Meet Carly Barnette | Musician & Fashion Stylist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carly Barnette and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carly, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
A decade into my career as a musician and fashion stylist, I would say the most important lesson I’ve learned is to trust. I wouldn’t be surviving in Los Angeles, being my own boss, without a sense of surrender to this whole process. Entertainment is fickle, there are seasons and cycles for everything. A win one month doesn’t guarantee a paycheck next week but something started to change for me when I started to lean into the flow of it all.

This reminds me of a Thoreau quote “Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will evade you, but if you notice the other things around you, it will gently come and sit on your shoulder.” Something started to magnetize for me when I understood that secret. The more I want, the hungrier I am, but alternatively the more grateful I am, the more opportunities, collaborations and money that flows to me. This isn’t something I’ve mastered, this is a lesson I learn every single year it feels.

I even had 9 caterpillars cocoon on my front door last year! The most beautiful sign from the universe to remind me of this sentiment exactly. They turned into monarch butterflies and I continue to soak up their magical lesson.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is how I process and make sense of the world around me, it’s how I heal and that’s what keeps me in this ever-evolving game. Whether it’s singing or styling, I think my work is vibrant, glittery and bursting with magic. It makes me feel powerful and I hope whoever enjoys it, is also reminded of their own power.

2020 was a breaking point for me, like so many others, everything I had worked so hard for collapsed and the things that were supposed to fall away, did. A bruised ego and broken heart made me give up entirely. The cosmos taught me, in order for a star to be born, a nebula must collapse. That’s exactly what happened, I let go of everything I loved and disintegrated. It was from there, while putting my pieces back together, that I learned how strong I am. Some days I’m still re-emerging as a new constellation, like the butterflies at my front door, breaking their wings in order to bust out. My aunt Claire Windsor has become my north star on this journey. Her cosmic hand holding reminds me to keep looking up, to keep working hard and trust that the best is always yet to come. She connects me to a bigger ancestral story & channel, that has become my why.

I have found the most success when I let go of the outcome and hold tight instead to my values which are: empowering myself and specifically other womxn through music & fashion. Some days I’m a hype woman bringing snazzy costumes for an artist’s music video and others I’m in the studio pouring my guts out into a new song of my own. The ebb and flow of these two pursuits balance each other out beautifully. My 9 year old self in a full Disney Princess costume (wig included, duh) is screaming most days that my wildest dreams of making music & playing dress up come true on a day to day basis!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have been an east side girlie the whole decade I’ve lived in LA, so Silver Lake or Echo Park is where I would start. A walk around Echo Park Lake or Silver Lake Reservoir, grab some yummy food in the area, a little thrifting moment, snag a martini somewhere while watching some live music to end the day – that would be an ideal itinerary for us 🙂

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout goes to my sisterhood, my bad bitches, hot witches who continue to inspire, ground, and uplift me. They are unapologetic, constantly pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a modern woman in our society and that encourages me to stand taller, knowing we are laughing and looking good while flipping off the patriarchy.

I also want to shout out my great Auntie Claire Windsor, who is my muse. She was a silent film star in the 1920’s starring in over 50 films, earning her a star on Hollywood Boulevard. She is my guardian angel, it feels kismet to be following in her footsteps 100 years later.

Website: www.clayreslayer.com

Instagram: @clayreslayer @stylingwitchcarly

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clayreslayer

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@clayreslayer?si=oP-2pL4rILmZNkLZ

Image Credits
1. Pink – Lauren Desberg 2. Blue – Lauren Desberg 3. Cowgirl – Andrea Martin 4. AZ Lottery – no credit 5. Styling Gavin Magnus – Micala Austin 6. Showgirl – Micala Austin 7. Pink Cowgirl – Micala Austin