JULY 2017 22 | FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM {fashion in the philanthropy lane} GIVING IN STYLE Since I started this column I have made it a point to have the focus firmly set on the intersection where fashion meets philanthropy. Each month this column concentrates on causes and crusaders in an effort to share their stories of giving back. This month I was approached with the opportunity to share some perspective and memories about my own fashion inspiration, my mom, Celia Darling Butler. So I will be taking a departure from my column’s usual format and to share some stories on how my own sense of style came to be. This retrospective is timely, as my mom lost her battle with congestive heart failure last month. She fought a long hard crusade over many years and endured many surgeries. Sadly, her body just could not continue. Having had a little time to reflect on this amazing human whom I got to call mom, I feel compelled to share how she is the reason for so much of what I do and who I am. I grew up in a gypsy nomad construction family — moving from state to state every year or so with a rough and tough crew of construction workers and of course my mom, dad and brother. This upbringing gave me the mindset that home was wherever my family was. We never stayed anywhere long enough to call it home or say that I hailed from there. This exposure to different places in my formative years enabled me to grow and see the different styles, cultures and communities across the land. Living in Austin, it was picking up a southern drawl and a proclivity for feminine grace. In Las Vegas, the focus was on glitz and glam juxtaposed by the rough neighborhoods that surrounded the city. Exposure to a wide range of places and perspectives allowed me to develop my own style. Beyond these environments, I was most influenced by my mom and her own sense of style and free spiritedness. My mom designed her own prom dress, which was inspired by the daisy, her favorite flower. She was a woman who took hand-me- downs and made them new by styling them differently. She shopped not based on label or brand, but instead based on fit, flair and fun. She was a woman who would stand out in a room either because of the outrageous print she was wearing Celia Chic: Tyler Butler | SOCIETY AND FASHION WRITER My Mom Was a Fashion Inspiration

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