Isabella Dupre has been living in Baton Rouge for her entire life, but you might not know that by looking at her Instagram.
She’s modeled for various companies in New Orleans and online vintage boutiques, and she’s an expert at finding inexpensive clothing at thrift stores. She even uses vintage cameras to make her Instagram photos pop.
“I just got really into Instagram and how expressive I could be.”“I sometimes post photos from campaigns and sometimes I just post personal photos.”
Dupre seems to have a knack for vintage objects. Along with her collection of vintage cameras and clothing, she has a 1990 Cadillac DeVille. Her DeVille is featured quite a bit on her Instagram, @Isabelladupre.
Her account started to take off when her friend Stevie Israel took professional photos of her. Then, larger companies began to notice her look. She constantly has a new hair color and a bright, colorful style. Dupre said she takes pride in her style and has learned the ropes of thrift shopping. She’s been thrifting since she was 14 and a high schooler at Lee HighSchool in East Baton Rouge. Since then, she has learned many tricks of the thrifting trade.
“It’s good to go to smaller local thrift stores because they have hidden gems, don’t just go to Goodwill,” Dupre said. “Dedicate a lot of time when you go because clothes come in and out. You need to look in all sections, even mens and kids, because you can always alter them. You can find name brand things too. It’s all about looking.”
Dupre said her favorite thrift stores are America’s Thrift, Here Today Gone Tomorrow and occasionally Goodwill. She said she gravitates toward smaller thrift stores to find more select items. Currently, she is selling thrifted clothes on her Instagram. She finds name brand things or less expensive items and alters them to specialize them. She puts together outfits for all different types of styles.
“I’ll go into a store and see an item and instantly know that I’m going to sell it,” Dupre said.
Dupre said her fashion inspirations all relate to pop culture and its trends. She is heavily inspired by movies and music – as her music taste changes, so does her style.
“Music has a lot to do with the way I dress certain days,” Dupre said. “Depending on what kind of music I’m listening to, the types of clothing I’m drawn to changes.”
Dupre said her style is “grunge-girly,” but it changes every day. She wears “costumey stuff” like bright colors and patterns, and she likes to mix and match styles to create her own personal fashion.
Dupre said she learned a lot about style by modeling for different vintage companies. She has modeled for Funky Monkey thrifting store in New Orleans; Giant Vintage, an online sunglasses store; DVRA, an accessory and bag store; and Stinny’s Accessories store online. She has only modeled for vintage stores.
“I kinda love vintage things,” Dupre said. “I enjoy thrifting because you can take more risks since the clothes are less expensive.”