Tuesday Takeover: Cassity B. Gies
Welcome Cassity Gies to Maz Modern. My experience with Cassity is as a friend and co-worker, and it has been my pleasure to watch her bloom from an eager and energetic law student to a litigator with the Phillips Murrah family law team. Cassity has always made fashion and style look effortless in her very busy work and personal life, but she finds a way to manage it all with a smile, and that smile is among one of her best accessories. Watching her manage six children in a two lawyer household lets you know that she can handle the smallest or biggest challenges with style and grace. Cassity Gies is a firecracker of positivity and I’m excited she’s able to share her take on juggling her busy and beautiful life in style with the Maz Mavens.
Until Katherine began revolving conversations around the fashion choices of so many interesting and impressive women, my own personal style wasn’t something I’ve attempted to define or actively contemplate. Like many —scratch that –all women: thousands of things compete for my attention by the minute. But as a matter of course, my personal style usually comes together organically without a lot of work. My fashion choices stem from intentionally recognizing when my confidence is stirred and inspired, or when it’s stiffened and stretched.
With knowing redundance I restate a sentiment that many beautiful women have already proffered in Maz Modern, but let’s hear it once more for the cheap seats: How you feel in your own skin should drive your fashion choices. (It should drive all of our choices, really.)
For example, if I feel even a little bit uncomfortable in how I’m presenting myself, that lack of honest vibrato will override any imaginary points achieved for hitting a new trend. This gut check keeps me from feeling like a poser or wearing styles that feel inauthentic. If I’m uneasy about a specific look, then I move on and forget about it, within a matter of moments even. I don’t spin the wheels in my mind contemplating whether something does or does not work. I trust myself to know better than anyone if something hits a mark for “me”. Allowing myself to immediately move on when something doesn’t click, sets me up to freely give myself that same instant permission to bite into something with a “hell yes” if an outfit or accessory feels right. I think this deserves reiteration because women commonly damper their own creative energy by saying “I can’t wear that” or “I could never pull that off.” Why should we practice instant self-rejections but not believe that it’s equally (or I would say arguably MORE important) to practice instant dive-ins to something that makes us smile? Just own whatever “it” is that makes your eye twinkle because you know best.
Before I jump on a trend or new style, I contemplate, as many people do, how much mileage I can get out of it and how cringeworthy that look might be in a few years. For me though, mileage doesn’t only refer to how many times you can wear it. It also extends to how long the impression you left on others will last, and I put high value in that. So, although I may not get to wear something like spiked leather combat boots every week, I will be found splurging on these amazing shoes nonetheless because I value the way I feel while stomping around in them. This is all part of that inner gut check allowing yourself permission to say YES to things that inspire you.
I have six children at home and a busy little life being Queen Bea of my hive, so online shopping is a crux for my lifestyle. I prefer modestly priced pieces that allow me to rotate my looks more often. (Note this find I scored last month on Amazon)
PERFECT IN PRACTICE AND PRACTICALITY
Leaning towards classic and traditional silhouettes, I’m usually in a fitted sheath dress or pencil skirt with jacket and heels. I own my femininity and prefer a tailored look that celebrates the shape of my figure. But let’s be real. As proud as I am to shine as a woman, there are times when the automatic, societal marginalization stemming from sex and gender makes it harder to get things done. When appearing in front of a judge or facing opposing counsel, the only attention I’m seeking is to advance the position of my client. I practice discernment in my appearance whenever I’m advocating so that I’m controlling as much as I can and stepping over preventable distractions.
I stick to basic pieces that allow me to throw something on quickly. I don’t have mind-space to expend towards getting dressed in the morning. When charging out the door, I need the safety net of interchangeable pieces because, ultimately when my son smears his morning Danimals on my lap, I may have to pivot back into my closet for a fashion pitstop. There’s a reason I own four different “grab and go” black pencil skirts.
MODERN WITH A VINTAGE TWIST
Although I don’t usually spend a lot of money on my daily workwear, I enjoy mixing in designer pieces when the right one finds me, like this vintage 1996 briefcase/laptop bag that my husband gifted me last Christmas.
I can’t carry a designer purse because I’d trash it with cracker crumbs, uncapped highlighters, spilled hand sanitizer, and somehow an endless supply of empty Sonic straw wrappers that I tote around for everyone in my family. I love that I don’t have to share this briefcase with anyone but me. When answering to as many people as I do on any given day, I welcome when something can be mine alone. I also love that it has a story behind it. It makes me happy to know that I’m carrying a briefcase (probably designed for a man) that’s been circulating the world since I was a sixth-grader donning braces, knobby knees, and a wild imagination of what my adult future would hold.
BEE INTENTIONAL WITH FASHION
Lastly, when it comes to my attire, I grab at a chance to be visually reminded of my heart’s center and my personal values. Clothing and accessories are opportunities to subtly catch my own eye and remember who I am and all that I’m striving to accomplish in this universe. Any quick onceover of me will often reveal a bee pattern, either in print, or more often in jewelry. I’m very proudly named after my Grandma Bea. My middle name is Beatrice, and I gifted the name to my daughter Channing Beatrice. I intentionally sign my name with my middle initial, and you will find me smiling in comfort, not panicking, whenever a bee buzzes into my personal space.
Staying centered on what matters most in my life, while juggling all that I do, requires a lot of intentionality. During hard conversations or nerve-fraying life stresses, glancing at a bee on my ring finger, or having someone comment on a bee patterned scarf, silently and suddenly reminds me that I come from somewhere. Those momentary reminders of who we are and what we love are welcomed guideposts to rely upon when responding to whatever the day throws at us. Armoring up with token cues of self-love and self-celebration helps me to trust myself and stay in alignment with my own path. And I’ll take all the help I can get in that pursuit because at the end of long days, cleaning up life’s messes is somehow made more tolerable with a bee charm swaying cheerfully from my necklace.
GET THIS LOOK
Amazon pinstriped sheath dress
Valentino Patent Rockstud Pump 85MM
Two of my top local stops for clothing are:
The Black Scintilla and Silver Accents of Oklahoma City
