WHOWHATWEAR
Charlotte Szivak leans into a loveseat covered in plush cushions and reaches into her bra.
She fishes out a crystal skull about the size of her palm, marbled in pink and ivory. Then she reaches in again and produces a shard of blue kyanite, followed by a yellow citrine stone.
“I wear stones in my bra; it’s pretty funny,” explains Szivak, 44, a renowned psychic, actor, singer, dancer and media personality. “It helps when you’re doing healings and readings — it enhances your energy and your abilities so that you can give more.”
That’s Szivak’s main gig, these days — psychic readings and healings. After a career path that took her to Hollywood, landing speaking, singing and dancing roles in films like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “The Pacifier” and “Hairspray,” this native Hamiltonian finds herself back in her hometown with a packed schedule that includes being the official radio morning show psychic on Y108 and FreshFM, guest appearances on Animal Planet (animal communication) and Discovery. She is also in talks with a major network to produce a reality TV show about psychics.
But it took a while to find herself, she says. Working in the film industry for a decade surrounded by intuitive beings helped to hone her abilities, explains Szivak. She was having visions and vivid dreams but was in denial, afraid. And then when SARS hit Toronto and its film industry in the early 2000s, she decided to embrace her calling, turning to tarot readings to pay the bills. And while her career as a psychic took off, she continued to struggle with a fear of her intuitive self. So she hid her physical self in yoga and track pants, shying away from the dresses, faux fur and “elegant funky” look she favours today.
“I wanted to be taken seriously,” says Szivak, who has also been nominated for a Women of Distinction Award and was a spokesperson for the Hamilton/ Burlington SPCA. “So I decided to be more reserved. It’s almost like I denied my fashion sense for the first few years. And then I realized, ‘What are you afraid of ? This is who you are.’”
From ripped jeans to pleather jackets to elegant lace dresses like the navy and nude Addition Elle number she wears here with tan cork wedge heel sandals, Szivak says she is having fun with her wardrobe, wearing whatever strikes her fancy when she wakes up that day.
“I just love it now,” says Szivak, who accessorizes with a tourmaline ring and azeztulite (a trademarked type of white quartz) pendant necklace, both from Arizona. “Now it doesn’t matter anymore because now I finally own