Women of Style – Laura Stansberry.

On a recent trip to the “music city” of Nashville, I could not fail to notice the unique ubiquitous style and mere fact that Nashville women love their fashion. Sure there is the Southern inspiration you would expect to see but it’s infused with a mix of vintage and trends creating what I can only describe as a polished retro vibe.

While in Nashville I discovered one very cool lady who has this polished retro look down to a tee and who, I am delighted to say, has agreed to feature as our next Women of Style. I met Laura at the boutique style concept store, Calypso St Barth, when she introduced me to the best ever pair of skinny white jeans!  A stunning 5’9″ brunette whose aesthetic is a combination of the Stevie Nicks bohemian and Florence Welch rock chic, it is clear that Laura owns an innate instinct for style.

Growing up in Nashville, it was Laura’s love of dance that lead her  to enroll at the performing arts school as a 5th grader, where she soon developed another passion for visual art.  ”Painting allowed me to be ME and to put my feelings or whatever I wanted on canvas and no one can say “no”, you missed a step or could do that turn better. Art is what you feel it is and there is no right or wrong to it….!”

Laura credits the time she spent at the performing arts school as being instrumental to who she is today. “I was surrounded by incredibly talented and creative individuals. Everyone was from different walks of life all across Nashville but we all had the love of the arts in common and were respective of each others individuality and appreciative of their talents”

Despite a love of dance and the arts in general, it was a long held dream to be a Dentist that saw Laura enroll at Middle Tennesse State University. When it soon became apparent that Dentistry was not for her, she switched majors to Fashion Merchandising and Design. “Once I changed majors it was like a light was guiding my future! Fashion, clothing….its our way as humans to express ourself to others!”

With this new-found sense of direction, Laura was able to fully engage her creative energies towards a career in fashion. “I loved studying Fashion Merchandising learning everything from history of costumes, customer behaviors to actually creating my own designs. Some of my favorite projects were putting on a fashion show, developing a small business and a dream, week long industry study in NYC”

After graduating, Laura began her retail career in earnest. A merchandiser for Totes/Isotoner and a position within the Jones New York Apparel Group were followed by a management position at Calypso St.Barth.

Within the last few months Laura has joined the management team at True Religion Brand Jeans as Assistant Manager. With aspirations to perhaps, one day, open her own boutique she is hoping to learn first hand how to make a successful business work – and where better place than a globally successful denim brand for her to achieve this goal! For more on Laura, her style choices and favorite Nashville hangouts go to Scenes of Style Page – Laura Stansberry (top menu)