The Look: Zephyr Goza

I grew up on stage. From the age of three I was performing in professional theatre with my parents. I think I was the youngest Tiny Tim to ever play the role, at least that I’m aware of. I’ve done some Shakespeare in the past few years, but these days I’m mostly with the RKO Army doing Rocky Horror Picture Show and other shadowcasted productions. Most commonly I play Frank N Furter, and I love it. I have both of his tattoos in real life. There’s something about having just put on the makeup that puts me in such a fun state of mind.

When I perform Rocky Horror those are usually very specific costumes that a lot of work and resources have gone into creating, and when I perform anything else it’s usually on a small enough scale that everyone is providing their own wardrobe. Choosing what to wear is a really interesting part of deciding who a character is.

Having a personal style is just curating the things about yourself that you want to put forward. Whether intentional or not, Rod Serling’s everyman suit and tie worn in every episode of The Twilight Zone left the narrator as an enigmatic blank slate to the audience. It wouldn’t have worked in a polo and slacks. For me, I guess I would describe my style as a kind of dapper rock and roll. The goal is to look like I belong as much in a business meeting as I would out on an adventure. I take little elements that I like from all kinds of sources and put them together to create what I wear, and I’m always getting caught up on subtle details.

My fashion influence comes more often from fictional characters or abstract ideas than specific people. Right now, I draw a lot of influence from Peter Capaldi on Doctor Who. I love the look of ‘50s greasers, of 1930s Hollywood, and the images evoked by industrial era Providence. I’m always taking ideas from different people or eras like that and incorporating them into how I dress.