Stef Leaks is a poet and writer who loves experimenting with different looks. They mix and match items for an androgynous aesthetic, and seek to push the boundaries of fashion. Their next poetry reading will be July 8 at Vague Space. Keep up to date with Leaks and purchase their zines at melancthapoetry.com.
Every month, SLUG Stylefeatures distinct and unique members of the community and asks them why they do what they do. Exploring more than just clothing, SLUG Style is an attempt to feature the people who give Salt Lake City flavor through personality and panache.
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“I’m really bad at writing in long-form. It’s typically short-form, and I like to create images of things, and really sort of pull from the natural world, in a way, and what I experience,” says Leaks. “I’m hypersensitive, so I hear everything and see everything, and everything’s very overwhelming all the time, and so I try to translate that into my poetry and create those images.” Photo: @clancycoop
Leaks says, “I started writing poetry in fifth grade. The first poetry I ever wrote was for a project where we had to write a poem for every single major type of poetry, and that introduced me to a whole new love for the medium that I didn’t know I even had. I’ve been writing since.” Photo: @clancycoop
“I love androgyny a whole lot, and most of my outfits tend to be pretty androgynous,” says Leaks. “I love picking clothing from what people define as certain genders and mixing them up, experimenting with them together.” Photo: @clancycoop
“I really love ’90s fashion, and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that it’s just really comforting for me,” says Leaks. “It reminds me of growing up, and my childhood, and my family, and I like to wear clothes that are comforting and feel like big blankets.” Photo: @clancycoop
Listing writers who inspire them, Leaks notes, “I really love Gertrude Stein a whole bunch—I love the way that she describes the feeling of love—James Baldwin, Sherman Alexie and Jacqueline Susann.” Photo: @clancycoop
“I’m really interested in fetish gear as clothing, like harnesses,” says Leaks. “I pull from a lot of different places. From people I just see down the street, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. I want to try something like that.”
Photo: @clancycoop
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