Shaye Strager’s current clients are the former VP of a global automotive company, a celebrity vocal coach, a Broadway actress who is the wife of an Oscar-winning actor and at least four CEOs, among others. She’s one of the best Atlanta fashion stylists in the biz who has styled musicians, celebrities and has been the in-house stylist for Phipps Plaza.
While she lives in Atlanta, Strager still visits New York City about once a month seeing clients. “I’m a fashion stylist that has started to do more for her clients than just fashion styling,” she says. Therefore, “I’ve made a career of doing all the things I love—and what started out as a dream job of being a TV reporter, turned into learning the art of being a spokesperson, getting into the fashion industry and ultimately running an agency in New York City. A job that combined every single one of those things. My career path has become the quintessential infinity scarf.”
Above all, it’s just like Strager to equate her vocation to a stylish accessory. She started off the oldest daughter of a college football coach—more likely to wear a jersey than a jersey dress. Here, one of the best Atlanta fashion stylists talks about her favorite Southern icon (she’s mine too!), her faith, what she started out believing she’d do and how Atlanta has changed her. In other words, let’s get to know the woman behind the clothes.
Where did you grow up? How Southern was it on a scale of country bumpkin to gentile, pastoral South?
Ok, good woman. Hold on to your hat. So, with my dad being a college football coach with early career days in Wheeling, OH, and Pittsburgh, PA, I didn’t get to live in the South properly until I was in middle school. Believe me, going from Pittsburgh to Murray, KY, was adolescent culture shock at its finest. We went from Murray, KY, to Blacksburg, VA, and I spent my high school and college years in southwest Virginia. I think those years made a huge impact on my definition of Southern living.
Where do you live now?
Atlanta has been the perfect city to move to after nearly two decades in New York City. Atlanta has the culture, diversity and fashion I crave, yet has also given our daughter Georgia June the idyllic childhood we desperately wanted to give her—a backyard, puppy and neighborhood friends that still run up and down the street knocking on doors for playdates.
When you were younger, what did you want to be?
My cousin was the producer of many FOX affiliates and I remember thinking that TV anchors had the best jobs. That was until I worked at a TV station and realized that reporting was more adventurous. I always knew I wanted to work with the media in some way. The best advice I was given was by a TV producer at the station I worked at before I moved to NYC.
She told me that if I wanted to live in a big city and have some type of TV presence, that I should become an expert in something that I love—and then come back to a network station as a contributor. That is exactly what I did. In 2001, I started doing frequent “Trend Tracker” segments for CBS Channel 2 News in New York. What started out as reporting for fashion week and award shows, turned into a monthly Saturday morning guest spot. I did styling and public relations during the week and had this regular TV gig to even out the highs and lows of the job.
Above all, what do you think makes your life Two-Sided Southern?
According to my husband, I’ve always been city on the outside and Southern on the inside. Best compliment I guess! My mom has a lot of Southern virtues that I admire—devoted to education and our small town/community, an open door policy, loving out loud and speaking openly about her faith and family…and last but not least, being at every football game! Those things are very important to me as well—even my nickname in New York City during fashion week became ‘Southern’ so I guess they are a big part of my personality as well.
Are there any Atlanta fashion stylists, Southern fashion designers or interior designers that you admire, conspire with, adore?
I love what Wes Gordon has done with Carolina Herrera. I adore Laura Vinroot Poole and everything about her stores Capitol & The Poole Shop, and will buy anything Laura Walker Baird tells me to put in my home.
What is something your family would do or make that just strikes you as Southern that you loved and have great memories around? I think our family as a whole has Cheryl Beamer (wife of legendary football coach Frank Beamer) to thank for showing us what being Southern is all about.
There was no better definition of a true lady than Cheryl. Devoted wife, mother, pillar of the community—and incredible woman all around. She interviewed our family when we first moved to Murray, KY, and my dad joined the coaching staff at Murray State. Cheryl covered the human interest stories of the weekly TV show that aired on Sundays with the wrap-up of the football game from the previous day. She made us feel so welcome—and I ended up babysitting her kids. I learned a great deal from her and I’ve looked up to her ever since.
Was there any place in your hometown that was distinctly Southern?
Have you been to Blacksburg, VA? We moved from KY to VA in the late ’80s and I went to both high school and college in southwest VA. Blacksburg (despite major growth in the past 30 years) is very much that distinctly Southern small college football town. That hasn’t changed and I love going home! The Farmhouse is a restaurant where my mom worked during college and we ate our prom dinners there when I was in high school. We still go there today.
