Meet Claire
YOUNG + IN LOVE
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. I’d subject them to random poses in odd 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 7 sizes too big). Even at that young age, my tendencies towards vintage fashion and creativity were already evident to my 5th grade peers.
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REAL WORLD CHOPS
After graduating from college, I headed east from Fort Worth to Dallas where my fashion career finally got its 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. While designing and buying always interested me, I thrived in the styling environment. Building personal relationships gave me insights into how different personalities and interests influenced individual style. Those experiences led me to realize that the physical garments are only one aspect of what defines fashion—it’s also about the story behind the wearers, the creators, and, on a larger scale, the brands. Becoming more confident in my own style and artistic eye through my retail experience, I began to work as a stylist on photoshoots 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 I opportunities I had to collaborate with artists, models, and photographers while infusing my own personal fashion sense, the more I realized that freelance styling 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.
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EARLY THREADS
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 (classes about fabric patterns, figure drawing, and textile importing—where were those classes in high school!?). 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. While in New York, I gained experience volunteering at Fashion Week where I got to work runway shows at Lincoln Center firsthand. If there had ever been any doubt or uncertainty as to what I wanted to do with my life, it was replaced with passion and enthusiasm for a career in fashion at the culmination of all these inspiring and instructive experiences.
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90s GIRL IN A RETRO WORLD
My sense of style has evolved dramatically over the years and has endured many colorful chapters before becoming what it is today. I am a sucker all things 60’s and 70’s, 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. Once I was living on my own (dime), I started doing more vintage shopping, and I fell in love with the idea of giving older pieces new life and rewriting their stories. Inspired by the funky and timeless pieces I’ve collected over the years, I strive to support vintage stores, both local and global, and always look for opportunities to rework old garments.
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CLAIRE CASSIDY
My goal is to cultivate a brand that rock-and-rolls fashion, music, spontaneity, art, and originality into one cohesive aesthetic. I’d like my work to illustrate how vintage fashion can enhance modern wardrobes while inspiring 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. So as they say, let’s get this show on the road!
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BIO WRITTEN BY CAROLINE DICKEY
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