Clown Core 101: How To Make Fashion Fun Again with Gabe ‘GG’ Gabennesch

Fashion these days isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes it can feel like a bit of a circus, and not in the good way – with the conman corporate ringmaster, egos as big as a strongman, and women constantly treading a tightrope, performing for the eyes of onlookers. But if you peek between curtains, and find your way through the Hall of Mirrors, you’ll discover it’s critical to curate your own niche and find a welcoming community under the big top that is fashion. 

In our conversation with Gabe ‘GG’ Gabennesch, they describe how to make styling silly again, and expressing yourself without fear of being perceived as a freakshow. Based in Ohio, GG is a fashion stylist, freelance photographer, jewelry maker, and owner of Secondhand Circus, a second hand clothing store. If you’ve ever met GG, in all of their nostalgic, maximalist glory, you’d immediately come to see that part of their identity, personal style and branding happens to fall under the umbrella that is “clowncore” for the last 3-4 years.  

Although the style aesthetic can be misinterpreted and defined in many ways, GG cuts to the joyous core of it all – “You can break rules and do the unexpected and even become a new character every time you get dressed.” 

Fashion is not as serious as it’s being made out to be. Beneath the polka dots and puffed sleeves, we’re all still complex, multi-faceted, flawed human beings. Even if you have a dress code in one societal routine (i.e. work, religion, school) that doesn’t mean you can express yourself authentically, however that may look in all other facets of life. The beauty to be found in fashion is the same in the intricacies of humanity; it is intersecting and ever-evolving. You can paint your face like a literal clown one day, and wear all black the next. You can make crazy mix-matched earrings, and feel just as confident wearing a gray pant suit to work the next day. You can even wear it all at the same time. 

After all, being the fashion freak show isn’t so bad – in fact, you’re probably the coolest person in the room for boldly showing up as yourself. GG is just one example of that. 

Alexa Hill: What inspired you to get involved in the fashion industry?

Gabe 'GG' Gabennesch: I’ve always had a love for dressing up, and grew up being obsessed with my moms vintage collection, but it wasn’t until I started getting feedback from others during and after college that I started to think about pursuing it professionally. I obviously loved what I wore, but hearing others say they loved my style and wanted me to style photoshoots and other projects they did was an eye opening moment that I could actually pursue fashion. It also made me want to push more boundaries and just get even weirder with my personal expression.

AH: How long have you been a stylist / jewelry maker? 

GG: I’ve always made jewelry for myself, ever since I was a kid, because I grew up with a very artistic mom who really pushed us to do lots of crafts and I always kind of wanted things we couldn’t afford so I decided I would just make them myself. I started selling jewelry a few years ago, after getting lots of compliments on the jewelry I wore and people asking where they could get it. I started a secondhand clothing and handmade jewelry shop last year which has pushed my creativity even further with jewelry. I’ve also been a stylist for the last few years, mostly working on small projects and doing unpaid work. When I started my shop I decided to start selling style bundles and within the last year have gotten more serious about styling professionally. I’m now going to be working with Caroline Kingsbury and hope to have more celebrity clients in the future!

AH: What is your creative process behind your jewelry-making? Behind styling for projects?

GG: I love a good theme. I usually start with a theme or vision and build off that with both my jewelry and styling. From there I kind of piece things together based on color and silhouette, always making sure to have some element of fun or quirky. I love to look at my progress and then ask “okay now how can I add more?” because it’s all about “maximalizing” for me. I want there to always be an element of uniqueness and maybe even something unexpected. I love a good shock value. 

AH: If you had to describe your approach to fashion in three words, what would they be? 

GG: If I had to narrow it down to three words, I’d say, healing inner child.

AH: How would you describe clown-core style? 

GG: I would describe clowncore as colorful and fun. There tends to be a lot of bright colors and fun, big silhouettes. It’s very playful and can encompass a large variety of ideas within the style. You can do a darker, more goth approach, a subtle approach, or a very loud, maximalist, rainbow, balls to the walls outfit, and anything in between. Stripes and polka dots are used a lot, as well as big collars and things like puffy sleeves or bottoms. It also gives a lot of room for very fun makeup to complete the looks. 

