Patricia Lagmay
The SEEN series highlights various guests, diving into the ways they have discovered themselves through reading. What stories shaped them? Helped them define their own? These intimate interviews seek to celebrate their discoveries, hear what they’ve learned from their favorite works, and uncover a glimpse of their interior world through the books that have changed them.
Philippines-born and Canada-raised Patricia Lagmay is an LA-based fashion stylist whose sharp, clean eye has led her to work with high-profile fashion brands and prestigious publications, but what she surprisingly wants most is for people to shop less. Patricia’s philosophy on clothing is all-at-once refreshing and revolutionary. She guides her clients to view how they dress as a vessel to “make sense [of] their lives and the things they’re trying to achieve.”
This intentionality in her fashion is now directing itself into her life as a whole. Patricia is looking to spend less time scrolling and more time gardening, sewing, and creating more genuine connections. Intimacy, vulnerability, and the human experience are what guide her. Here, Patricia tells us about her disillusionment with the fashion industry, her ever-growing TBR pile, and the book on the Filipino experience that took her breath away.
What is your name?
Patricia Lagmay (pronounced lag-my).
Where are you from?
I was born in the Philippines and lived there until I was ten, before moving to Canada and the US. I’ve lived an almost equal amount of time in all three places so my answer to this question tends to change depending on the context of where and how I’m being asked.
Who are you?
This is another question that feels fairly straightforward but that I find somewhat difficult to answer. I think I’m still figuring it out, to be honest. By trade, I’m a stylist. Outside of that, I guess you can say that I’m someone who is just constantly looking for genuine connection, however small.
What’s on your nightstand?
All the books I’ve brought to bed over the last five months with the intention of reading instead of scrolling on my phone. Some nights I succeed, other nights not so much. It’s a growing pile of books I’ve finished, books I’m revisiting, and books I’m starting for the first time.
I used to be really stringent with my reading—no new books until I finish the one I'm on—but that ended up feeling restrictive since I wasn't always in the mood for that one book. It meant I read less, too. Now I allow myself to have a few books on rotation, hence the ever growing pile.
Next to that pile is a calendar from Space of Time where I jot down the one thing I want to remember from my day.
How is your time spent offline?
I’m going to be honest and admit that I currently spend more time online than I’d like. It’s something I’m continually trying to be more aware of and build better habits around.
But lately, I’ve started gardening on my small front porch with the humble goal of being able to harvest herbs and flower cuttings by the summer. I sowed marigold seeds five days ago and today I’m seeing the first little seedlings pop up. :)
I’ve also started sewing. Just simple curtains and small repairs so far, but it feels nice to learn new skills and create something with my hands.
What helps you stay present?
I can’t say it’s any one thing. But I started using Headspace a few years ago and that’s made a big difference for me. The app has changed over the years though and I wish they’d go back to their quieter roots.
What’s your favorite way to connect with others?
I love cooking for people and sharing a meal in either my home or theirs. The conversations always feel more intimate than when we’re at a restaurant.
We’re supposed to be focusing on our offline selves… but your Instagram bio is worth mentioning – Trying to get you to shop less. Can you share how you approach this mindset, especially with your job as a stylist?
It’s hard to inject this into my usual projects with established brands, because in those instances I’m beholden to what the brands want. But in my work with personal clients, it shows up in the way we approach getting dressed as a whole. What are the pieces they need to succeed in their lives and how can getting dressed facilitate that? Do they need to feel a certain way, move a certain way, enter a room a certain way?
I work really hard to find my clients pieces that not only make sense stylistically (and, of course, for their bodies) but that also make sense for their lives and the things they’re trying to achieve. Naturally, the better those pieces are at ticking all of these boxes, the less of those pieces they actually need.
Speaking of shopping less, you also have a newsletter with helpful tips on mindful consumption. What inspired you to start this? Have you always been intentional when it comes to fashion?
I have always been decisive when it comes to fashion, but being intentional in the more holistic sense is actually relatively new for me. The push in starting the newsletter really came from my own disillusionment with the fashion industry. So many brands masquerade as being green or environmentally conscious, while pumping out 10s if not 100s of new skus a month. And then they come up with all sorts of ways to manufacture “need” in order to sell them. It’s a joke.
We don’t need as much as we’re being told, and these brands are literally killing our planet with the amount of waste they’re generating. So I guess the newsletter was my attempt at helping people navigate all that noise.
Women in Clothes by Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton, and Sheila Heti is an amazing book if you’re interested in exploring this topic further. It explores clothing as a means of dress (vs. just consumption) through the vantage point of different women in a really curious and almost ritualistic way. It was gifted to me by former co-workers and I admittedly haven’t finished it yet, but I feel refreshed every time I pick it up.
What book has made you feel the most seen? Why?
America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo. I’d never read a book focused on the Filipino experience before and there were just so many things in that book, small snippets, that took my breath away. Things that I had known to be true about my own body and my own experience, but had never heard anyone else talk about, let alone put to paper.
Was there a certain person, or moment in your life, that influenced your relationship with reading?
Yes, a really astute salesperson who worked at the Chapters on Robson St. in Vancouver in, I want to say, 2014 (Chapters is like Barnes & Nobles but in Canada). I walked in looking for a book recommendation and she pointed me towards an anthology of Nora Ephron’s work. Reading that book shifted the way I looked at words. It was the first time I really enjoyed reading as an adult.
Favorite place to curl up with a book?
Either end of my couch. I moved last summer and I purposely got a comfier couch that invited more sinking into and more curling up.
Is there a topic you’d like to explore deeper through reading?
Oh, just the whole gamut of what it means to be human, haha.
What cause or organization do you wish others would read up on?
LA Works is a great resource if you live in LA and are looking for volunteer opportunities. I think it’s really easy, especially in LA, to stay within our socioeconomic and geographical bubbles and just focus on our own needs and woes, and we’re collectively all the worse for it.
What lights you up?
Genuine, vulnerable connection.
Qualities you value in a main character?
Vulnerability, curiosity, and humanity.
Qualities you value in yourself?
My integrity, my work ethic, and my proclivity to feel really deeply (though that last one is a double edged sword).
What was the last book you gifted? To whom?
I gave my best friend a copy of The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur.
What was the last book you were given? By whom?
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong care of Seen Library and Neada at the LESSE blind book exchange.
Book you can’t recommend enough?
How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell.
Favorite independent bookstore?
Chevaliers in Larchmont Village and Skylight Books in Los Feliz, both in Los Angeles.
Where can people find you?
@patricialagmay on Instagram, patricialagmay.com for my styling work, and patricialagmay.com/links for the letter series.
What’s next?
I'm opening up more of my time for personal clients who are looking to be more intentional with their wardrobes. So if that’s you, let’s talk!
Photos by Jordan Santos / Intro by Halleta Alemu