Michaela Dransfield is a bartender with a unique sense of style all her own. For SLUG‘s November Distillery and Spirits Issue, we met up at her local haunt, Under Current, and asked her what inspires her distinct look.
Special thanks to Under Current, who hosted this month’s SLUGStyle within their beautiful cocktail and oyster bar.
Every month, SLUG Style features a distinct and unique member of the community and asks them why they do what they do. Exploring more than just clothing, SLUGStyle is an attempt to feature the people who give Salt Lake City flavor through personality and panache.
Click images for captions
“I’ve always admired bartending as a form of hospitality and was especially drawn to the style of classic cocktail bartending,” says Dransfield.
Photo: @clancycoop
“I dreamed of being a bartender for a very long time and thought it would be out of reach for me, because I always glamorized especially craft cocktail bars, and always thought that they were the best,” says Dransfield.
Photo: @clancycoop
“I used to dress really weird. I was raised going to thrift stores with my mom,” says Dransfield. “I would just buy the weirdest things … I would dress in vintage clothes that usually weren’t very cute, and then once I got recognition for wearing vintage clothes, I think that started making me a lot more into fashion.”
Photo: @clancycoop
“I often get inspiration from what mood I’m in, and I don’t often look for or seek out to be like anyone else,” says Dransfield. “So, I think overall my inspiration is just old eras—whether the 1920s, Prohibition, the 1980s—but not a particular person.”
Photo: @clancycoop
“The bar’s almost a stage, and I think that I’ve always loved that aspect of it,” says Dransfield. “For some reason, that’s the most comfortable stage for me to be on.”
Photo: @clancycoop
“My closet is definitely all not normal clothes, and I think even with my lounging clothes, I try to make them just as unique and like myself as possible,” says Dransfield. “I will have days where I just wear black head to toe and a tank top with jeans—but it’s still high waisted jeans and always some old lingerie top that I turn into a shirt or something like that.” Photo: @clancycoop
“I don’t like when people compare, ‘Oh, you look just like that person,’ or ‘You dress just like that person,’ ’cause I want it to be my own and not taking [my style from others],” says Dransfield.
Photo: @clancycoop
“I used to dress up for bartending a lot more, because it was a fun excuse,” says Dransfield. “It was a style that wasn’t my usual daily style, and then it turned into one and the same where now, on a normal day, I dress up more.” Photo: @clancycoop
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![“I don't like when people compare, 'Oh, you look just like that person,' or 'You dress just like that person,' 'cause I want it to be my own and not taking [my style from others],” says Dransfield. Photo: @clancycoop](https://www.slugmag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/SLUG_Style_Michaela_8.jpg)