AH: Are there any misrepresentations or misconceptions about this style/niche?

GG: I think a lot of people perceive clowncore to be weird and off putting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely weird, but in a very good way. I don’t think people realize how much it lets you be unserious and free. There really are no rules.

AH: How can someone make their styling / personal style more fun? 

GG: I think everything becomes fun when you’re doing it to feed your inner child. You have to stop taking yourself seriously and stop worrying about how others might perceive you and just do what really makes you happy deep down. I know that my younger self would look at me and think I was the coolest person ever and that’s what really makes it fun for me. 

AH: How can someone slowly experiment with clown-core styling or accessories? 

GG: I would slowly start playing with color and shape if you want to experiment with clowncore. Oversized pants and sleeves, cuts that you might typically consider unflattering because it’s bigger. I would also consider adding either more accessories or accessories that are more funky and large!

AH: What is a go-to accessory for you? Why? 

GG: My go-to accessory is always a big pair of earrings. I LOVE earrings and have quite a fun collection. I have anything from giant Fanta cans, toy cars and mini crocs to a Barbie head and torso (my favorite of my earring creations). They can really elevate a look and just make it so much more playful. 

AH: What do you love most about fashion? What keeps fashion FUN for you?

GG: What I love most about fashion is that you can play around with so much and really customize an outfit for you. I never want to walk in a room and look like someone else there, I want to be my own, unique individual, and fashion lets me do that. You can break rules and do the unexpected and even become a new character every time you get dressed. I love to change it up, I get bored easily and also have an appreciation for so many different styles, and fashion allows me to create a new look all the time.

-

Written by Alexia Hill

Directed and Photographed by Mark Bluemle @barks.mindd

MUA: Marlie Capuano @marlie_kaye

MUA: Emma Oviedo @emmaovi_

Styled by KateLynn Herrera @katelynn.herrera

Movement Director: Jai LePrince @jai.leprince

PA: Marlie Capuano

Talent: Tess Kaufmann @tesskaufmann

Talent: Emily McManus @emily.mcmanus_

Talent: KateLynn Herrera

Talent: Jai LePrince

Painted Faces, Real Power: The Transformative World of Drag and the Strength of Community

There’s something electric about sitting across from a drag queen at the Stonewall Inn.

The disco ball spins above us, casting flecks of light on the bar’s worn brick walls—walls that have held decades of laughter, rebellion, and chosen family. I’m here with Crystal Marie Tyler, a local NYC drag performer who somehow manages to be both larger than life and deeply grounded. Her presence is commanding, sure—but it’s her warmth, the way she speaks about drag like it’s both armor and art, that sticks with me.

As a gay creative in this city, this moment means something. Interviewing someone like Crystal in this place—the Stonewall Inn—isn’t just exciting. It’s emotional. This is where people like us first stood up and said, “No more.” And now, years later, I’m here, phone in hand, talking with someone who’s still carrying that torch—just with a little more rhinestone.

JL: Do you feel as though performing and being in drag has kind of given you a lot of confidence or some kind of personality boost outside of drag?

CMT: Yeah, absolutely. When I started it, like I was in college and I was just getting used to like, ’oh, it's just a fantasy. 
I'm like a kid that wants to pretend and play drag.’ Then at the end of college, I'm like, oh, this is a profitable skill then I can really run with and make a lot of connections and network and make a lot of friends in that way. And as I move forward, it's mostly just about the community, and that's what brings the best in you.”

Drag is magic. But not in the way people always think. Yes, there are wigs and lashes and death drops that make you scream, but it’s more than that. Drag transforms people from the inside out. For many in our community, it’s the first time they’ve been seen—really seen—for who they are. Or maybe even for who they’ve always dreamed of becoming.

Crystal talks about that transformation like it’s sacred. Because it is.

JL: What would you consider the most transformative aspect of drag?

CMT: Anyone that touches it and really experiments with it often comes out of wanting to learn more about themselves.  Sometimes it comes from feeling very isolated. And the most important thing about that is you try it and then you're not alone because it's a whole community of people that also started at that point.

