Today, we’d like to introduce you to O’Neal Cooper.
Hi O’Neal, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My love for expressing myself creatively through wardrobe and styling began when I was about 3-4 years old. My dress-up box as a little girl was nothing short of a wonderland of possibility, responsible for sparking my obsession with dressing myself and my siblings in wild outfits. That dress-up box contained so many different costumes which gave me an endless number of “characters” I could play, which, in hindsight, played a huge part in developing my particular flavor of artistic expression.
My angel of a Mother, Jane, always encouraged me to be myself and to dive head-first into any and every athletic, artistic, and performance-related curiosity you can imagine. She let me wear what I wanted to wear without judgment and without pressing her own preferences (not that she had any) onto me. She consistently demonstrated to me that not only is it ok to trailblaze and to go my own way- it was even something to be admired! I owe every bit of my resilience, confidence, compassion, and tenacity to her. Right from the start, my mom single-handedly gave me the boost I needed to be brave, take the chance, step out on my own, and go ALL IN pursuing my dreams.
My Dad, Joe, is an incredibly accomplished songwriter. From him, I learned grit, how to stand up for myself, how to protect my peace, and how to not take people’s reactions about your art personally. For any artist, learning not to take other people’s opinions about their work personally can be massively challenging. The process to identify, overcome, and unlearn unhealthy patterns that occur before/during/after the creative process. My Dad has always been an advocate for showing others how to adapt and overcome. I swear the man’s mentality is on par with that of a Navy Seal’s. He is a total badass and will always be my hero.
Some of those lessons were tougher for me to grasp, as I am significantly neurodivergent. Folks, like me, that fall into that category typically have more difficulty battling imposter syndrome, feelings of unworthiness, and feeling like no matter how talented they are at their craft, they will never be “enough.” Well, let me tell ya, if I can do it, you ABSOLUTELY can!
I have felt in my heart for quite some time that the main reason for my pursuit in this industry is to provide a safe place for my audience to explore their own style curiosities through the creative collaboration of bringing to life a one-of-a-kind piece just for them. In my humble opinion, a great first step toward deeper self-expression can easily be achieved through what you wear.
It’s my job to help the beautiful variety of people that I am privileged to work with to hone in on what their true style is. When someone loves what they wear, it lends a sense of bravery that allows them to show up as their most authentic self. If I can help you get to that place, I consider that a huge victory! Some rhinestones, leather, fringe, and another outlandish wardrobe pieces somehow always make life just a little more sunny—Dopamine dressing at its finest!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
You know, I think anyone who chooses to pursue art for a living is unbelievably courageous. Going down that road will never be as easy as having a corporate/salary/office job. However, the sense of worth, validation, and achievement- no matter how big or small- you gain from finishing a project piece all on your own makes it all SO worth the struggle. In an industry that lends zero certainty and seldomly offers a helping hand, consistently showing up and believing in yourself- though other people may not “get” your art- is KEY! We as artists have to be our own cheerleaders before anyone else will. To continually forge on and diligently practice how to “fall seven times and stand up eight” takes an immense amount of grit and even more grace. For creatives, failure is a large part of the process. Learning from mistakes and learning not to take other’s opinions of what your heart is begging you to materialize is a hard lesson to learn but a very necessary one.
Perhaps one of the most prominent challenges that accompany that lesson is finding your people. The ones who have your back, no matter what–the ones who are always there to hype you up and are more than excited to share your art with the world and to share in celebrating every win. We need those people to be relentlessly and unwaveringly encouraging, so that we may have the endurance to keep blazing the trail. This type of support means more to the art/ creative community than y’all could ever fathom. To summarize, in the wise words of the great Drew Holcomb, “Find your people, and you’ll find yourself.”
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have never been one to subscribe to having a “trendy” wardrobe. Around seven years ago, I began customizing garments from my existing wardrobe, in a sense, to “rebel” against what has become the norm–following fleeting trends. Seeing my unique and carefully curated style, more and more folks began to ask me where I was getting my clothing and showed a good amount of interest in having help refining their own style. This was the catalyst that pushed me out of my comfort zone and the opportunity that allowed me to completely surrender to what my entire being had been urging me to do for a very long time, even though it was not a “sure thing”.
My specialties in creating custom apparel include guiding others toward thinking outside of the box regarding their style and providing them with a unique opportunity to dream up wearable pieces of art that they may have previously seen as something they “couldn’t pull off.” That is your mind lying to you. You can pull off whatever you want to and I am here to make that happen and introduce you to the wide world of style. It’s simply a matter of having someone to hold your hand through the process and to give you a leg up in discovering an entire new world of self-expression.
The project I am the most proud of, at this point in my career, was having the unbelievable privilege of creating a custom suit jacket for the legendary Robert Earl King’s last live performance ever. Building such a special piece for an artist who has had such an impact on the country/western/Americana music scene is an experience I will treasure forever and one that will always reside in my most fond memories. HUGE shout out to Scott of The Graphic Guitar Guys for facilitating that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me.
To circle back to my previous words, Scott is undoubtedly a man that will always give his people “a leg up”. No one can make it to the top of the mountain without help during the climb and it’s people like Scott who are imperative in preserving the growth of the art and creative world, no matter what the current political/financial climate is.
I would say what sets me apart from most is that I do not gate-keep, I strive to give my clients an experience they- otherwise -may never have had the chance to participate in, and I am the ULTIMATE hype girl. If I have been able to help my client give themselves “permission” and the freedom to wear whatever the hell they want to wear without fear of judgment or standing out from the crowd- I know that I’ve done my job right.
What do you think about happiness?
Oh, man… I have a wealth of things that bring me happiness that come in many forms. Among my top favorites include learning from the Trail Blazers, who walked so the rest of us could run. This one is a given, but being able to “treat” my neurodivergent diagnosis through what I like to call “dopamine dressing”- aka- wearing whatever the hell I want- always lifts me up, even when I feel low.
I love reading books on creative growth, historical fiction, biographies/autobiographies by or about my creative heroes. Simple things like being in nature-uninhibited by phones and social media- and going for a good long run outside are wonderful for my mental and physical health. Collaborating with other creatives so that I can learn how to look at things from all angles and through a different lens is invaluable and imperative to artistic growth and something I LOVE to do. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a student. My people bring me immense joy. We all need fox hole buddies, ride-or-die friends that have our 6, work to protect our hearts, and support us no matter what. Having a family and husband who love me unconditionally despite my eccentric style and feral personality is DEFINITELY a big one. Having the best dog in the world and sharing a deep bond with him is irreplaceable. Traveling to places I’ve never been with no plans whatsoever except to explore and soak in different cultures is a dream for me. All of these things combined, in addition to countless other joys in my life that I’d have loved to include in this query but likely would have turned into a novella of sorts, have contributed to the person I have become and the artist I have grown into.
Grateful will never be a strong enough word to express how blessed I feel to be able to walk the ever-daunting tightrope that is an artist’s pursuit of their individual metric of happiness.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_strange_ranger
Image Credits
Sam Wiseman – @samwisemanphoto and Mackenzie Holmburg – @bonafidecowboy
