Shannon Casey

 

Reared in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Shannon Casey is a current senior here at UNCP majoring in Studio Art. Her style would be described as streetwear with a twist; more of an Aaliyah look to give you some visuals. 

"I love crop tops with cargo pants. Sometimes I'll add a trucker hat with it to give it a more 90s look," Casey says.

She says her style started to evolve this past year but describes her previous look, "I was boring and I looked very boxy. It was more of like a high school mentality rather than a college one, so I started looking at pieces like crop tops that I would put on with some straight legs pants and I was like 'Oh my goodness! I actually look better in this!' I even got good feedback from the public."

Prior to her being more thoughtful about her appearance, Casey would often be mistaken as a guy because she had be covered up.

"Before taking things more serious with my appearance, my style consisted of sadness and more sadness," Casey say. "Very much the Simply Southern long-sleeves with the American Eagle jeans

that were like highwaters and the Converse that were two sizes too small looking like clown feet. That was my style and it was horrendous. I was a reflection of the people and environment I was surrounded by." 

Now she says, "I'm actually being myself and I love embracing my body that I was gifted with from God."

When composing an outfit, Casey chooses opposing colors that compliment each other such as burgundy and green. "With art you want to have the opposing colors to match together. Sometimes I'll do an Ombre look where it might be red, orange and yellow. Other times I'll have like the rainbow on top and black or white at the bottom." 

Casey is open to most colors, but grey is one she stays away from. "There's no life and that color is so sad to me. I love the rainbow, I love any color I can my hands on whether it's a pastel, transparent or opaque. They just brighten up your skin and make you look more alive."

Fashion Nova is a go-to online store that Casey loves especially for jeans. "I'm a very long-legged woman and I need to get my legs covered because it is cold out here." She also enjoys going to thrift stores and other retail stores. "Right now since there's not much to get around here, I do online, but if I'm in my hometown I'll go to like Ross, TJ Maxx and I like Shein."

She credits her brother as her inspiration. "He's a very fashionable man and the type to know how to put pieces together from thrift stores and it comes out beautiful. I also think the 70s, 80s, and 90s had the best fashion trends. They had the best colors, sequences and patterns."

Though she doesn't necessarily think her style sets her apart, Casey does believe her height plays a role in how people view her. "People actually have to look up and see me when I walk by. I also love graphics, that's probably one difference. I like to have words and expressions rather than plain tees on my clothes." 

The role of a persons hair, more often than none, play a pivotal role in a person style and Casey shares a little bit about what role her hair plays. "I've come a long way from my curly hair journey since I was a  teenager. Right now I'm rocking some box braids, but before then I was wearing two- strand twists that I would do myself. Sometimes I'd wear it half down, half up and that would correspond with me having a more masculine look and the hair being mostly down would be my more feminine look. When I'd wear my 'fro I earned the name 'Baby Fro' and that was hard to put a hat over. Essentially, every time I had an hairstyle, it would correlate with my fit."

When it comes to accessories, Casey takes a more minimalistic and meaningful approach. She can often be found wearing two rings, one of which says 'Be Brave' on the outside and in the inside reads 'We Live in Hope' which she was gifted by her mother. "I wear that everyday with a passion because it gives me motivation to keep going on with my day." She also wears a gold ring that has a jewel on it on her right pinky that was given to her by her grandmother. "That ring gives me a sort of family strength because she's no longer here with us, so I feel that power and connection." 

"I occasionally like to put on trucker hats or a regular hat if I have a lazy day, but it always corresponds to make the fit look more complete. Sometimes I'll also put in some stud earrings, I'm not really a hoop girl, and maybe like a fake nose ring to clown around."

Now that the fall is here, Shannon can now enjoy composing outfits for this season. One piece of advice she would share with anyone trying to evolve their style is this: "You need to make sure that whenever you find what you want, you want it. Don't let other people, not your parents, not your friends, tell you what you should wear. If you see a piece and you think 'Oh my gosh! I love that!' then you better get it. If you truly think it's a really really good piece then go for it. If it doesn't work find a different one and when you find that right piece you'll know it and you're gonna feel so secure knowing 'Wow I really rocked this and no one else told me it was bad or if it was good because what matters is my opinion.' Make sure that whatever you have your mind and heart set to, you like what you like and you love what you love."

If you want to connect with Shannon, you can find her on Instagram @shay_.113, Snapchat @shaycrazy113.