We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Noelle Nurmi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Noelle, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was a child I loved to draw and make art. My favorite class throughout my whole school experience was art class. I even wanted to be an elementary art teacher until high school. I spent hours drawing and making things. I loved to learn about the famous artists like Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Sargent. I think this is what started my love for fashion too. Seeing all types of people in art wearing all kinds of clothing and hairstyles throughout history. The vibrant colors and the longevity of the piece of art. Without art we would not have progressed as a whole and would not have the knowledge we have today. I always knew from a young age that I would be creating and never stopped and have no plan to.

Noelle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Being born and raised in metro-Detroit you see a mix of culture and people. I was so lucky to have this diverse community that I grew up around. Even with all the different people around I still felt that I liked things that not everyone else did. I got into punk, emo, rock (whatever you want to call it) around the 4th or 5th grade. I wanted to look how that music sounded. My art always reflected my style and as I got older became part of my identity and so did my fashion choices. Once I hit middle school I realized that I did not want to look like everyone else. With a small amount of push back from my mom I began shopping at Hot Topic and wanting to wear mostly black. I listened to bands like My Chemical Romance, Marilyn Manson, and The Ramones. Later that year my mom decided to “pick her battles” bought me my first pair of Tripp pants and I wore them religiously. From that point on she was into it and helped me curate my collection. Thats also when my friend group got smaller. I never cared what people thought of me because I knew I looked good. As I got older and went through high school I got a job at Hot Topic and made life long friends who are now family. I found pinup and rockabilly and had a love for horror movies. All of this really started shaping me and my appearance. I slowly stepped away from my art and focused on fashion and it became the most important part of my life. I discovered Dita Von Teese and thats when my whole world flipped upside-down. Being around my mom and grandma who loved Vivien Leigh and Marilyn Monroe I never thought I could look like them now. Dita changed that. I tested the boundaries of what people thought was acceptable to wear and got a lot of “your mother let you out of the house looking like that?” I was lucky because my mom BOUGHT me everything I wore and most people were horrified of seeing a 16 year old girl wearing short shorts, a corset top, and garter belt with stockings and Doc Martens. In 2016 I was a sophomore in college and was posting #ootd pictures online when my friend Risto Thomas mentioned I should get into modeling. I did my own makeup, and hair, and knew how to style myself. He said you know how to move your body and pose in your outfits so why not try it? Thats when I found my purpose. All I wanted to do after that was be in front of the camera. I was posting regular outfit posts and trying to squeeze in shoots. I love lingerie and became obsessed with people like Bettie Page, Mosh, Julie Strain, Masumi Max, and of Course Dita. I began getting a larger following around that time and brands started reaching out to me for collaborations and PR. While I love vintage fashion and hair I also love modern makeup and goth music and fashion. I had to be a mix of that. I was working full time, going to college full time and creating content full time. That has not changed. I graduated with my bachelors degree in fashion and marketing. I met Dita at her fist show in Detroit and the first thing she said to me was “I love seeing your photos.” Her knowing who I was before we had even met is one of my proudest moments. Now I create content for her lingerie brand as a “Glambassador.”
My work ethic is unmatched as I still work a full time job, model, still create content full time and even still make fine art. I even added rhinestoning and styling work to that. I have a hand in almost every bag. I do everything myself. Hair, makeup, and styling- thats all me. Booking, social media, and marketing… thats all me too. I don’t let anyone else touch it. I know what looks good on me, I have the knowledge and skill set. I am a self made brand and do it all. I think thats important and why you can see so much authenticity in my work, whatever that may be. There are so many people and things that inspire me that I could not even pinpoint them most of the time. I always say I am the amalgamation of those who came before me. Without them I wouldn’t be me. My look really sets me apart from people. I have strawberry blonde/reddish hair, pale skin, and green grey eyes. I wear mostly black and love the ritual of putting on a full glam. Head to toe. Hair styled in a vintage fashion from the 20-60s, modern makeup while still keeping that vintage feel. My clothes or lingerie are mostly black with a 30s-60s silhouette but through in some vinyl, spiderwebs, or red eyeshadow. I taught myself how to do my hair and makeup, how to dress and how to pose. I wanted to look like those 1950’s pinup girls but I also wanted to look like Siouxsie Sioux so I did. I love history and have a broad knowledge of styles ranging from the 1500’s to now. I have dabbled in all kinds of modeling and my specialties are pinup, boudoir, fetish, and rococo.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When people come up to me and give me a compliment, post a comment, or say I have inspired them is so rewarding. I have had people draw me, recreate makeup looks or photoshoots that I have done and it’s such a warm feeling. Getting paid to do what I love really is above and beyond words. To know that a look I created is on the cover of a magazine or the feeling of someone buying an art piece I did really has a feeling like no other. When I model for new photographers they are always so shocked and relived that I know what I am doing when it comes to posing. I have worked on that for years and know what my body can do. I also like to test that ability sometimes too much and over do it, ha! I love the compliments from elderly women who light up when they see me. When they say “I used to have a dress just like that!” When you have women coming to you saying “your post gave me the confidence to do a pinup or boudoir shoot” makes my whole week! Thats what I want to do. I want to inspire people to be their best selves and be confident in themselves. You don’t have to look like everyone else or follow trends to be beautiful or have people accept you. When you are being yourself thats when you shine and I am so thankful I learned that at a young age. When you are sure of yourself people notice. Your art is your art and it’s valid. Sure not everyone is going to like you and thats okay. I don’t want to be liked by everyone. There is a specific audience for me and I am so appreciative for that.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Pay them for what they do and pay them well. That luxury designer purse you just bought used to be an independent designer. That photograph you bought for your living room from HomeGoods was taken by a person. Without artists we wouldn’t have anything. Everything we have was designed by someone. This carries over to social media too. If you’re a company and looking for influencers or people to collaborate with- pay them. If you are a follower of someone comment on their posts, share them, and talk to other people about it. If you like an artists work buy it. If you like a models look, book them or buy their prints. If you can’t afford to buy something comment on their work, share it, and recommend them to friends. It’s much easier to support people than you think! Algorithms these days hit creators and artists so hard that half the time their own followers don’t see it. Turn on those post notifications from creators and people you love!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @noellenurmi / @noellenurmiart
• Facebook: @nnoellenurmi
• Twitter: @noellenurmi
• Tiktok: @noellenurmi Shop (Depop) @noellemariee13

Image Credits
Paige Albin Leigh Miller Risto Thomas Jessica Nosal Amanda Chiu Leigh Miller Amanda Chiu Noelle Nurmi (my art) Paige Albin Risto Thomas