on the map: stacey on denver style

finding moments of inspiration in the landscapes (and consignment shops) of the mile-high city

For most of my life, I was a shy person. Reserved might be more accurate: I hesitated to start conversations with people, my intense curiosity no match for my ambient fear of judgment; of not being “cool” enough. Going into journalism after finishing school was, in many ways, a natural choice: if one has a degree in English and creative writing, there are a few obvious paths to take, and I chose one of them. But I had more interior motivation, too: I wanted to get better at talking to people. And quickly, I did. When half of your day is spent cold-calling sources and guiding people through interviews, your reservations start to fade. I learned to love the cadence of these conversations, to get comfortable with the idea of long pauses not as awkward, but as spaces into which some of people’s more thoughtful reflections might flow.

Though I’m no longer in journalism, I miss this part of it every day. So what a treat to be embarking on this series of talking to incredibly kind and thoughtful people about style, their stories, and their cities. And what a treat to meet Stacey, a fellow journalist with a unique trajectory that brought her to Denver, where she’s not afraid to stand out for her playful style, and shout out the people whose looks also catch her eye. Read on for her take on style in this mountain west city!

I’d love to learn about your relationship with style. Has it always been something you’ve been interested in, or do you feel like being in Denver has brought it out in  you?

When I was growing up, my mom really instilled in me and my sister—we’re super close in age; she’s 20 months younger than me—that the way you presented yourself matters. There were a lot of cute, coordinated outfits for the two of us, a lot of emphasis on brushed hair, everything cleaned, everything ironed. So to me, picking out an outfit has always been a way of putting my best foot forward and doing something for myself to feel good, and that comes from my upbringing with my mom. 

That makes so much sense to me—a lot of the people I talk to or read about have such a deep family lineage of style. I have that with my mom and the women in my family, and I always love learning about it. Is style still a throughline in your relationship? 

Oh, absolutely. My mom loves shopping and loves a deal. I’ve been challenging myself for the past year to shop only secondhand (check out her fun finds at @millennial_diane!), and she loves to be along for the journey. I’ll text her when I’m out shopping, like you’ll never guess how much I got this Alice & Olivia dress for  and she’ll just be dying for me to tell her. That was one of my best finds, by the way—it’s this gorgeous red silk dress with flowers, and I found it in a secondhand store called Womanfolk in Jackson, Wyoming earlier this year. I love that we always have this connection through what we find. 

The aforementioned Alice & Olivia dress, and her adorable little son.

With my sister, it’s so interesting: she was in the Navy for nine  years, and in the big sister opinions that I have, really lost her connection with her sense of style because she had to wear a uniform every single day. Now that she’s retired from that career, it’s been incredible watching her find herself again. She’s also joined me on the consignment and secondhand train. She lives in San Diego and has been exploring some  incredible vintage stores. We’ll also both go deep into the online resale platforms—I love Poshmark and sell my clothing there, and I’m a huge eBay fan. Depop is wild–it’s chaos. My sister will text me when she’s gone down the deepest of rabbit holes that app and I’ll join her there.

I love how you’re able to connect across all these different places through style! I’d love to learn how you ended up in Denver, and how your style evolved along the way. 

I grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania—an hour north of Philadelphia. For most of my career, I was a news producer, and the way it works is when you’re trying to move up, you have to follow the market. So my first job was in Fort Myers, Florida. That was fascinating: I was 22 years old, living in  a snowbird community. I joined a tennis league that was just me, and all women over 65. Everyone was decked out in Lilly Pulitzer and Jack Rogers. I just had fun with it. The secondhand shopping around there was incredible, too—the morbid reality is that so many people go to Florida when they’re old, and when they pass away, they leave all of these incredible things behind. It was a really interesting window on the community and on people’s lives. Living in different places really can influence your style, and I can see bits and pieces of my life in Florida show up now: I still have my Sperry topsiders that my now husband bought for me back then, and while I wouldn’t buy Lilly Pulitzer anymore, I feel a lot of nostalgia for that time in my life when I see it. 

