'I recently shaved my head. I just had an urge one day, so I went to Walgreens and bought some clippers and shaved it. [Laughs] It’s super liberating. Especially as a woman, you’re told you have to have long hair, you know? Or else something is taken away from you. But it’s like freeing your chains, to be able to do whatever you want to do. The color was natural brown for a little and then I just bleached it all out with Manic Panic. To get it super white, there's a special mousse called Redken 9V, which has a violet-tinted undertone to make it whiter. You put the mousse on after you bleach it; it’s a finisher. I do that about once a week, when I see the hair tinting yellow.

I think my hair makes people react differently to me. But part of that is my crazy style, too—people are never too sure if I’m a guy or a girl. I always kind of got this, because of my style, but people are always like, ‘Sir—I mean, ma’am! I mean…’ They don’t know what to do with me…they don’t know what kind of box to put me in. But, I kind of like that. I’m a little bit of a mindfuck when people look at me. Everyone’s like, ‘Who’s that little boy?’ I just laugh; I just think it’s an interesting social experiment, when people question me. But it’s a good conversation to have, so I’m happy that it’s out there…that people are thinking about it. It’s cool. But I guess now it’s a thing to be androgynous. That thing on Style.com! I was dying. [Laughs] I was like, ‘What do you mean, lesbian chic?! This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard in my life!’ It made me feel really uncomfortable. But fashion can be really insensitive to things like that.

I'm a photographer at Nasty Gal, and I do a lot of street-style shoots, but since I wear a lot of color and vintage, the lens often does get turned on me. It’s always strange, but I get it. I definitely went through phases when I was younger. Most of the time, I would wear what the boys were wearing: big skater shoes and wifebeaters. I always kind of did my own thing, but I had a strange girly phase once, which my mom basically made me do when I was 15—the beginning of high school. It was not a good look. It only lasted for a year.

In terms of my style now, I’m really into hip-hop, I’m into punk culture. I’m really inspired by the 70s, skater kids, hardware, chains, leather... I’ve lived in so many places—the south, California, the Midwest—and everything has kind of blended and made me who I am. I would probably never be caught dead in a dress—sorry Mom! [Laughs] Sometimes I’ll do the London Boy skirt look, with pants underneath. I just make everything I wear a bit masculine. Ninety-five percent of my clothing is vintage. There’s just so much good stuff out there from different eras, and I love treasure hunting. There are great places in New York, but Squaresville and Scout in LA are super 90s. If I want to dig and hunt, I go to Saint Vincent de Paul, which is a Catholic charity center with tons and tons of clothes. It’s not well-selected, so you just spend hours digging through. Or the Long Beach Flea Market is good, too. And Palm Springs has a great, weird desert scene and always great vintage; it’s never picked-over, because I think people who live there don’t want vintage?

I’ve had my nose ring for about two years. I went to Venice one random day and had my nose pierced and my neck tattooed by some weird man. The tattoo says “Humble Me.” God, it was so painful. [Laughs] And I had to get it done twice! The first guy in Venice was someone who I shouldn’t have let touch my neck; I usually get my tattoos at Shamrock in LA... In terms of makeup, for me, it's just eyeliner with a little mascara—I use the Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in the little glass pot with a brush, and the standard Maybelline green-and-pink Great Lash mascara. That’s pretty much all I do; I never wear powder or foundation. I wash my face with Cetaphil every day and I moisturize it with Cetaphil every day—morning and night, without fail. It’s my favorite and it’s always worked for me.”

—as told to ITG

Devyn Galindo photographed by Emily Weiss in New York on September 13th, 2012.