Carly Emerick of Candy Apple Blue Age 21 (1993)

Carly Emerick of Candy Apple Blue Age 21 (1993)

Here I am at the tender young age of 21. The year was 1993. When I was younger, I always loved playing around with my hair color. I can truly confess that I was a hair color addict. I even went to cosmetology school to learn more about it. 

I always enjoyed changing up my look and hair color played a big part in my metamorphosis. I would go from blonde to black and then to red sometimes all within the same year. I remember watching Molly Ringwald's Fresh Horses and thinking I wanted to try to achieve the same red color that she had in that movie. I think I aced it.

Red can be a tricky hair color because of the laws of science. The small molecules found in this artificial pigment easily rinse out after only a few shampoos. It wasn't long before this hair color faded and I was golden blonde again.  

Big love, Carly xoxo

Candy Apple Blue in Astoria, NY (1994)

Candy Apple Blue in Astoria, NY (1994)

 Here we are back in 1994! We had just moved to New York and our lives were about to change forever! Hoyt was 20 years old and I was 22. We had always dreamed of moving to NYC and starting a band. This intergalactic version of Candy Apple Blue was us breaking out of our small town and expressing our creative souls. It was us against the world!

As young adults, we barely had any money. Instead of catching a private taxi, we would have to catch the N train subway to get into the city. On this night we were headed to town when some blue-collared idiot screamed out of his car window at us; "Hey, you freaks, go back to Manhattan where you belong!". I remember this moment clearly as a bell. It's like the universe was finally saying to us; "You're home. You finally have a place where you belong." When we would dress like this in Pittsburgh, we often heard much worse derogatory comments screamed out at us. They were much too graphic and much too hurtful to be repeated here.

In NYC, we were celebrated club kids. We NEVER had to wait in line to get into the clubs. We'd be pulled from the line and guided in if we tried to get in line. The red carpet was rolled out right in front of us. It felt great! We felt like we finally arrived. 

Being on a tight budget meant we'd have to hit the thrift stores hard to create new outfits to wear. I believe Hoyt's wrist cuffs are actual welding gear. You know the kind used when blowtorching to prevent sparks from backsplashing and burning you. I didn't have a chocker chain then but I did have a very long necklace that I wrapped around my neck to give the same look. Our outrageous makeup application was far from par for the course. 

I look back on these days with so much fondness. We were young, wild, and free. Our songwriting was improving and we felt like anything was possible.

Big love, Carly xoxo