"Wild Heart" Written By Our Dear Friend Blythe Marks
January 09, 2018
There’s a particular live recording of Stevie Nicks singing a rendition of “Wild Heart” that I listen to whenever I need to calm down. Backstage at a 1981 photoshoot for Rolling Stone, Nicks throws the lyrics on top of a melody that would become the Fleetwood Mac song “Can’t Go Back”. Around the 2:43 mark, the pre-chorus crescendos with a synthesizer trilling to the heavens as the vocal harmonies fade to silence for a beat. Perhaps it’s actually a phone ringing in the background at just the right moment, a serendipitous instrumental riff that adds a magical twinkle to the entire affair. This version of the song transcendents time and space from start to finish. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime happening. One that stokes the flames of the witchy woman who’s always waiting in the wings of my heart.
So how to translate this feeling into a pair of underwear? Handmade, high-waisted, black velvet: the only words I needed to hear to convince me that I, too, could become a goddess like Stevie. She might not live in the Arizona desert anymore, but her spirit still lingers. It comes alive whenever I pull on my Everyday Underwear created with me and other trans femmes in mind.
In my conversations with Nat, Kat, and the rest of the Solstice team, I’ve helped develop an undergarment that serves the sisters of my coven in our quest for comfort, style, and safety. Whether I’m in a flowy prairie dress, a miniskirt, vintage Wranglers, or the comfort of a partner’s embrace, my underwear allows me (in the words of Stevie) to run around like a spirit in flight. I feel fearless. And that makes me feel powerful.
Panties, even the sexiest pairs, will not set us free. But they can help us live in our bodies on our own terms. This is just one way I live every day with abandon, and I admire any trans woman brave enough to look deep into herself—or her underwear drawer—for power where many say there should be secrets and shame. Keep an eye out for a full-throttle femme fatale high-cut version coming soon. I’ll be wearing them, casting spells and letting my wild heart run free.
