A person’s style is transcendent. It adapts with time, place, and season. It’s an expression of art and a key component in our culture. We draw inspiration from decades, music, photography, designers, travel, bloggers, and other creatives. People can really draw inspiration from anyone anywhere, and that’s something we’ve really seen here in Little Rock. Everyone has their own sense of fashion of course, but there are some that stop us in our tracks.
We want to take some time on the BEIGE blog to get to know a few locals that are inspiring us now. People that have their own aesthetic, style inspiration, and are bringing their own unique vibe to the world. Call these segments the creative corner if you will for the style curators of Little Rock.
For the fist segment we want to highlight local artist, Ashley Treece. We wanted Ashley to showcase her personal style in this segment, and she put together such a great look.
(Links to all of the items will be at the bottom of the post.)
Ashley is originally from Arkansas and recently graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where she studied studio art. To gain more insight into her industry she traveled to North Adams, Massachusetts to intern at the Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art for several months, before returning back to Little Rock. She now works for Dillard's Corporate office in their ecommerce department. I didn't know Ashley prior to our interview, but I wanted to pick her brain for hours. Her style was so effortlessly cool, and the way she attains it seems that much more effortless.
Check out a snippet of our interview below:
H: So have you always been interested in fashion?
A: Yeah, pretty much. I went through a goth phase in high school. I had the big trip pants
from Hot Topic. But I got a job just working in the Dillards store when I lived in
Jonesboro, and once I started working in retail I really got more into fashion.
Then I started my blog and through that I got to work with a lot of brands and
companies, just styling things for them. I got to go to fashion week a few times.
H: So how did you build your blog when you were doing it?
A: Mainly through making connections. Just through working with the brands,
and I had a big following on Lookbook. It was kind of like Instagram in a way.- you would
post your daily outfits and then people could hype them. They would have a lot of
opportunities, and through them I ended up getting to host a Levi’s party in Brazil.
It was pretty cool.
H: Wow that’s awesome! What brands did you work with?
A: I worked with Levi’s, with Tobi, Gypsy Warrior, Sugar Lips. And then a bunch of
brands in China.
H: So how would you describe your style, aesthetic, where do you draw
inspiration from?
A: I like street wear a lot. I like being really casual. Sometimes I’ll dress up,
but for the most part I just like tomboy casual style. And I love men’s clothing. It’s
usually way nicer than women’s. They have such good basics.
H: Amen to that. So what’s a fashion secret you have?
A: I guess it would be probably thrift stores. I used to shop a lot at Savers. I like
having things that no one else is going to have. I love vintage clothing - I like
combining vintage with modern pieces. I look at Tumblr a lot when I’m bored -
The Classy Issue. Do you follow them?
H: I have a tumblr, but I almost forget it’s a thing.
A: I don’t use tumblr at all. I literally only go to one tumblr- The Classy Issue.
It’s really cool for style inspiration. I’ll also go into thrift stores see something,
and I’m like oh that’s kinda cool. How can I make that work?
H: What’s your favorite item that you have right now?
A: Probably these boots. I wear them pretty much everyday, and I got them at Goodwill
for $3. They are almost like sock boots, but from the nineties. They almost have
a square toe with a chunky heel. I wear them with everything. I’m so glad I found them.
H: So who are your favorite designers, brands, do you have any favorites?
A: I mean I like Gucci of course - like everyone does right now. I’ve always liked
their aesthetic. But the new thing they did with Ignassi Monreal was really cool.
He’s the artist that did their latest catelong, and it’s basically paintings but they are done
digitally. It just looks really cool. I love the way they combine fashion and art.
