Nia Williams
Instructor Koester
English 1010
September 30, 2013
Profile: Deena J. Poythress
Driving through Hampton, GA with her 2 kids in tow and her musician husband, Deena J. Poythress, 33, has no time on her hands except for work and her family. She’s a dedicated wife and mother, but most importantly it’s the passion and dedication to her work as a stylist that makes her as great as her other two jobs. Starting off as a little girl fascinated with Barbie and her many clothes, Deena has elevated herself from styling plastic Barbie dolls to styling actors and musicians. But it doesn’t stop there because it’s only the beginning for her. She has many hopes and dreams for the future, herself, and fashion. She’s seen who she was and what fashion was. She knows who she is now and what fashion is now. And she’s optimistic and adventurous to find out for what’s to come for her and for fashion.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Deena always loved clothes. She was always fascinated by fashion and style. Like all little girls, Barbie was the inspiration to dress up and play around with various outfits. She loved all the different outfits that Barbie had and was fascinated that she had so many! As she got older, she started picking up magazines and looking at the various trends and, once her mom allowed her to start dressing herself, she started developing a fashion sense of her own. While studying marketing at Tuskegee University, she still had a burning passion for fashion. “My parents were paying for school, so therefore I had no choice but to study marketing.” Deena states. She looked into possibly transferring into a program at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in California, often called FIDM, but found that it was rather expensive and turned down the thought.
While she was still in college, Deena worked at a small boutique near Auburn University called Behind the Glass. Once she graduated she was able to elevate her career from manager to becoming assistant buyer for the boutique despite her degree. From there, her fashion career started going up and up! She moved from Alabama to Atlanta and began styling by taking on various jobs from styling artists for album covers, to styling actors for films and TV shows. Before the elevation of her career, she had hit a wall where she hated managing Behind the Glass and decided that if it wasn’t going to go up from where she was she either needed to give up or find another outlet for fashion and start building her portfolio. She finds it a blessing that she’s made it to where she is in which her title is now a contracted assistant wardrobe stylist.
What exactly is an assistant wardrobe stylist you might ask? Well, as Deena describes it, “I purchase all the clothes for the designer. So, I’ll be at the stores in the mall when it opens and I’ll be there until they close. I’ll bring all the clothes to the set and lay them out for the designer to choose what they want. My day probably starts at about 9 and doesn’t end till about 11.” she says. Hectic I know! You probably wonder how she even manages that and her musician husband, Abe and her two kids, Aiden, 5 and Zoe, 2. And even with the 2 she has she still wants to expand her family. But she does give some helpful advice for anyone who may want to pursue the type of career she has. “On a creative level, it would have been much easier for me if I’d started my career first and then had a family later. So, that’s probably the advice I would give is that if you want to do this job, focus on this job first and worry about the family later.” Though she has her hectic job and family, she still talks about adding more jobs to the resumé. “I would love to get into interior decorating and event planning. But nothing that I would have to go back and stay in school for a long time for.” In the meantime, until she starts these ventures, she loves spending her own time doing absolutely nothing except sitting in her pajamas on the couch and watching her favorite movie, Sweet Home, Alabama.
Deena’s personal style and choices is something worth marveling at; she describes her fashion as, “Vintage. Comfortable. Easy.” She loves jewel tones such as emeralds and rubies. Colors are also a favorite for her; she loves fall colors: deep, rich colors. But what she does try to stay away from is wearing trends that have become overdone. “Right now, for me, it’s leather sleeves. Like, I have a blazer with leather sleeves and I love it, but it’s starting to get played out. When you start to see it everywhere, that’s how you know a trend is on its way out.” according to her.
I asked Deena what she sees in the future for herself and for fashion. As far as future plans for herself, she says she’d love to open a trendy store for women. “I’d love to have a store for women to come in if they’re feeling down or something. Have them come in and have it feel familiar and make it a setting for them to feel at home and get a jolt of fabulosity and then go on with their day!” And she tells me that as far as fashion goes, “I’m interested to see the technology that’s going to merge with fashion. Anything that can make a job easier is great, but as far as clothing goes, I’m interested in seeing how it’s gonna work.”
Deena is a woman of fashionable excellence! From growing up dressing Barbie, to dressing herself, to dressing various artists and actors there’s nowhere for her to go from up. Jumping the wall of going to school for what her parents paid for, to still coming out pursuing her passion it shows that she has drive and there’s nothing and no one to stop her. She focuses hard on her career and she loves it: passion at its best. Before our interview ended, I asked Deena if there’s a quote that she lives by for her fashion; she tells me, “Know who you are, and adorn yourself accordingly.” She has certainly proved that she knows who she is and she’s excited about it and at the same time adorns herself accordingly with flawless fashion sense. She knows who she was and what fashion was. She knows who she is now and what fashion is now. And she has a burning passion and excitement to find out what the future has for her and for fashion.
Mrs. Deena J. Poythress
