{"id":3594,"date":"2017-03-08T16:35:15","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T21:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=3594"},"modified":"2017-03-23T14:47:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T18:47:40","slug":"blogger-presents-unique-fashion-view","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=3594","title":{"rendered":"Blogger presents unique fashion view"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted March 8, 2017<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By LINGYUE ZHENG<\/p>\n

\u201cYay, from one Cane to another! I\u2019ll be honored to work with you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Within five minutes after I sent out an email asking Jana Carrero if I could interview her, I received her confirmation with a delightful tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me know what I can do to help out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later on, we agreed to the time and location to meet up in a surprisingly smooth manner. While I was typing \u201cSee you then, thank you,\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Blogger Jana Carrero shows one of her fashion looks on a roof garage in Miami Design District (Photo courtesy of Yesi Laver Flores).<\/p><\/div>\n

I could not help but thinking: Jana Carrero didn\u2019t sound like a fashion blogger who had around 17,000 followers and various style sponsors including Sunglasses Hut, VSCO and Adidas. Too friendly. Two feet on the ground. Too good to be true.<\/p>\n

Many fashion bloggers portrayed fashion so high-end with luxury outfits, but Jana Carrero had her unique style. She embraced variety and naturalism. Most importantly, Carrero\u2019s fashion always complemented the look of Miami and went along with her beautiful storytelling and that made her real.<\/p>\n

Carrero was graduated from University of Miami in 2007 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in motion pictures and she used to be a DJ at UM radio station WVUM-FM 90.5. After graduation, she studied at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York from 2008 to 2010 and was graduated with a certificate in fashion styling.<\/p>\n

After participating and coordinating various fashion events, Carrero started her own fashion blog OJ AND CIGS and working as a senior manager at Miami Social Marketing.<\/p>\n

In the Mezzanine lobby of Mint Condominium in downtown Miami, a shoulder-length silver hair woman in a baby blue down-to-heels dress wore a big smile. She seemed smaller in real life than on Instagram, but her rosy lips and lit-up smile radiated luster as bright as on those posted photos, but warmer and more welcoming.<\/p>\n

Carrero started blogging in 2012 and endowed a unique name to her blog, OJ AND CIGS.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day I entered my apartment and it smelled like a mixed fragrance of my morning fresh-squeezed orange juice and the neighbor’s cigarettes. The combination of orange freshness and smoky heaviness awakens me and I think it goes along with my style: swing between extreme relaxing to meticulously classy,\u201d Carrero said.<\/p>\n

The reason why Carrero stood out among bloggers was how she defined fashion, just as how she named her blog. Unlike many bloggers who only portrayed high-end fashion products or showing their perfect bodies, her fashion style was not monotonous. Carrero was not a skinny model, nor a blogger trying portraying a Tiffany fantasy. She sometimes dressed up to an impeccable princess, and sometimes dressed down to a tomboy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFashion is subjective. It is not rigid or fixed. I choose my daily armors based on how I feel,\u201d she said in a cheerful voice in the elevator up to her apartment. The lounge was under construction and Carrero offered her apartment as our alternative interview venue. \u201cAs long as you don\u2019t mind if my boyfriend and our dog are present,\u201d Carrero laughed.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jana Carrero crosses a street during her recent visit to Havana (Photo courtesy of Yesi Laver Flores).<\/p><\/div>\n

On Carrero\u2019s social media, bold colorway, mini-skirt, short bob haircut and this was the modernist style.<\/p>\n

Pink shirts, jeans and a pair of pink sneakers and socks and that was the style of a girl who lived next doors and always gave you a warm smile whenever you greeted her.<\/p>\n

Strolling in long Bohemia dress on an unknown Cuban streets, that was dreamy and elegant.<\/p>\n

\u201cFashion is also an expression of arts and should not be deprived for whatever reason. I maintain my fashion in an accessible manner because I want people to have a sense of beauty is not only exclusive to certain population,\u201d Carrero said with a smile while on the elevator to her apartment.<\/p>\n

Entering Carrero\u2019s apartment, I immediately noticed the extraordinary tidiness. Two parallel bookshelves on the left wall, categories with fashion magazines and books including some tourism guides, books about photography, poetry and books about models including Kate Moss.<\/p>\n