And then there’s the community. That loud, loving, messy, beautiful drag family that shows up night after night. You find your people in this world, sometimes when you least expect it. And they don’t just cheer for you—they see you. They push you, protect you, and love you in ways the outside world often doesn’t know how to.

JL: Where should aspiring artists go to find these communities?

CMT: The spaces that are really just all about the freedom and that you feel the most comfortable in, you will be the most drawn to. And I mean like we're standing right here where I followed my heart and I always wanted to perform here, and now I'm Mx. Fan Favorite. So.

I look around Stonewall and I think about the queens who were here before us—the ones who kicked open the doors so we could even have this conversation. What would they think, seeing us here now? Would they be proud? I hope so. I think about that a lot. How being queer in this city can feel lonely one minute, and then suddenly, you’re at a drag show, surrounded by strangers who feel like home.

By the time our interview wraps, I don’t want to leave. Not because the lights are pretty (they are), or because Crystal’s makeup is hypnotizing (it is), but because in this tiny, historic room, I feel like I’ve reconnected with something I didn’t even realize I needed.

Drag isn’t just performance. It’s protest. It’s therapy. It’s community. It’s survival. And it’s joy.

And for people like Crystal—and people like me—it’s proof that we’re not just here. We belong here.

Written and interviewed by Jai LePrince @jai.leprince

Talent: Crystal Marie Tyler @crystal.tyler.nyc

Photography by Mark Bluemle @barks.mindd 

Production and Direction by Sophia Querrazzi @sophiamq_14 

PA, Movement Direction by Jai LePrince 

An Interview with a Circus Performer

“At first, I totally just saw it as a hobby and never intended for it to be a career”, confessed Rianna Brennan, circus artist and coach, who picked up a pair of stilts one day in middle school and has climbed to new heights every day since.  When you enroll in a circus camp for fun at 12 years old, in all probability, you don’t anticipate that your future will include teaching one of the world’s highest-paid supermodels to fly trapeze in stilettos for the cover of a magazine—or having to do so yourself on set of a commercial for a reputable shoe brand—but this life, I suppose you have to learn to expect the unexpected—life’s a circus after all.

When I was a little girl, my parents took me to see Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. I couldn’t tell you much about it because I fell asleep. Falling asleep in the presence of such a lively performance might seem unfathomable, but the list of other places I’ve fallen asleep includes firework shows, concerts, the middle of Magic Kingdom at Disney World during its peak season, and broadway plays (including Les Misérables—where I turned around at 5 years old and told my parents the show was making me “les miserable” before resting my head on the armrest and falling asleep). This limited experience at Cirque du Soleil (which I thought was called “Circus Olé” at my early age) and my love for “Circus” by Britney Spears are the only examples I have of coming close to being immersed in the circus world. Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to visit Circus Academy New York and sit down with circus artist and coach, Rianna Brennan—who took a leap of faith by agreeing to chat with me and familiarized me with all that circus artists like herself have to juggle.

Lucy Geldziler: So you’re a circus performer and a coach? What types of circus artistry do you practice and teach? Is it mainly trapeze, other forms?

Rianna Brennan: With flying trapeze, I work all the positions. I work as a board worker—who is holding the people’s belts, making sure everyone is safe jumping off the platform. I’m also a lines puller. Flyers stay in safety lines. We tell people that trapeze is like a game of “Simon Says”. We tell people what to do and when to do it. It's a game of physics, so I’m pulling their lines but staying two steps ahead to give them the calls for when they need to move. I’m a catcher as well. I love catching students. We start catching students as early as the first class. I also do aerials and dance trapeze. I also am a stilt walker and teach that. I teach the kids aerials, juggling, trampoline, etc. I do a little bit of everything because as a professional circus artist, you kind of have to.

I guess you could say she’s juggling quite a lot.

RB: My favorite is probably aerials and flying trapeze. Then again, I can’t really pick a favorite because it’s like comparing apples and oranges. 

LG: Do you think the circus is a dying form of entertainment? Is its heyday in the rearview mirror? 

