Influence Matters: Anna Golka-Yepez Talks Her Viral Maximalist Fashion TikTok Videos
Maximalist fashion influencers are a growing niche of content creators on TikTok, and 31-year-old Anna Golka-Yepez is one of the many influencers spearheading the movement to embrace eclectic dressing.
The Washington-based influencer joined TikTok last spring to share her maximalist style, but has been documenting her fashion journey since 2014 on her blog, called Here for the Fashion, when she was studying abroad in London and taking a fashion design course.
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Golka-Yepez saw TikTok as a way to expand her footprint as many other influencers started turning to the social media platform to share their everyday content. She’s consistently produced daily “getting ready” videos where she mixes different patterns, fabrics and styles and has grown her following to more than 85,200 followers and with more than 4.1 million likes.
“I just say it’s maximalist,” she said about her style. “It’s very eclectic and I just wear what I feel best in. I used to try to fit into a mold of how I wanted to be perceived and then I realized that I’m going to wear what makes me feel happy. If one day it’s a little bit more grungy and the next day it’s a little bit more colorful, then that’s what it is and I just go with what I feel.”
Some of Golka-Yepez’s most viewed TikToks are for her more unconventional looks, like a getting ready video wear she pairs PVC pink shorts with a graphic Minnie Mouse T-shirt, a vintage house coat, lace collar and cowboy boots.
@annagolkayepez Reply to @verybrynn
She explained much of her wardrobe comes from vintage stores, eBay or Etsy and she’s recently started buying pieces from The RealReal. She takes style inspiration from recent runway collections and from vintage sewing patterns.
Given her maximalist style, Golka-Yepez said she gets mixed reactions to her videos and negative comments often. However, she tries to not let the negativity affect her and oftentimes engages with those commenters to understand their feedback.
“It’s funny because I feel like a lot of traction comes because people don’t like it, which is fine,” she said. “When that happens, I try to ask questions and I’m not rude back, but I want to get their feedback. Like why do you think this doesn’t work? I just try to flip peoples’ mind-sets because if one thing doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work for me or for someone else. Fashion is very individualistic and that’s what I’m hoping to get across to people.”
On the flip side, Golka-Yepez stated she has followers who say she’s influenced them and helped them become more comfortable with experimenting with their own style.
“People say, ‘you’ve given me so many ideas of new ways to wear items in my closet,’” she said. “Even if they’re not going to wear them in the way that I would, it’s still giving them a different way to spin their clothes and get more use out of more pieces in their closet. And a lot of people say that I’ve given them the confidence to wear what they want and wear clothes that make them feel happy rather than worrying about what we’re supposed to be wearing or what society thinks we should wear.”
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Golka-Yepez’s maximalist style has gotten the attention of several brands, such as Poshmark and rental service Nuuly, which have partnered with the influencer.
As more maximalist fashion influencers pop up on TikTok, Golka-Yepez believes the trend has been partially spurred by the pandemic, which is still inspiring many to go bolder with their style.
“When we were in quarantine, I just got to start experimenting more and I feel like as you’re not going out, you’re realizing like I felt really comfortable in this outfit, so you start wearing and trying out new things,” she said. “After a time when you were so stuck doing nothing and not getting to do what you wanted to do, people are starting to really do what they want to do and what makes them happy. I feel like that’s a good thing.”
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