Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Cassidy.
Claire, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Many years ago, the students in Mrs. Meyer’s fifth-grade class voted me Most Artistic and Most Fashionable in the end-of-year superlatives. Before even knowing what “fashion” was as an industry or a career, I had already fallen in love with clothes, makeup, shoes, and much to my father’s dismay, handbags. Ask my mom and she’ll tell you that my favorite pastime was rummaging through her closet and styling my friends for photoshoots with disposable cameras. Even at that young age, my tendencies towards vintage fashion and creativity were already evident to my 5th-grade peers.
I was never necessarily a star student growing up, mainly because I found it difficult to focus on subjects that didn’t interest me or that I wasn’t passionate about. I finally got excited about school when I decided to study Fashion Merchandising at TCU. With my homegrown love of fashion and having excelled in art classes throughout school, I felt pursuing an education and a career in fashion was a perfect fit. As part of my college experience, I had the amazing opportunity to spend a semester in NYC studying Fashion Design at FIT and to study in Paris for the summer alongside my fellow Fashionphile classmates from TCU.
After graduating from college, I headed East from Fort Worth to Dallas, where my fashion career finally got a start in the retail sector. As both a styling assistant for Neiman Marcus and a floor coordinator at Forty-Five Ten, I realized how much I loved working directly with clients. I thrived in the styling environment. Building personal relationships gave me insights into how different personalities and interests influenced individual style. Becoming more confident in my own style and artistic eye through my retail experience, I began to work as a stylist on photo shoots and music videos for friends of mine. The process of pairing an outfit to another artist to fit the mood of a scene or relate to the lyrics of a song struck a chord with me. The more opportunities I had to collaborate with artists, models, and photographers while infusing my own personal fashion sense, the more I realized that freelance styling and creative direction was something I wanted to pursue as a professional endeavor. From that realization, hatched the initial idea and concept for my styling brand and website.
I am a sucker for all things the ’60s and ’70s, from music to furniture (and yes, rebellious long-haired men). Sustainable fashion became a guiding principle of my personal style for practical reasons, but it also perfectly suits my preference for all things retro. I fell in love with the idea of giving older pieces new life and rewriting their stories. My goal is to cultivate a brand that rock-and-rolls fashion, music, spontaneity, art, and originality and sustainability in those who experience it. My hope is that I will continue to grow creatively through each new collaboration- whether it’s with an artist, musician, designer or any individual looking to jumpstart their next creative project.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like every female entrepreneur, getting to where I am has not been without its challenges because, for one, I am not the most conventional person. From my education to working in traditional retail – it was something of a struggle to find my footing in more orthodox environments. Even after getting what most would consider to be an ideal job, a staffed position at a high-end fashion boutique, I immediately knew that I wouldn’t be able to reach my goals and express myself creatively in that type of environment. There was nothing wrong with the job itself, the company’s atmosphere, or the clients – we just weren’t a good fit. With my own company, I knew I wanted to incorporate the positive and successful elements from these situations into how I run my business and approach working with clients while keeping the lessons learned from the more humdrum aspects of my previous experiences.
Flash forward to the COVID crisis: starting a style and design brand may not be for the faint of heart, but luckily, I’ve never been one to do things the easy way. My business plans were set and my website was nearly ready to launch, but I knew it was important for my business and brand to be reflective of the current climate. To this end, I decided to offer my personal wardrobe styling and creative services virtually, so as to better cater to the needs of my clients during this turbulent time. Adapting your brand to stay consistent with the times while staying true to your vision will always be a difficult balancing act, but luckily, I’ve been practicing my whole life.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
When picking a mission statement, I made sure to take the time to find something that conveyed exactly what I’m trying to say with my brand, from its own aesthetic to my creative process. I landed on “To cultivate a brand that rock-and-rolls fashion, music, spontaneity, art, and originality into one cohesive aesthetic. To illustrate how vintage fashion can enhance modern wardrobes while inspiring originality and sustainability in those who experience it”. Marrying two worlds, whether it’s combining couture with vintage glam, or bringing elevated fashion to an Americana music video set, is my passion.
I spoke with a publicist recently, and she mentioned that she hasn’t met any other stylists that are currently bridging high-end fashion with an influence from the music and creative community. I have always loved fashion, but it was extremely important to me to make high fashion relatable to every client. My specialty is blending the best of both worlds: high-end fashion with retro items and inspiration. I approach each client, project, or event in a unique way to deliver the very best experience in an individual manner.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My love for all things fashion, creative, and glammy was apparent very early on. An early standout childhood memory was when I was in Mrs. Meyer’s fifth-grade class and was voted Most Artistic and Most Fashionable in the end-of-year superlatives. If you ask my mom, she’ll tell you that it would be any time I was allowed to rummage through her closet and style my friends for photoshoots with disposable cameras. I’d subject them to random poses in different places all over the house and the yard to best showcase my eclectic outfit pairings (and hopefully hide the fact that the high heels were seven sizes too big). But a truly singular memory was my first trip to New York City.
For as long as I can remember, I had begged my parents to take me to New York – I was dying to see fashion up close and in action. I finally got my wish in 7th grade. Once there, my parents took me to the fashion epicenter that is Bergdorf Goodman – I was mesmerized. After going through what seemed like endless floors of the latest trends in garments, shoes, accessories and anything else related to fashion, we were perusing the fine jewelry counters and admiring a particularly large diamond necklace. Seeing the awe in my eyes, the salesman behind the counter asked if I wanted to try it on. So there I was… wearing $500,000 worth of diamonds in the middle of Bergdorfs. A true dream come true for any 14-year-old girl, but especially me.
Pricing:
- Initial consultation (individual): $35
- Initial consultation (businesses): $75
- Event styling (based on extent of services needed): $100 – $400
- Brand Styling (based on extent of services needed): $200+
- Music Video Styling: $500 – $1,200
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clairecassidystyle.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/@clairecassidystyleco
- Facebook: facebook.com/clairecassidystyle
Image Credit:
Heacox Creative Co.
Cal & Aly
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