RB: Not at all. I think the opposite, but in a sort of different era. I think there’s been a rise in popularity in it because it’s been recreationalized. In the 1900s, it was uncommon to get involved without being born into it or kind of get scouted. It’s sort of being born again. We have hundreds of students we see on a weekly basis, but we are getting thousands and thousands of new applicants each year. The circus is ever-changing and evolving and taking different forms. Companies like Cirque du Soleil are more focused on performance and theatrics, but we have other forms and more contemporary flying companies. 

LG: Do you ever get to work with animals? 

RB: No.

LG: Where do graduates of your schools go after this? 

RB: Right now we’re in this transition period. We just did our first performance program for children who wanted to train more rigorously. I wanted to audition for a program at one of the larger schools like NECCA in Vermont or National Centre for Circus Arts in London. There are a lot in Canada too. Those are traditionally 2-4 years. After that, you audition for one of the bigger circus companies—like Cirque du Soleil or Seven Fingers—if that’s something you’re interested in. You can also coach and do smaller gigs around the city. There’s a different path for everyone, but it depends what you want to get out of it.

I had no idea there were so many different circus schools and there was such a structured path of education you could take until this conversation.

LG: Do you think the circus—especially clowns—have gotten a bad rap after horror movies like It, the Freak Show season of American Horror Story, and killer clowns like John Wayne Gacy?

RB: Horror films freak me out, so I never really watch them, so I’m not really sure how to answer this, but I definitely think there’s a negative connotation when it comes to circuses—like when people use terms like “it’s a circus over there” in a derogatory manner.

LG: What do you think can be done to rehab their image?

RB: I’m not sure because the word “derogatory” might even be too heavy now because the times have changed and not as many circus performers are exploited and it’s been recreationalized. In the past, when circus performers were being seriously exploited, I think these things and language we use might have had more of a negative effect, but now that times have changed, it’s not as detrimental.

This assuaged some of my apprehension because I had intended on using some circus idioms and puns in this very article, so I would’ve had to steer away from doing so if they were in any way detrimental to the circus community (they may be cheesy, but as long as I know they’re not ignorant, I’m in the clear).

LG: What does your family think of your profession? Have they ever come to see you? What did they think? 

RB: They have but not often because they live far away, but I’ll send them videos. I’m fortunate enough to come from a family who is very supportive.

LG: How long have you been performing? What was the process of how you got to this academy like? 

RB: I started very late. I went to two different circus camps when I was 12. The first one was in the middle of the woods with 50-acre fields, yurts, etc. Half the day was focused on nature and yoga and the other half focused on circus skills. 

If she didn’t say the other half was focused on circus skills, this kind of sounds like a glorified rehab to me.

RB: I left that because I was kind of the oldest there, and I wanted to push myself more and not be aging out, so I went to this other place where I was the youngest by 3 years. That one was definitely more rigorous, but I had an amazing experience and all the coaches were so kind. That’s where I learned how to stilt walk and asked my parents for my first pair of stilts—which are still the ones I use today. My parents were very supportive. 

I put my circus hobbies on pause for a little bit after that because high school was very busy and I was focused on academics. 

I suppose that despite the fact that her stilts might have made it easy for her to have her head in the clouds, she still needed to ground herself and focus on other things.

RB: Flash forward to my first year after college, and I wanted to be physically active again and remembered loving this, so I found a circus school near my college and signed up for a trapeze class. I kept training and loved it and came down to New York and wanted to start flying trapeze, so I kept taking more classes, and at first, I totally just saw it as a hobby and never intended for it to be a career. Then I auditioned for a company in Boston and got in and trained and got offered a job here, and now I’m here. I feel like my process was kind of expedited, but that’s not everybody’s case.

LG: Have you ever faced a work-related injury? What safety measures do you have to take? 

RB: Like any sport, injuries are a part of the game. I was out for a whole year after I dislocated my shoulder and broke it. I actually put my shoulder back in myself. 

I gasped upon hearing this. That’s badass.

RB: I’ve had many injuries but that was the first significant one I had. I’ve sprained things, torn things, and dealt with a bunch of small breaks here and there. We take safety very seriously and do a lot of physical therapy to maintain the longevity of our health.

