It was smoldering summer day, much as it’s been here this week, and Broad Street in Red Bank was swarming with people downing iced coffees, ice cream – anything to keep them cool as they plowed through the thick, humid air.
Sitting on the bench outside Urban Outfitters was Mallory Morgan, 24, lighting her cigarette with such grace – not that we’re endorsing it! – her red lipstick perfectly in place, and wearing a tan and black hat that waved with each sultry breeze.
At first glimpse, Model Citizen, could not help but notice that Mallory resembles Zoey Deschanel. She gets that often, she says. But her tastes span centuries.
Casually draped in an airy, black short-sleeved dress with pockets she slides her hands when she stands, the Red Bank resident and art history major at Rutgers looks like a walking piece of art. On her left arm is a tattoo of a quote by Artemisia Gentileschi, a 17th-century female artist, reading, “You will find the spirit of Cesar in the soul of a woman.”
Her heels, in a lightly distressed orange, look as if they had stories to tell of adventure and plight.
Much like Gentileschi, “I’m inspired by every day,” Mallory says. “I think every day is a new day to invent or reinvent yourself.”
Admitting she went through many “awkward” phases in her younger years, Mallory says she learned that the aim was not to emulate somebody else’s style, but to pay attention to pieces that stand out.
