Print-loving Lydia Dann on Jefferson Street. Click for more. — Photos by Nicole Wasilewicz.

I spotted Lydia on the Union Square L-train platform and crossed my fingers, hoping she was Bushwick-bound. After passing the Grand and Montrose stops, I decided to chat her up about the amazing tortoise detailing on her oversized gray vintage purse. With a little more prying, I wasn’t surprised to find that yet another victim of my random acts of sartorial stalking works in the fashion industry.

Lydia Dann, 25, Fashion Designer

With primary-colored graphics splashing across her legs, Lydia is hard to miss. Toss in a faux turban headband, fuschia lipstick, and a volumizing fur stole, and this look can only be described as "in your face." A passion for this sort of bold can only be worn by a confident fashionista who knows that crossing boundaries can be a good thing, as long as it’s done in moderation — and this former uniformed school girl is willing to take the risk.

How does the way you dress now differ from the way you dressed in high school?
Well, I had a uniform in high school so it’s very different. Back then I had to wear a plaid skirt à la Britney Spears, and a polo shirt. And now, I definitely do more color and texture. Today I’m wearing a printed legging and heels — which I didn’t really wear in high school ’cause it was against the rules. But when I had, like, my own time I liked to dress up and I was always pretty zany. I’ve just kind of become more fashionable zany than just straight zany. Sometimes crazy hovers on the verge of bad, and I know that.

Do you think the Brooklyn aesthetic may have had something to do with that?
Part of it. But I think it’s also growing up — I mean, people take from everything. They take from vintage, they take from celebrities, they take from high-fashion magazines. It’s such an all-access world now that you have exposure to everything and at all price points, too — so I think it’s really easy to just dress however you want. I try to take from things I like, vintage and new things that I see happening. I try to mix it all up.

Where are you coming from in that outfit?
Work and the gym. I work for a fashion company actually — I’m a designer. The line I design is a print line for a company called Madison Marcus. It’s contemporary women’s wear. We sell at Barney’s and Intermix.

How do you feel working in Midtown, a neighborhood that doesn’t do zany when it comes to style?
Sometimes I see the fiercest people — men and women. You can pick out who’s working around that area and who’s not. Because it’s tourists, and then the Garment District people. It’s quite the mash-up. And sometimes I’ll see something amazing on the street and I’m like, I gotta do that, I gotta have that. Sometimes you stick out and sometimes you blend in depending on if it’s lunch or if you’re out after work.

What’s your favorite fashion trend in Bushwick?
Well, there are ones I don’t like. Like the whole lumberjack thing on guys. And I love flannel and plaids, but I could deal without the beards being so unruly. And on girls, in the winter I really love all the layers, and the hats, and all the amazing leather gloves I see. Girls are usually dressed up and looking nice — and Brooklyn people really do dress up, and that’s something that I love about living in the borough. I’ve been seeing a lot of prints, and I love prints — those Navajo blanket coats!? I love those, they are so intense and beautiful. Also, shoes right now are at the peak of greatness. I’m kind of over the big grandpa glasses though.