After Florida, my husband and I moved to Milwaukee where he got a job working for Miller Coors and that’s what took us to Denver, which is where we’ve been for seven years. My style has definitely evolved since I’ve been here. I got out of news producing because I wanted to have a family, and the scheduling in that world can be hellish: If we ever play two truths and a lie at parties, one of my truths is that I’ve worked every hour of the day, and every day of the year. But even when I worked overnight, I always just wanted to look my best self and pull together a good outfit—even on no sleep, it was a little mental boost for me. I work from home now, with a much more predictable schedule, but I still make an effort to get dressed every day. 

I’m impressed—I’m one of those sweats-until-necessary work from home people. How has living in Denver shaped your style? 

Denver style is definitely very casual at all times. You can go to a bar or a restaurant in your Chacos,a flannel and workout leggings, and that’s what most people do. But that doesn’t feel like who I am, so in my friend group, whenever we go out, I’m always, by Denver standards, overdressed. If we transported ourselves to a different city, what I’m wearing would be a totally normal thing to wear to a restaurant. I’m an outlier and I’m ok with that. I think I’m at the point in my life where I know what I want, and have the attitude of: you do you, and I’ll do me. It’s funny—I’ve read multiple articles lately pitting Millennials against Gen Z in terms of our jeans, how we part our hair, the socks we wear. It’s so silly! Just part your hair the way you think it looks nice on your face,  wear whatever socks you want; do what you want, wear what you want—whatever makes you happy when you leave the house.

ButI do feel like Denver is an inspiring place to live. It offers such an incredible landscape that draws you to the outdoors. The hiking and swimming here are incredible and I’ve just started taking horseback riding lessons—I haven’t been on a horse in years ! I think my style is reflecting this exploration more and more. I definitely find myself gravitating toward earth tones, and colors that we see in Rocky Mountain National Park like the beautiful green of the trees or the bright blue of alpine lakes. And there’s a bit of a western vibe here, a bit of an après vibe, that I’ve picked up on. Since coming here, I’ve been really into The Great, which is such a good encapsulation of western and coastal at the same time: It has these beautiful prints and textures that transport  you somewhere, and you just feel cool wearing it.

Are there moments where you feel like you connect with people around style in Denver? How does that feel? 

At first it was surprising to me how many good consignment stores there are in the Denver and Boulder area. But maybe it shouldn’t be that surprising: there are so many transplants here and  they bring so many interesting things with them that make their way into these stores. Boulder and parts of Denver, too, are also quite wealthy, so you can find some real designer steals in the racks. The women who run some of my favorite shops do a great job of sourcing and curating, and it’s hard to not find something when you’re out looking.

There are moments here too when I’ll see someone who really inspires me,  I’ll always tell them. Recently, I was at a show at Red Rocks and dressed up, in my way—I had on one of my favorite dresses that I wore at a mountain wedding and jumped at the chance to wear again—and this woman walked by in an amazing hat. She looked great, so I told her, and she said the hat was from Lack of Color, an Australian brand that makes really amazing hats. I’m big on complimenting people. Whenever you’re out in public and you’re feeling really good and someone recognizes that in  you and shouts you out, it feels great—so why not do that for someone else? 

Let’s end with your compliments to Denver! You shouted out the consignment scene—want to tell us some of your favorite places in the city? 

One of my favorite consignment stores is called Rags—there’s one in Boulder and one in Denver, and there’s a bit of a rivalry about which one’s better, but I’ve found good things at both of them (like brand-new, tags-on Pendleton shirts for $20). Common Threads also has shops in Denver and Boulder and has a really great designer selection (the Boulder location also has sewing classes—how cool is that?). In Boulder, a place called Disco Apocalypse has the craziest mix of very old vintage and vintage T-shirts; I found a wild pair of gold jeans shorts there, and also a pair of overalls with a print that looks hand-painted, but to me looked perfect for wearing to a music festival. In Denver, walking around Tennyson is a must: It’s a really cute street. A couple of my favorite shops there are Second Love, another consignment shop, and Blush, which is a bit higher end with a mountain vibe—they have brands like The Great, Sundry, Chan Luu. Right nearby is Dona Forta, which specializes in slow fashion and sustainable brands. And I have to shout out my favorite place to eat: it’s called Fire on the Mountain and it is a Grateful Dead-themed wing restaurant. Excellent french fries. Whenever we can’t decide where to go to eat, it’s always the answer.