We sat next to a dining table and looked out of the window. It was 34th<\/sup> floor and high enough to avoid many visual blocks. One could easily glimpse the beautiful skylines and the peaceful Biscayne Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read, go to museums and galleries when I have time. Listening to music is also a way to refresh.Those are my inspirational sources,\u201d Carrero said and took out her cellphone to show me photos during the trip to Havana last April.<\/p>\n

An exotic country with colorful walls and cars. Deserted antique buildings stood peacefully under sunshine. Kids laughing. Laundry hanging sluggishly on a thin line and vast ocean. In every photo, Carrero seemed alive and communicated with her background. It looked magical.<\/p>\n

Being fascinating and impeccable are what audience expect to see from bloggers, yet there is the other side. When fashion bloggers presented the elegance of their life all about wearing gorgeous outfits, traveling worldwide and taking photos, they never presented the behind-the-scene when they experienced sweat and fatigue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hot to death. We needed to run under the heat for those shoots needed by Sunglass Hut. Carrero had to constantly take care of her make-up and we shot the whole day and she looked flawless in each photo,\u201d said Yesi Laver Flores, Carrero\u2019s photographer who had been working with her for two years. Her long pink hair was flowing in the breeze. \u201cWe were exhausted and dehydrated in the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very unforgettable memory,\u201d Carrero said, nodding her head. \u201cI think one way I can keep my inspiration and innovation is keeping doing things different and new.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Jana styled and starred in short film \u201cAll Seeing Eyes\u201d written and directed by Andrea Garcia Marquez (another UM graduate student majoring in motion pictures), Carrero recalled that they stayed in Wynwood for the whole day and waited for the \u201cgolden light\u201d so her face could be lit up under the orange sunlight. She confessed sometimes taking photos could be a little bit \u201cadventurous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jana Carrero enjoys a moment in Havana (Photo courtesy of Yesi Laver Flores).<\/p><\/div>\n

When she took a series of photos at the roof parking lot at Miami Design District, security guards came up and requested them to leave because they needed a permit to take photos. Jana and her photographer started packing up the equipment and then rushed to set up after security people left and took three minutes finishing photo-taking two outfits.<\/p>\n

\u201cJana will not complain a word during filming,\u201d said Andrea Garcia Marquez, who graduated in 2016 with a master\u2019s degree in motion picture. \u201cStrict with herself, caring for other crew members and always creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this introspective film, Carrero played a young woman who rediscovered the meaning of life and love after awakening to find her body covered in eyes. A\u00a0poetic take on the old adage\u00a0\u201cto look at life differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJana spends a lot of time on her blog and preparations for the contents, but she just does not realize that because fashion is her passion. She loves it and she is gifted in visual storytelling. Her storytelling and vibes help emotion come through her photos.\u201d said Gil Matos, Carrero\u2019s boyfriend and, in her words, life coach.<\/p>\n

He works as Admissions Director for New York Film Academy and helped Carrero with several aspects of the blog. He shrugged and laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only frustration I have is too many of her outfits occupying our wardrobe,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever be intimidated by competition and remember why you are doing it; pave the way for yourself and be authentic; Getting out of comfort zone and opening your eyes to see.\u201d Jana said that was her attitude in pursuing fashion as her lifelong profession. \u201cYou got to be brave and innovative in the world of arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 4 p.m., Carrero apologized for she had to leave for a street shoot and grabbed a huge grey bag and her sunglasses.<\/p>\n

Basking in the afternoon weak, warm and orange sunlight, this busy lady standing straight waiting for her photographer to come and take her to work. The colors on her were dramatic: silver hair, rosy lips, blue dress, yet they constituted a very pleasing photo. It all of a sudden resonated with the orange juice and cigarettes story and how she started her blog.<\/p>\n

On the day of interview, she wrote in OJ AND CIGS:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for the sake of transparency, I admit my life is this thing made up of contradictions:\u00a0fraught with insecurities and a touch of pride, ADHD tendencies peppered with OCD, and yes, paying off debt while balancing a mean shopping habit. But the contradiction that I am actually totally okay with is being somewhat of a creative cynic who\u2019s fond of dreaming and escapism, yet totally aware of the realness of life.\u00a0And thank you for listening, reading, escaping or thinking with me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted March 8, 2017 By LINGYUE ZHENG \u201cYay, from one Cane to another! I\u2019ll be honored to work with you!\u201d Within five minutes after I sent out an email asking Jana Carrero if I could interview her, I received her … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":19,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3594","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3594"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3644,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3594\/revisions\/3644"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}