A GoPride Interview

Kimberly Scali Gambale

Kimberly Scali Gambale: Hey listen, everybody needs to look fabulous and it doesn't matter what you are or what you want to be.

Tue. February 14, 2012  by Jerry Nunn

Hey listen, everybody needs to look fabulous and it doesn't matter what you are or what you want to be.
Kimberly Scali Gambale

Jerry Nunn fist pumps with Kimberly Gambale from Jersey Couture

America can't seem to get enough of Jersey these days. From MTV's Jersey Shore to Jerseylicious on the Style Network to Bravo's Real Housewives of Jersey, these meatballs keep many people entertained for hours.

Now we have Oxygen's second season of Jersey Couture filmed at a store called Diane & Co. Styling for weddings, proms and now a drag queen, the company has something for everyone.

We fist pumped with Kimberly the eldest from the Scali family right before the first episode aired.

JN: (Jerry Nunn) Hi, Kimberly. I saw from the preview you are dressing Mimi Imfurst from RuPaul's Drag Race.

KG: Kimberly Scali Gambale) Yes.

JN: What was it like fitting a drag queen?

KG: Hey listen, everybody needs to look fabulous and it doesn't matter what you are or what you want to be. We're the girls that can make it happen. They were great. They loved the bling, They loved the fashion. It was all in good fun and they ended up with some great dresses, so why not?

JN: Do you have gay best friends that come into the store and help you?

KG: You know, we have friends of everything - every kind of friend you can imagine. In fashion, you meet a lot of eccentric people. You know, we take advice from everything and everyone, so we have a variety of people that we surround ourselves with. Everyone is better than the next.

JN: Has the store been affected since the filming of the first season?

KG: We were a busy boutique to begin with before the show. The reputation that we've had was always customer service and that's what we pride ourselves on. With the following of the show, we were just blessed to have a ton of more customers from outside of our area, which makes it great. I mean, we had people fly in from Taiwan. We get people from the West Coast.

With the good also comes the bad because you do have the people, I mean, we love meeting the fans of the show and we love meeting people, you still get the people that come in and say they need a dress, but they really just want to meet us and see the experience. They get the two hours of trying on, but they're really not interested in buying a dress.

We try to just tell people, "Just take pictures with us and meet us as a fan. Don't play like you're not interested in meeting with us and just do it from behind the scenes." We take our jobs very seriously. The show is secondary to our business and our family. It's an overall amazing experience. We are just blessed to have so many people that just love us for the family that we are and you can't ask for more than that.

JN: What is the hardest part of working with your family?

KG: The hardest part I would have to say is you know, we're both right or it's never like, "Oh you're right" or "You're right." Everybody has to be right. In our family, whoever can scream the loudest wins. What you see on our show, I can honestly say is all reality. What you see is what you get, there is nothing sugar coated for the camera and you know, we're just blessed to get along.

We have our fights, we have our screaming matches, but at the end of the day, you suck it up and you start the day over the next day and you're over it. It's a great thing to work with your family, but it's not the easiest.

JN: I look forward to seeing the Mimi episode especially.

KG: Aw good. Awesome. It's a really great show and you know, you'll see a lot more of different people and it's not just the pretty blond skinny girl that needs a dress. We show every nationality. We try to show every shape. Everyone who wants to look great, we try to show - male, female or whatever.

Tuesdays bring the bling with Jersey Couture with new episodes now. Visit jersey-couture.oxygen.com for listings and details.
 

Interviewed by Jerry Nunn. Jerry Nunn is a contributing writer to the GoPride Network. His work is also featured in Windy City Times, Nightspots Magazine and syndicated nationally.

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