First things first: Who are you wearing?
Urban Outfitters.
How does a fashion blogger choose what to wear for a photo in something called the Lust List?
I don’t think I wore anything that was lust-worthy. I actually just wanted to be a good representative of what I look like normally — what makes me feel the best.
What did you think when you heard you’d been nominated?
I had some hesitations at first. I was very surprised.
You look great in the photos on your blog [thehanhsolo.com] — both sexy and stylish. How do you make that balance work?
I always choose to wear what makes me feel confident. I usually offset something masculine with something feminine: If I wear jeans, I wear a white shirt with a few buttons unbuttoned. I think women are always so sexy when they’re confident. I wear the clothes that make me feel empowered.
I like your phrase from your NYC blog post in the summertime: “Less is… necessary.” Makes even more sense for Florida, no?
Yes — especially when you’re in suits. But I’m not saying we should all walk around in bikinis.
You just moved to St. Pete from South Tampa? Why?
To be closer to class. And also actually I think there’s a lot more creativity in downtown St. Pete — especially for a blogger, there’s a lot more going on than in downtown Tampa. I love Mandarin Hide and Cask and Ale. And I like the Saturday Morning Market.
Which city’s sexier?
I don’t know — can a city be sexy? I think Tampa is sexy to me because it’s very classic. New York is definitely sexy.
What makes NY sexy?
All of the possibilities. It’s very inspiring — so many options, so many different people around you. I love being in New York shooting photos, people-watching.
Tell us about your boyfriend.
I am dating a Duke grad. He’s applying to med school and lives in St. Pete.
What attracted you to him?
He was hilarious when I first met him, and very down to earth. And he wasn’t afraid of being really goofy. He didn’t care about what I thought, he was just himself. People sometimes turn out to be different after you meet them; he’s the same person as when we started out. And he still opens all the doors for me.
Do you get asked whether you’re a model when you’re doing a street shoot?
No. People just wonder, “Why is this girl posing in random spots?” [Her mother and 15-year-old brother take most of the shots for her blog.]
How did thehanhsolo.com evolve?
I started law school, and I wanted something that was a creative outlet outside of the library. In an environment like law school that’s so hard to do. To be in love with life and stay in love with life, you have to do things that keep you truly happy. It’s very important to have that one thing.
What kind of law are you studying?
Contract law. [A Plant High grad, she majored in philosophy at the University of Florida.]
Maybe you should get into fashion law.
I do want to. That’s a big area of law that’s underdeveloped.
Did you inherit your sense of style from your mother?
Absolutely. She’s always very classic. [She was also Mrs. Vietnam Florida 2012.] Growing up I always went through her closet. I was born in Vietnam and we came to this country when I was 3, so I learned English by a picture dictionary. I learned all of the clothing words in English before I learned anything else — what a shirt was, pants. I was always very intrigued by how clothes transformed a person.
What’s something that would surprise people about you?
I’m an introvert. I really enjoy a lot of quiet time. The thing with a fashion blog is that people think I’m very critical of what people wear, but I’m actually not. I never look at a person and judge them by what they’re wearing or their appearances. It’s what they say or their actions.