How did the pandemic change you?
During the pandemic, I talked with my bookkeeper and realized 80 percent of my income came from a handful of clients. They were the ones I enjoyed working with the most too. I decided to cut my client roster and focus on that small group. My family needed me, my mom was in a second battle with cancer, my sister was moving across the country. I got silent enough to hear God tell me the right decision to make.
That’s amazing. Truly inspirational. Now for rapid-fire questions…
Favorite high-end southern dish you love: Fried okra with the horseradish dipping sauce!
Favorite down-home southern dish: BBQ darling. Always.
Favorite high-end, hoity toity dessert/sweet: Hummingbird cake. Five-layer please.
Favorite low-brow dessert/sweet: Church sale ice box freezer cake
Favorite high-brow restaurant in the South: Hall’s. I never miss a chance to go there when in Charleston or Greenville. You get hugged by a family member the minute you walk in the door. Love you Billy.
Favorite low-brow restaurant in the South: Does Publix count? Fried chicken forever.
Favorite high-end fashion store: Capitol and Hampden
Favorite low-brow fashion store: Buc-ee’s. #itstrue
Southern dish you always serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas?
Fried turkey, sweet potato casserole—yes we roast the marshmallows on top—ham and pumpkin pie—at both!
What about Easter? For us, it is always a ham but I love brunch with eggs benedict and Southern grits.
What are some Southern cliches that you totally embody or subscribe to? We porch sit like it is our job. We are so committed to entertaining on our porch and love simply being at home with friends and family. “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize,” -Clairee, “Steel Magnolias.” Can you tell that is my favorite movie? My grandmother June always wore the best jewelry—and lots of it. Many rings, big necklaces and bracelets—and she changed them often. I could always be found digging around in her jewelry box.
I love everything about accessorizing. At a small women’s Southern college, I learned the art of dressing for the horse races. Holy hats. I had no idea how glamorous hat wearing could be—and that experience made me fall even harder in love with Southern style. I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting some of the finest Southern women going to college at Hollins University. They were some of the best years of my life. And while I didn’t have two spare nickels to rub together while I was there, I was always watching, observing and taking notes. My roommates had serious style.
What is a fashion saying you live by? More is more. Regarding accessorizing: despite having a small New York City closet, you could hear me coming before you’d see me (heels clacking, a bangle symphony), making sure our neighborhood Irish Pub did a Derby Day dress up event, etc. My love for accessorizing lead me to where I’m at today.
Favorite sports teams: College football and college basketball. I’ll always be a VT Hokie.
Favorite drink at a tailgate: Before I became a mom, I was a whiskey person—and Jack and Ginger was my drink of choice. Now, I’m on the spiked seltzer train.
Are you a theater or concert person? I love live theater and concerts equally. Art is the ultimate communicator and I need music in my life. I enjoy styling the members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra just as much as rock stars and solo artists. Their talent brings me joy. One of my favorite Southern clients is Mama Jan Smith. Southern, soulful and one seriously talented badass. She brings the best music into my life.
What high-end luxury can you not live without? Southern beach houses. I love our vacations to Isle of Palms, St. Simons, Sullivans Island, Captiva Island. Luxury to me is now renting a huge house on the beach and spending family time in the sun.
Most eccentric Southern person you know (now or from the past)? Truvy Jones, aka Dolly Parton, in “Steal Magnolias.” That is, until I knew enough to know that Dolly is certainly my most favorite Southern person of all time. Truvy led me to all things Dolly. Faith, family, commitment to community, the South, music, hair (gawd that hair is bliss), style and honesty about looking good and feeling even better.
In conclusion, what are some misconceptions you’ve encountered about people from the South? The biggest one is Southern drawls, aka slow talking. Some of the brightest, deepest and most impressive people I’ve met have had a Southern accent that took me some time to understand. Accents cause me to stop, listen and drink them in!
Moving to Atlanta has changed me in the best ways. There has been real growth here for me—not just professionally but personally too. There is real grounding that can happen being surrounded by nature and leaning into your faith. I love that my friends, neighbors and clients speak openly about their faith and it is an open part of their lives. Maybe the reason I didn’t find that in New York City is that I wasn’t looking for it, but I think the biggest gift of moving here has been slowing down and working purposefully to prioritize life each and every day. Gratitude first, family = everything, crafting a career where work has purpose and joy is priceless.
