My Style: Claire Rene

Photos by Leo Soyfer

Claire René is an influencer and wedding filmmaker based out of Greenwood, Indiana. While working as a make-up artist three years ago, she started her blog, Claireifying Beauty, featuring pieces on style, beauty, and life with her husband and two dogs. She now boasts almost twenty thousand followers on her Instagram, an ode to bright prints and colorful outfits.

PATTERN had the opportunity to sit down with Claire and discuss her influences and brand. Check it out:

Name: Claire René

Residence: Greenwood, IN

Occupation: Wedding Filmmaker and Content Creator

Where did you grow up?

I’ve lived in the Greenwood area my whole life. My husband and I bought a house in the same neighborhood as my parents!

What is your earliest memory of a noticeable interest in fashion?

I remember my mom used to always have me and my older sister match. Even at my kindergarten picture day, my sister would have been in second or third grade, and we had identical outfits on in different colors. I was always in pinks, oranges and warm tones, and she had green, blue and purple versions. I remember that we took our picture day photos in these fuzzy, speckled, stretchy shirts with cords that matched, and I had the pink version and she had the purple version. I remember that picture day vividly, because I thought, “this outfit rocks!” I’ve always worn and matched colors. I was that kid in middle school and high school who would get up an hour before school and put together an outfit. Once I started wearing makeup in high school, I would match my eyeshadow to my outfit, and that was not good, because it would be, like, iridescent lime green. I thought it was awesome. Now I look back at photos and laugh, like the prom photos where I had a navy dress, so I had frosty blue eyeshadow all the way to my eyebrows. I was all about matching makeup until my senior year. At that point, I didn’t wear a lick of makeup for a while.

Who or what influences your style?

I love color. I gravitate towards coordinating colors, and with editing video, I understand the color wheel and color theory, what looks good together and where they lie on the spectrum. Other than that, my mom’s always been super stylish, always put-together from head to toe. I always admired that and thought, “wow, my mom looks like a rockstar,” ever since I was little.

What are your favorite Instagram accounts to follow?

Definitely @officiallyquigley. Her account is so fun, and everything is so colorful. She wears whatever she wants to wear. I’ve learned a lot from her photography style and about posing, because she does a lot with movement and it creates way more fun images. She really inspires me, I’ve loved her for years. She finally followed me back, and we’ve gotten to talk in DMs! Another one is @madmaven. She’s equally fun and friends with Quigley, so sometimes they’ll do shoots together with fun, coordinating outfits. Someone else that’s really fun is @suzyshattuck. Her style and editing is more vintage, it’s very unique, but she’s also fun and colorful. I love following her and her content. I love anything that’s retro, like 60s, 70s and 80s.

Describe your personal style in four words or one phrase.

Retro, bold, fun, and colorful.

What’s your go-to item in your closet?

I’m a huge dress person. I feel like they’re just easy. I would prefer to be in a dress, or even a midi-skirt, anything that’s not pants. Flowy pants are fine, but I don’t wear jeans, and I rarely wear shorts unless they’re fancy or fun. I’m always putting on a dress. I love maxi dresses, which is weird, because I’m technically super short, and petite people are supposed to stay away from them. A lot of the time, they’re too long, so I have to hem them or wear really high heels, but I love them.

Who are your favorite designers, and what do you like about their designs?

I don’t really keep up with big names or luxury fashion designers, but there’s one designer that I follow on Instagram. She’s not huge, but I love her stuff. I can’t afford it yet, but one day I’ll own something from her, because I think her stuff is so cool. Her name is Celia, and she makes a lot of dresses and really fun pieces with shoulder pads. It’s very bright and colorful, and I love how it has a 60s look with floral patterns. I think it’s so beautiful, so one day, I’m going to own one of these dresses.

Did you ever consider leaving the Indy area? If so, what made you stay?

I don’t think I’ve ever really considered leaving, even right before my husband and I got married. He loves to hike and to be out west, and we traveled there for vacations. There was a moment in time when we thought about living there for, like, two seconds. Then we said, “but then we’ll live there and it won’t be as fun, and we’ll be visiting Indiana for vacation!” So there was a moment where we thought about moving out West, especially with our video business, but our families are too important for us to leave. My younger brother is just finishing high school, and my husband and I are both involved in our church. We just had too many relationships with people here that we didn’t want to leave and start over.

What trends are you noticing for next season’s fashion?

I definitely feel like everything has more of a 90s feel, which is funny, because the people who are wearing it think that it’s vintage. I still probably have all that in a bin somewhere, because it really wasn’t that long ago! I’m seeing bucket hats and baggy cargo-type pants or jeans. I feel like everyone’s wearing crop tops with different shaped openings and cut-outs, and there’s this whole tennis skirt vibe that people are wearing with crewneck sweatshirts. I’m seeing retro-looking high-waisted shorts and big white chunky tennis shoes. I feel like people are a little more casual after last year, so we’re trying to make “comfy” cute.

What’s next for you? What short and long term goals are on your list?

Last year, I had a partnership with Modcloth, and I worked with them monthly for a year. It was my favorite thing in the world. I’m trying to do more collaborations with bigger name brands on a paid basis— I’d love to work with Target. In a perfect world, I would love to create my own clothing line. I used to say in middle school that I could never find a swimsuit that fit my body how I wanted it to. It made me so upset, and I always said that one day I was going to start my own swimsuit line. Maybe one day, I’ll create a line that encompasses that with swimsuits, fun maxi dresses, skirts and flowy pants with colorful prints and shapes. That would be the dream.

Define fashion.

That’s a hard question. If fashion is synonymous with style, I never really have an answer when someone asks me, “what’s your style?” Some days it’s one thing, some days it’s something totally different. It’s always changing, but whatever I like, I wear. I think that people sometimes feel like they have to stick to one look, where other people know that’s what you wear and that’s what they think of when they think of you. Then one day you want to switch it up, and we say, “oh, that’s not something you would usually wear,” but it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to fit inside one box. You’re allowed to expand out.

Worst fashion trend?

I’m not a fan of the baggy cargo pants trend that’s happening. I feel like those already happened, and they weren’t good! That’s why we were routed out of them! I can’t imagine putting low-rise pants on my body right now. I switched for a reason, and for me, higher-waisted stuff is more flattering. It cracks me up that people are wearing low-rise pants right now.

Best fashion trend?

I love statement sleeves, anything that’s poofy or has shoulder pads. I like anything going on in the sleeve area, even though I’m not wearing it today!

Name your favorite fashion icon.

The first person that comes to mind, I’ve already mentioned. Quigley is one of my favorite people to follow. Her pictures are so good, and if I met her one day, I would literally pass out.

To keep up with Claire and learn more about her brand, check out her website, Instagram, and she and her husband’s wedding videography page.

Claire Rene.
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