The IT List 2020: 1-5/26

If you keep up with me on the Instagram, I hope you’ve been enjoying so far seeing this year’s stylish set on The IT List, as seen in SouthPark Magazine. If you don’t do the Instagram thing, that’s quite alright; I’m excited to also introduce you to each of this year’s featured men and women here! You can also go grab a copy of your own at just about any Harris Teeter and Auto Bell in the Queen City, as well as the mall or Reid’s Fine Foods! Introducing the very stylish first five on this year’s list…

Natalie Frazier Allen

Growing up in New York City influenced Natalie Frazier Allen’s love of high-low styling. “I am accustomed to valuing everything from Bergdorf’s and Bloomingdale’s to styles you see on the street and subway,” says Frazier Allen, 54. The former attoreny and founder and CEO of The Arts Empowerment Project loves pairing everything from NYC and her travels with items she finds in pop-up shops around Charlotte.

Yele Aluko

“I consider myself a modern-day Renaissance man,” says Yele Aluko, chief medical officer at Ernst & Young. Aluko is inspired by nostalgia and things that tell a story, including a vintage pocket watch he is currently eyeing. “I enjoy being distinct from the mainstream,” Aluko says. “Style is not a fad or fast fashion; it’s about who you are and who you represent.”

Sonya Barnes

Sonya Barnes’ signature color is red, including her favorite pair of signed Sarah Jessica Parker heels that the actor encouraged her to wear often. The life and style strategist for women has her eye on a Gucci caftan to add to her closet. “I love modern elegance with a bit of visual interest. I love timeless pieces that have been reimagined“, says Barnes, 52. 

Troy M. Barnes, Jr.

As a style advisor for Neiman Marcus, Troy M. Barnes Jr. knows style when he sees it. He believes your mood works in tandem with what you wear. “My favorite pieces are my hats. They’re the bridge between generations and all people,” says Barnes, 34. “ A good hat will start a conversation between strangers and develop a friendship that lasts a lifetime.”

Lashawnda Becoats

Not putting style in a box is how life coach, model and Pride Magazine editor Lashawnda Becoats puts her fashion foot forward. “ I love remixing traditional womenswear with a touch of masculinity. It allows me to express my love for both men’s and women’s wear unapologetically, says Becoats, 49, Who calls her style tomboy chic. “ in fact, if you see me in a dress, look down — I’m usually rocking a pair a fly kicks on my feet.”

Written: Shameika Rhymes
Photography: Richard Israel
On location: Johnson C. Smith
On location hair and makeup touch ups: Josiah Reed
Production Assistant: Isabelle Pringle

BOB Awards 2016 + Charlotte Wardrobe Stylists

Thank you to everyone reading who gave me your vote this year for a Charlotte Magazine Best of the Best Award.  You've voted a lot, and this year again, I was lucky enough and am very grateful to have received a Voter's Choice award for Best Personal Stylist/Shopper.  I absolutely love what I do.  When my youngest son, Worth, was born in March of 2011, I decided to take a step back and reevaluate my professional and personal goals.  At the time, I was eight years into operating a Nanny Placement Service, Private Placements, Inc., that was another unbelievable (and I'll say lucky) experience.  Sure, I worked my fanny off, but I feel very grateful that I know some wonderful..... Hard Working, Smart and Well-Mannered people, who have welcomed and allowed me into their sphere. 

In the Fall of 2011, I submitted a story about my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother, both stylists, buyers for a department store and women whose style was far ahead of their time, to Lucky Magazine. Lucky ran the story on their back page in November, 2011.  In reaction to this, I decided to go for it.  I nabbed a domain name with my very first blog post.  It was a place to hold my passion, an on-line journal of sorts.  I sent an email to friends and family about it.  They signed up to follow.  I decided I'd go ahead and do a Facebook page.  Other people starting reading.  I got my first contributing column with Charlotte Parent Magazine, where for three years, I wrote a Mommy Style column.  As a Mom of a newborn and toddler, I knew what it was like to feel and BE completely in the trenches.... as a mom, wife, housekeeper, business owner, friend, you name it.  

I wrote about anything and everything style related on my new website that I loved.  Then, people emailed and asked if they could pay me to style them.  It was more or less a domino effect.  My lifelong and DNA infused passion turned career became a reality.  I've been told "no" lots and lots of times.  Others have gotten jobs or opportunities I would have loved to have had.  But you see, that's okay.  With each time I've fallen, I think I've learned a little more about resiliency.  I believe there is room for all of us.  Like my Grand-Daddy who owned The Easy Pay Store on the corner of Confederate and Main in small town Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA for 43 years said, "competition breeds business," and with a mindset of abundance versus scarcity, I feel the same. 

If you are my client, colleague, supporter of any kind, thank you. Those of you who come here and read what I have to say... in a sea of mega bloggers and in a city of talented stylists, THANK YOU.  There are a number of Charlotte stylists who have all worked very hard to make a name for themselves.  Not everyone's styles or business practices are the same, but they are all successful at what they do.  Certainly, the industry folk are a healthy part of my desire to keep working, keep learning and keep getting better at this thing I love so much.  To the voters, thanks for voting, and to my fellow talented stylists, thanks for keeping me hungry and excited to work in such an exciting field of great talent!