Katie Couric & Tavi Gevinson Chat About Fashion, Criticism & The Word 'Like'

Katie Couric sat down with 14-year-old fashion blogger extraordinaire Tavi Gevinson for Glamour.com to talk about her site's success and how she became interested in style to begin with. Tavi, who's been nabbing front row seats at fashion shows since the ripe old age of 13, told the news anchor, "It's only when I type things out, when I'm writing my blog, that it hits me how ridiculous and really cool it is. But there's no other way to introduce the story!"

Here's our favorite excerpt from their conversation:

KATIE COURIC: Hasn't [criticism] been tough to handle as a 14-year-old? I mean, it's tough for me when people criticize me and I'm, well, not 14!

TAVI GEVINSON: Well, I can totally understand the frustration, if you've been working for so long and then this whole Internet thing happens, and other people get the same opportunities that you've been wanting. But there's a difference between having emotions and acting on them.

KATIE COURIC: What do you say to those who question whether a teenage girl can write as well as you do [and] produce the quality of work that you're doing?

TAVI GEVINSON: Uh, google it. [Laughs.] I don't know. People pretty much, once we've met, don't doubt that I write it. Especially once they've met my parents, because my mom is, like, this drumming, tapestry-weaving hippie, and then my dad is a retired English teacher who's, I don't know, enjoying all of his, like, Saul Bellow right now...

KATIE COURIC: Does he get on you for saying "like" so much? I have a 15-year-old, and I harass her all the time about it.

TAVI GEVINSON: I know, it's awful. I think part of it is that you don't want to come off too strong, so it's sort of a way to sound more humble. But that's not something I do consciously. It's kind of a shy thing.

Read the rest at Glamour.

Comments

[Dionita]

05:10 PM on 02/10/2011

I like Tavi and her blog.

[Balzac]

10:24 PM on 02/09/2011

People shouldn't question her abilities.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

08:01 PM on 02/09/2011

You're the best, Tavi

[supermanfan4691]

04:10 PM on 02/09/2011

Besides her admitted use of the word "like," she seems very mature for her age, especially in her response regarding people having emotions and choosing to act on them or not.

[eric14]

02:15 PM on 02/09/2011

She sounds like fourteen or something.

[dmsdzinr]

02:02 PM on 02/09/2011

Usage of the word "LIKE" in every sentence just makes one sound uneducated and devoid and/or lacking of a library of vocabulary to use instead of implanting the word "LIKE" to fill every hole in a thought.

[ethiopia1a]

02:24 PM on 02/09/2011

or young lol

[dmsdzinr]

02:26 PM on 02/09/2011

YES true, but that is only because they are emulating all the fools who constantly use "LIKE" in their language.

[alsm9]

12:14 PM on 02/11/2011

Only when it comes from an adult. A 14 yr old, I wouldn't say so. As she matures I suspect she'll grow out of it...Tavi's a sharp young woman.

[dmsdzinr]

12:22 PM on 02/11/2011

CORRECT and I am not addressing just Tavi but people in general. Kids start using "LIKE" because they hear their peers using it and whether they adopt it because they THINK it sounds cool, or (IMHO) they pick it up subconsciously, all of a sudden they use it aud nauseum. This is when GROWN UPS, i.e. Parents SHOULD step in an correct their children. Unfortunately parents are either too lazy or they think it is "cute", and so the cycle continues and grows.