the canals with basically the most expensive houses in Amsterdam. Let’s, let’s put it straight and you can see elegance as, as.

Jeanina: It’s impeccable. It’s amazing. You also have a mix of them. And also you have all these people that come from all around the world. This is why I believe it’s harder to say there’s an Amsterdam uniform than it seems. It’s easier to say there’s a Bucharest uniform or there’s a Paris uniform, but Amsterdam is so diverse.

Jeanina: There are people from all over the world. There are ethnic influences in the clothing and you can see them. So I I would say above all, diversity is the uniform in Amsterdam.

Mickelle: Yeah. Come as you are.

Jeanina: Yeah.

Mickelle: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I’ve noticed, I’ve noticed that as well when I’ve also noticed less of a difference between young and old.

Mickelle: Yeah. So I think people my age or older, I’m kind of mid age and I’m not young, but I, I don’t feel shy about wearing something young where, and I’ve seen older women older than me and men older than me that are not afraid to dress the same as their 20 year old counterparts. Yeah. And I think that’s a really interesting notion.

Mickelle: And the States, I don’t feel like it’s that way as much maybe, and maybe in

Mickelle: your country, maybe not. There’s like more of a divide. Yeah,

Jeanina: a divide between age groups. Yeah.

Mickelle: Yeah. So I really love that. Okay. So when you and I have done this, we want. We want, I want people to know that they can change their personal style.

Mickelle: They can they’re going to change on the inside and even how they sound right. They might speak another language where there are. So I really want people to have this awareness around this, this idea of cocooning, becoming something new and allowing that process. And then they can call you if they want consultant in that, in that, That face.

Mickelle: So when we talk about the team of people that you need to move here, a lot of times we talk, we think about like the housing agent, maybe an immigration lawyer, maybe a moving company or something, but then what, then when you’re building your life, the team you need around you are different. And I think if you want to include and also embrace the personal style evolution and do it in a way that really benefits the city benefits yourself and gives you these, these pieces that will.

Mickelle: Bring soul into your life. I think that you’re a good person to, to consult with. So I hope, I hope so. Yeah. So how do people, how can people follow you? How can people get a hold of you?

Jeanina: They can find me on my Instagram and DM me. And I always say that I’m very open to people having just one question and not going fully with the styling.

Jeanina: experience or journey. I, and I, I truly believe I say that with authentic authenticity and truth behind it. I, if someone has a question and, Hey, do you have a brand of raincoats to recommend me? Of course, just DM me. I will answer to to anyone that needs it. piece of advice. So they can find me on my Instagram.

Jeanina: And they can, I have a website with all the, the services that are more complex and what they can choose from, from the, from there if they feel the need of a more complete experience. Yeah.

Mickelle: And do you work virtually as

Jeanina: well?

Mickelle: So if someone, I do,

Jeanina: I do, I still have people from Bucharest that I work with and I do it virtually.

Jeanina: So I, I do it both, both ways, either virtually or, or in Amsterdam, face to face.

Mickelle: And then what’s your Instagram? Can you tell everyone?

Jeanina: It’s Jeanina. sgurie.

Mickelle: We’ll spell it out. We’ll spell it out. I know it’s a complicated name. We didn’t talk about your name and I want to add it on here. So tell us what your name translates to in Armenian.

Jeanina: I don’t know exactly, the word would be, it’s a verb, it comes from a verb and it would be to scratch, but not to scratch like when you have itch on your hand, it’s to scratch violently someone. So my name is basically a sentence, Jeanina

Mickelle: scratches

Jeanina: violently, scratches someone. Oh wow. Yeah. So, and you had

Mickelle: to learn to like that

Jeanina: name.

Jeanina: I had to learn to like it. In Romania, we have this tradition. If you have good grades in school, at the end of every school year, you get this little crown of flowers and you get a diploma and they call you on a stage to get to receive that. And I had, I always had good results in school. And I remember, remember as a kid, they would call my name and I would have to go on the stage to claim my, my diploma and my, my little.

Jeanina: flower crown. And I was like, Oh God, it’s my name. All the school is going to hear it. And it’s so weird. And I, I felt almost ashamed about it because it was odd and different than everyone else. And I was always, you know, I was wishing for a very common name, like Ionescu is a very common name in Romania and I was like, why can’t my name be Ionescu or Popescu?

Jeanina: But then I had to, I’ve learned to like it so much. It’s, it’s something about me. It’s mine. It’s so unique. It’s truly, truly mine. And I’ve, I’ve reclaimed that.

Mickelle: That’s really beautiful. And it seems like you have a really strong connection with the women in your life. Yeah. And so that kind of, it pulls through.

Mickelle: Well, thank you so much for sharing that story. I was hoping to do it at the beginning, but I didn’t want to miss it because I think it speaks to this larger thing we do, which is we feel different for some reason and that becomes a thing that. That defines us. It defines us, yeah.

Jeanina: And that is a question I ask my clients and I gave them the time and the space to reflect on that.

Jeanina: What makes you you? What are the little things that define you? Were you born in another culture? Are you obsessed with a certain fashion decade? Do you have a weird name? Do you know, love vintage jewelry? Or going to the market? Or you paint? some type of clothing and you never want to see yourself in it.

Jeanina: What makes you, you, you have, and we together find ways to translate that into clothing. We live in a, in an age where everything gets very the same. I think it’s not particular to our generation, but with internet and social media and everything, it’s, it’s a lot easier to, to equalize everything and to.

Jeanina: the teenager in the US is going to dress exactly like the teenager in Romania. And we are not allowing these individualities to pop up anymore. We don’t create the space for that. So I do try to do that as much as possible with my, my, with the people I work with. Don’t follow trends, follow

Mickelle: within.

Jeanina: Yeah.

Jeanina: To let them. So find out what makes them, them

Mickelle: nice. Okay. Well, everyone can reach out to you. We’ll put your socials below and your website. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for having me. Yeah, of course. Everyone, thank you so much for joining us today on the house of Peregrine podcast.

Mickelle: Please share and like if you love what you hear today and join us in our Website in a membership if you’re in Amsterdam and thank you again for listening. Okay, that’s it for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed our show for the latest insights on living internationally. Join us at houseofperegrine. com to find out how you can connect with our community.

Mickelle: Let’s craft a life story with intention together.