Inside the colorful, creative & charismatic style of Crystal Emerson

When Crystal Emerson was in seventh grade in Dallas, Texas, during the 1980s, one movie changed her life, creating a passion for both music and fashion that still affects her today.

“It all started with the movie ‘Pretty in Pink,’” Crystal said. “My friend and I wore these old hats to the movie theater. Being in seventh grade, you are self-conscious, and people from our school were there, but we didn’t care. We were so excited to wear those hats. That movie changed my life.”

“Pretty in Pink,” one of the iconic 80s’ John Hughes films, opened Crystal’s eyes to the world of music and of fashion. The scene in which Molly Ringwald’s character designed her own prom dress using an vintage dress combined with a new dress blew Crystal’s mind.

“That was it for me,” she said. “It changed my life and how I look at music and fashion. From that point on, I was into non-mainstream music and clothing. I made my own outfits from thrift store clothes.”

That marriage of clothes and composition remains. Crystal, who is studying apparel design at Oklahoma State University, still chooses her daily outfits based on the music she listens to that morning. If she listens to folk rock like the Avett Brothers, she’ll end up in gauchos and boots. Punk rock brings out the leather side of her.

“I’m very eclectic in my fashion,” she said. “I’m not at all predictable. I like for each piece to be unique and have a story. I do wear a lot of black, but I also like the vintage look.”

Even in her home, every item has a history. The black bear rug was discovered at a New York City flea market, and she had to haul that bear skin through the rain to get it back to her hotel room. She collects classic women’s gloves, which she finds at estate sales and thrift stores.

But fashion isn’t Crystal’s only passion. She also shares a mission of reading.

Co-chair of the Oklahoma Children’s Theatre’s Fairy Tale Ball this year, Crystal is also very involved in the Page to Stage program at OCT. The program exposes inner-city and rural children to books, and in turn, the children write a play based on the book to perform. She’s also very active in the Reach Out and Read Oklahoma program, which gives award-winning books to low-income families when their babies are born.
Every Well Child check up that child goes to means another book, and physicians not only evaluate how a child is developing based on his or her interaction with the book, but also teach parents how to read with their children.

“Reading is very important to me,” said Crystal, who taught elementary school in Oklahoma for seven years. “I taught elementary school and loved it, but stopped when my children were born. After they started school, I wanted to try something new.”

That something new was sewing and apparel design. She continues her journey into fashion along with her husband Jason and her three daughters, Isabella, Angelina and Gabrielle Lark.

Written by Heide Brandes | Photography by Emily Brashier