Jennifur Brandt

Bio

Jennifur Brandt was born smack dab in the heart of Hollywood. Her family knew something was weird when all her grandma's false eyelashes kept disappearing. When she was a preteen, dreams of becoming an editrix for Vogue were all a-swirl in her head...so in junior high she started her own Xeroxed fanzine called Pesky Meddling Girls. Word of lipsticked mouth spread quickly about the wacky girl 'zine and soon after stars were subscribing left and right. Anna Sui asked Jennifur to design collaged tee shirts for two of her collections, Hard Copy followed her around on a shopping spree for vintage frocks, she was crowned 'Zine Queen in the premier issue of Teen People, and a casting agent gave her the coveted part in the classic film Clueless as "The nosejob girl." But she knew her dreams had come true when god of all glam rock...Mr. David Bowie, called for an ish. Jennifur now resides with her family (including her cat Tallulah, the Pesky Meddling Mascot), in The Valley...which she finds to be a totally tubular setting for her Pesky Meddling Empire.

Interview

The stars shined on me last week. I got to have a really fun and informative chat with Jennifur Brandt, author of LIFE IS A MOVIE STARRING YOU and editor of the swank 'zine Pesky Meddling Girls. The following is what happens when two twinkly tiara wearers get together --- across the country, over the phone lines, but united in pink glitter lip gloss.

Teenreads: Jennifur, I decided to start off with a kind of fun question. What was the first piece of vintage clothing that you bought for yourself?

JB: I know what it is. It was probably around 1984 and I was obsessed with Cyndi Lauper and the video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" so I made my Mom take me to buy a '50s prom dress that had crinoline underneath and I remember that it had embroidered pink flowers all over it.  

Teenreads: Do you still live with your parents?

JB: Yes, I do.

Teenreads: You mention in Life Is a Movie Starring You that your relationship with them has changed since you were a teenager. Do you have any advice for teen-age girls who might be having problems with their parents?

JB: When I was a teen-ager, I rebelled a lot. I just was convinced that my parents were the un-coolest people on the planet. It didn't hit me until I was around 18; I looked back on how much stuff they had put up with and they still allowed me to go to school and bought me the things I needed. I suddenly thought, "Oh My God, these people have been so supportive of me this whole time and I have been nothing but a total brat to them."
I guess now part of the reason I still live at home is that I am trying to relive those years that I missed with my parents. I was always so angry with them and now I realize that they are really good people who tried their hardest.
Our relationship is much better now. I get to have fun with them and treat them like they are friends. Life is much easier if you just accept who your parents are and not expect them to be like you and not expect them to know wall the things that are happening in pop culture. Its all about acceptance.

Teenreads: About your sister Lizzie, do you have a particularly horrible sibling rivalry anecdote for us?

JB: My sister and I fought like maniacs the entire time we were little. I was the big sister so I always got the cooler presents for Christmas. We were always fighting over toys and beating each other up.  She moved last year to San Francisco to go to college and that was the first time we realized that we liked each other. Now that she moved away, we cry all the time and are really sad about it, but when we were living together in the same house, it was constant war.

Teenreads: How and when did you decide to write a 'zine?

JB: I was obsessed with all different kinds of magazines, mostly fashion, and I really wanted to be a writer but I didn't know how. Also, I loved to do collage art--to cut out pictures from magazines and make my own artwork masterpiece from them.
So I decided to put all those elements together and start doing something that felt like my journal. I started doing stories about all the women that were inspirational to me and stories about whatever emotions I was feeling. Then I.  Xeroxed it on my parent's Xerox machine and gave it to my friends at school. It wasn't until later that I found out that Pesky, Meddling Girls was what you called a fanzine and that there was this whole culture based around them.

Teenreads: Was there any grrrl 'zine out there that was an inspiration to you?

JB: I really read main, big magazines. Sassy was a big influence on me. When you are young, you can take risks. I wasn't thinking "Oh, if I do a magazine it won't be glossy and it won't be sold in supermarkets." I just tried to do it, not realizing mine was done on a Xerox machine and no-one was going to read it. I didn't even think about it. It was just something I had to do.

Mostly, though, I was inspired by the boys I knew and the fanzines they did. those were very macho and about punk rock and very dirty looking, cut and paste in a raw way. I looked at their 'zines and I wanted to do the girl version of that.

Teenreads: How do you feel about being a girl in the 'zine world which has tended to be boy dominated?