LG: What’s the most interesting story you can think of on the spot that you have from all your time working as a circus performer? 

RB: I got to teach Gigi Hadid trapeze. It was for a magazine cover. I was pulling her safety lines for this, and she’s like the nicest, loveliest, most respectful human and really just wanted to learn and had a lot of trust in us. This ginormous crew came, and I asked her why she was flying trapeze for the magazine cover, and she said it was her decision because she tried flying trapeze as a little kid and loved it, so she wanted to try it again. She did the whole thing in stilettos and climbed up the whole ladder wearing them and was serving the whole time.

I also did trapeze in stilettos recently for a Steve Madden commercial. That was a wild experience—even though they cut out like 95% of my part. They had to tape the heels to my feet so they wouldn’t fly off. I had to wear them for like 12 hours and was jealous of everyone else who got to take theirs off throughout the day. There was a fog machine and a disco ball and bubble guns. 

Truthfully, some of the aforementioned words even existing in the same paragraph together is unfathomable to me, but who knew that such a skill could be of use not once but twice? I suppose that when it comes to the world of trapeze, nothing is out of reach.

LG: What would you say is the biggest misconception about the circus/circus performers? 

RB: People think that getting to Cirque du Soleil and companies like that is like the “be all, end all” or biggest achievement in the world of circus, but it may not be for everyone. The circus kind of works in tiers. It’s like how some people think that getting Harvard is like the ultimate achievement in school (What, like, it’s hard?), but there’s a different path for everyone. If life ever did provide me with the opportunity to be a part of big companies like Cirque du Soleil, I’d be interested, but as of right now, I’m just focused on university.

LG: Is there anything else you’d like the people to know? 

RB: Circus is for everybody. Everybody should try it. A lot of people think they’re not in-shape enough or they’re too old, but truly anybody can do it.

If you’d like to take Rianna’s advice, here’s the website of Circus Academy New York—where she teaches: https://www.circusacademy.com/ (I, for one, had a pair of silts in my online shopping cart after speaking with her).

—

While Rianna assuaged me of my circus-related ignorance with her thorough, articulate, and enlightening answers, she simultaneously stretched, geared up, and fueled up with a granola bar. She briefed me on the importance of food when it comes to her routine. She prefers not to get going on a fully empty stomach, but is also disinclined to eating a full meal before—walking a tightrope between overfueling and underfueling. Like any athlete, diet is an important part of their regimen, and for Rianna—as a circus performer, it’s all about finding balance. 

As we conversed and she prepared herself for action, I concluded that if Rianna is even half as good at what she does as she is eloquent and charming, then everybody who enters Circus Academy New York is in good hands — figuratively and literally. 

After she was ready, Rianna swung right into action and we had the pleasure of watching her do a few tricks. I was so awestruck and inspired while watching her fly trapeze that I was attempting to discreetly research circus classes near me on the side (but quickly closed out of my tab because I was unwilling to miss even a nanosecond of what she was doing). 

Editor-in-chief, Mark Bluemle was by my side capturing it all, and I wish I could say I meant it idiomatically when I say he was jumping with joy, but there were moments where his feet were, in fact, inches off the ground. Perhaps this is why we had to ask Rianna to do some of the same tricks multiple times for clearer photos. One thing’s for certain—there was absolutely no way I was falling asleep watching this performance.

Rianna—like many other artists—felt inclined to put her circus artistry on a hiatus to focus on practicality—walking a tightrope between dreams and reality—but these recommenced in later years and unexpectedly metamorphosed into a career when she hopped on the trapeze bars again and has flown to new heights ever since. I suppose there’s a lesson to be learned there. I’ll spare you of the clichés like “follow your dreams” or “shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”, but Rianna, who found herself back on the trapeze bars for a living, is a walking (and flying) testimony that nothing is out of reach—so shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you’ll land safely on a mat below you, doing what you love, with someone pulling your lines and catching you—all while wearing Steve Madden Stilettos.

Written by Lucy Geldziler

Photography by Mark Bluemle @barks.mindd