The Baesment is the female community of The Basement, championing women’s fashion, streetwear and culture.
It’s important for women to be able to have a platform for their voices to be heard, their style to be seen, and for their mark to be made.
The Baesment is made up of womxn from all over the world, making it not only a global community, but a place of unity. Creatives, artists and freelancers make up a large part of that community, however due to the pandemic, a lot of them have been affected, and some even out of work.
We reached out to the Baesment community to see how they have been affected by Covid-19, whether or not they have been able to continue to work, and how they are coping.
I’m living in Portland, so we are in quarantine but it’s not as bad as my friends and family in Paris. I work as a product manager, and have been working from home for a month now. All of my meetings and presentations are done virtually, I’m quite lucky because I know it’s not the case for a lot of people.
I recently went back on tumblr (I know no one is using that but there’s a lot of inspiration) and I started to use Pinterest a lot. I am creating mood boards for looks or make up I want to create. I am also trying to finish furnishing my place and I used to be “too busy” to look for inspiration etc. But now that I actually have time!
I have been listening to a lot of different stuff lately! From funk (Love come down by Evelyn Champagne King is my favorite song) to Afro beat (Burna and Wiz Kid of course) and RnB (SiR is playing on repeat). I’m reading a French book called Trois Baiser by Katherine Pancol. I was supposed to finish reading that book last year, so now is time! I [also] have been watching so many shows haha I’m finishing Ozark and Westworld is back with [a] season, and Insecure is back too!!!
Self care wise, I would really suggest trying to create a routine. For me it’s a bit different because I’m working so I have my alarm on every morning of the week. I would say, maybe try to exercise, even if it’s 30 min, it allows you to think about something else and to move your body (lots of YouTube videos available!) Do the things you always wanted to do but didn’t have time.
[Inspiration] for me [has been] cooking, I liked it but it wasn’t a priority, now I’m trying new recipes and I really like it. It’s also a way to stay busy and do something different than being on my phone or watching a movie. For a friend of mine it was drawing and painting, and also calling your friends and family. Especially if you live alone. Plan some calls, can be with your best friends or even people we want to catch up with because you haven’t talked in a while.
And last thing about self care, do whatever feels right for you, if there’s a day where you want to stay in bed and do nothing. That’s fine too.
I work as a stylist, run a styling assistant agency and DJ, [and] sadly because of Covid all my jobs have been cancelled or postponed until further notice. Even with the agency we are unable to book assistants on shoots so that is a big loss for them and their work and of course us as a company too. I occasionally DJ so any gigs I had booked are now cancelled too. So I’ve basically lost all my work.
Seeing how my friends and peers are dealing with this is inspiring for me, so many people are finding alternative ways to continue with their career, djs are doing live stream sets, models are doing shoots via FaceTime. It’s a pretty cool way to work around the crisis most of us freelancers are dealing with right now.
I have been listening to a lot of Popcaan, Megan The Stallion, Rushy, Pa Salieu. I try to listen to more calming music in the evenings to help me wind down, usually instruments from MF Doom! I’m currently reading Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami and slowly getting through all the zines I’ve picked up along the way, the one I’m currently reading is about Francis Kéké, an architect from west Africa.
I’ve not been watching many shows, I’m an all or nothing kind of person and I’m trying to not get sucked into any series atm but I like to watch cooking videos on YouTube like Bon Appetit I find them super relaxing lol.
I think at this time it’s so important to listen to your body! Social media is full of workouts and business guides when really some of us are finally being forced to have that break we needed for the last few years, if you want to stay in bed all day do it! I’ve been doing loads of yoga recently as it’s helped me relax and clear my head a lot, I try to do an hour twice a day but also I’m not beating myself up if I miss a day or two and I think that’s the most important part!
I’m a content creator, stylist and founder of GDS. It’s affected a lot of collaborations and creative jobs, a lot has slowed down but it’s also allowed me to refocus and think of new ways to create.
[I’ve been able to stay inspired by] doing a lot of research, watching documentaries, films. I’ve been listening to Meg thee stallion, also the mixes I’ve curated by female DJs on my brands soundcloud , reading “this is marketing” by Seth Godin [and I’ve also] been watching Ozark, Insecure and Killing Eve. I also rewatched the streetwear documentary “fresh dressed”.
A self care tip would be to block out time during the day to write down goals and manifestations, things and words to encourage you. Also some time to stretch, work out or just dance around the house. So important to just let loose especially at a time like this!
I’m a stylist, content creator and I work part time in a sneaker store. Unfortunately it had a big impact on me, the store I work in had to close, and the shoots, upcoming collaborations got either postponed or cancelled – which forced me to go into short-time work. But it could have been much worse, so I’m trying to stay positive and take this time to ground myself and focus on my well being!
I’ve been going for walks, catching up on documentaries, or some days really just being lazy. I think finding the right balance is important, to not stress yourself out too much and still stay inspired.
I’m having 90’s/00’s playlists on repeat. It just gets me in the right mood. My friend Monte Christo just finds the perfect balance between 90’s bops and the new tunes! I’m about to finish: Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life, [and] I think we can all agree that “Tiger King” took over our quarantine-lives…
Don’t pressure yourself. To keep a healthy mind is the most important in times like these!
We will be catching up with some other members of The Baesment community over the coming weeks to see how they are staying inspired during lockdown, as well as hearing some of their tips and tricks to stay motivated.