JB: I knew that it was an issue because I was surrounded by these boys that knew EVERYTHING about music and a lot about art. I felt I wasn't yet educated, but I knew I wanted to be. So I took a deep breath and said to myself "I'm just going to do this and I don't care what the boys say." I hoped they would think it was cool.
Gender is always a weird thing though. I went to a record store the other day in Hollywood--because I still buy LPs. There was a line of boys, packed in close together, looking at records and they would not let me in to look. It was obvious they were hostile to me being there. As if they were wondering what I could possibly know about rare vinyl. I had to decide to either walk away and be intimidated or push my way in and be as rude as they were being. So I went for the latter.

Teenreads: How did you first start working with Anna Sui?

JB: I had been a huge fan of hers as a teen, even though I couldn't afford any of her clothes. She opened a store in Los Angeles and I used to hang out there, talk to the girls who worked there and put clothes on hold and pretend I was going to buy them. One day I walked in and Anna Sui herself was there. I had an issue of Pesky Meddling Girls in my purse and I handed it to her as she was walking out of the store. I didn't think anything would come of it, I just wanted to give her a copy.
Then, surprise! She started sending me postcards. Anna said she loved the 'zine and it was an inspiration to her. So we became pen pals. Every time I got a postcard, I would put Christmas lights around it and put it on my wall. We've become friends over the years as I have grown up and become more mature.

Teenreads: Do you have a piece of advice for fashionistas in training?

JB: Don't put any limits on yourself. That's the most important thing. If you have an idea for something you want to do and it hasn't been done before, like a dress out of doll heads, just do it. Don't read fashion magazines and try to do exactly what is the current trend. Just be artistic and do exactly what your dream is. Once you start being yourself and putting your art out there, you will gather a base of people who will be fans of yours. You can become anything you want to be that way like I did with my fanzine.

Teenreads: What about girls who don't want to be glamour pusses? Can girls who don't like to dress up and do all that be Pesky Meddling Girls?

JB: Being pesky and meddling is all about having an incredible lust for life and
wanting to be a better person and feel good about yourself. The words "pesky" and "meddling" both generally mean nosey and curious. I take them as positive traits. I have always been nosey and curious about educating myself, knowing more and wanting to find out the truth. Even girls who don't want to wear tiaras or are more into sports can be pesky because its all about wanting to find out who you TRULY are and not being afraid to be that person.

Teenreads: What fashion/make-up items are you loving right now?

JB: I love any make-up by Anna Sui because a) I can afford it and b) she isn't afraid to put really crazy colors in her line. She has green glitter lip stick and amazing cyber pink baby doll blush. Its very theatrical and I love that. I also love going to beauty supply stores and finding the great 99 cent lip liner.

I tend to only use products that are natural and not tested on animals, so I love Origins. I am obsessed with their milk bath. And I love Revlon mascara.

Teenreads: Name 3 Pesky meddling Girl celebrities and tell us why they are so good.

JB: The first one I always think of is Drew Barrymore. She is a pesky girl because she has gone through so much in her life and still is innocent, not jaded. She is really impressive, someone who is always open to new things and doesn't have an attitude. Drew is on a quest for knowledge which is very cool. Also, she is breaking down doors for women in Hollywood; she is becoming a powerful producer and making tons of movies.

I especially love old Hollywood people and I love Greta Garbo because she lived her life just the way she wanted to live it. The truth is no-one rally knows about her life because she was so mysterious and guarded. She had obviously more important things in her life than making films.

The third person, a muse to me, is Diana Vreeland, editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue from the '30s to the '70s. She was eventually fired because she didn't want to follow fashion. She was too innovative; she wanted to do the opposite of what everyone else did. Diana didn't follow the rules ever.

Teenreads: What is up next for you?

JB: It was always my dream to have a Pesky Meddling Girls empire. Not only did I want to write book, but I am obsessed with designing. It was my dream as a little girl to have my own fashion line. I am actually coming out with a clothing line for 'tweens. And I am doing shoes and purses too.

Teenreads: Why did you choose to do something for 'tweens?

JB: I could have done it for Juniors or older girls but I remember shopping as a 13 year old and even later and not being able to find a single thing I wanted to wear. The only exceptions were wacky things or vintage clothing. The truth is, not everyone across the country has a good vintage store or wants to wear vintage. I wanted to give all those girls who shop at big chain stores something cool to wear. Something they aren't seeing or getting. Its for girl's who DO care about looking different, for girls who read old books and magazines.    

--- Interviewed by Lucy Burns

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