Getting To The Bottom Of It: Alicia McCaslin
It is no secret that the styling wisdom of Alicia McCaslin of Tullebox is highly sought after. In my estimation, half of you reading this have sat on the floor of your closet with her and the other half have at least considered it. Alicia is one of my favorite people to go to with weird, abstract questions and ideas. Sometimes they’re thoughts about clothes, imagine that… but more often they’re about the service industry. Over the years Alicia has worked several jobs adjacent to her successful styling business, all customer-facing; it is no surprise at all that her styling insights are currency.
Personal style is such a developed thing. In some ways, items that many of us gravitate toward seem never to change, while other parts of it never stop evolving. The fun part is that the older we get, the more we grow into our own style and passions and often jobs. Some things make more sense, some less. Constantly seeking a greater understanding of people is something that has made Alicia great at each type of service job she has had and Tullebox is no exception. She helps me think about things in a different and deeper way than I otherwise might. In order to change something, one first has to understand it, wrap their mind around it. I would be doing her a disservice to say that she really understand clothes. She does; we know that. The nuance of her superpower is that she can help us all think about clothing in a new way, while still encouraging fun exploration. How is a certain piece serving us in our wardrobe? Is it okay to alter that expensive designer thing? (It is.) Do I really want to cut bangs? (This may just be me, but if it’s also you, she did tell me to wait until fall. You’re welcome.) This is a long way to say that while Alicia will give me a thoughtful answer on just about anything, and I really appreciate that about her.
The approach Alicia uses with her bag is the same that she uses in closets: it should serve a purpose and it should make you happy. Purpose and happiness seemed to come in twos inside the Jerome Dreyfuss bag. Two pairs of Krewe sunglasses, Caddis readers, Lizzie Fortunato Organic Hoops… two snack varieties, even two types of mints. She has two pens from Penny Post, which I personally think is showing restraint. Two sets of keys. We’ve doubled down, pun intended. Alicia, if you ever feel like playing tennis, my bet is that a doubles match may end in your victory.
She may be carrying two of everything, but Alicia has won me over with the rationale of having options. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to imagine choosing an outfit too far in advance…. I don’t know who I might be tomorrow morning. How could I possibly get dressed in advance? Her purse is the same way. She might need silver earrings tomorrow even if she needed gold today. Same rule for sunglasses and breath mints. You get it…
She and I like to joke that people are like goldfish, which will grow as large as their habitats allow. Generally, we will each fill whatever space we are given, be it our homes, our closets… our purses. I know this is true for us, anyway. I am going to take this as Alicia giving me advice to “buy it in two colors.”
