Street: When did you start getting into fashion?
Gena Basha: I really started to get into it during my sophomore year of high school when I started working at this consignment store in D.C. It sounds corny, but being around all these nice clothes all the time, and not even just clothes from this era, like a vintage Chanel bag from twenty years ago, or a YSL coat from thirty years ago, opened my eye more to fashion,. My high school didn’t have any fashion things, so [Penn] was the first place where there were explicit places to get involved with fashion. I do the Walk here.
Street: What are your favorite stores downtown to shop at?
GB: Aoki is a good one. I honestly really like Retrospect Vintage on South Street, and Philly AIDS Thrift is so much fun. You can find anything there.
Street: What’s the best thrift item you’ve ever found?
GB: Probably my YSL coat. I wear it every day and I feel like I would never find it anywhere else. It’s one–of–a–kind.
Street: What’s the biggest steal you’ve ever gotten?
GB: I have these Stella McCartney platform heels with this clear plastic material. They’re from one of her collections in the past few years. They retail at like $1,000, and I got them for around $300. I would never spend that much on shoes, but they’re perfect and I’m never giving them away.
Street: How would you describe your style?
GB: I would say Annie Hall, because it’s cold and we’re on the East Coast. I like her boyish style with the hats and the long coats and the button down. It’s an ironic spin on preppy, because the last thing I’d ever want to be is preppy.
Street: How much would someone have to pay you to wear a Canada Goose coat?
GB: Well, the price of the jacket, basically. The reason why I’m so turned off by those jackets is that you’re paying like $800 to wear a jacket in forty–degree weather and those jackets are made for arctic temperatures, or Canada weather. (Ed. Note: Snapchat meteorology begs to differ.)
Street: Have you ever had any instances where your style has gotten you into good or bad situations?
GB: If you have pink hair, you don’t even have to try to be cool anymore. People are just like, ‘Hey, you have pink hair, you’re cool!’ But it can also get annoying. You get clouded by this physical depiction of you. I’m "That Girl With Pink Hair."
Street: There are two types of people at Penn...
GB: Those who think eating food from Mark’s Café is acceptable and those who don’t.
Street: What’s your process of waking up in the morning and getting dressed?
GB: Some days I’ll wake up and be like, “Fuck this,” and grab the closest thing I have. Other days, I stay in bed for a few minutes and think about my outfit. A lot of the times, what happens is you can get away with having a shitty outfit on if you just have a nice coat. I can just wear a stupid sweatshirt and jeans, and if I have my YSL coat over it, that’s what everyone else sees.
Street: You’re studying cognitive science, but do you see yourself incorporating fashion into that?
GB: On a grand scale, it’s more of a hobby. I feel like there are so many stupid standards in offices, like you need to wear a black pantsuit every day. So I would incorporate fashion in my work by just rolling into the office looking fly.
