Style Profile: Laura Saur

Photographer Laura Saur's journey into the world of fashion is somewhat unconventional. Saur graduated with a degree in kinesiology, and post-graduation, began to make plans to attend nursing school. After re-evaluating her aspirations, she broke into the fashion realm with undergraduate internships (as a postgrad) and a fashion blog she started from the ground up. 

That was nearly a decade ago, and she has made a name for herself as a photographer in the industry after rubbing shoulders with some of the best. A freelancer since 2019, Saur now lives in Charleston and is inspired by the beauty and creativity found throughout the city. Read on to learn more about her and check out her favorite items in store today.

Meet Laura

Hometown: Warwick, Rhode Island
Favorite Colors: Any earthy or deep tones of green and caramel
Favorite Designers: Rachel Comey, Khaite
Favorite Charleston Restaurant: Chubby Fish

"Six months after graduating college and after taking a few other pre-reqs to apply to nursing school, I submitted my first nursing school application, and then just decided it wasnt for me. It wasn’t something I was passionate about. I thought long and hard about what I did in my spare time, and what I enjoyed doing in my spare time, to try and figure out what I wanted to do full time: I landed on fashion blogging."

Q: Describe your style in three words.

A: I would describe my style as timeless, classic, and elevated. 

Q: How did you fall in love with fashion? 

A: I just love the idea of dressing up for you, for your body type, and for your confidence. I really started out by reading a lot of fashion blogs at the beginning of my career, I would say, that led me into the fashion and beauty industry. I just love the self-expression of it.

"I started a personal style blog as a way to build a digital portfolio for myself; to kind of get my foot in the door of the fashion industry in some way. Just to have a presence in the industry, even though it was just on my little corner of the internet. Through fashion blogging, that’s actually how I started to get into photography."

Q: What's the best style advice you've ever gotten?

A: It’s not strictly style advice, but–I always get career advice more than style advice–one of my favorites is ‘stay in your own lane’ but also ‘eyes on your own paper.’ I’m not typically one to follow trends and I just go with what feels good to me. I dress for my mood and how I want to walk out into the world that day. So, I’d say, dress for how you wanna feel, and how you do feel, and not so much for what everyone else considers to be ‘worth the purchase.’

"I asked [my parents] to be my first investors in my new venture and they helped by buying me my first DSLR camera. My dad has always been into photography. Growing up, he’d always let me use his cameras for school trips, or he’d buy me disposable cameras for any sort of family gathering, and in my friend group, I was always the one with the camera. So my dad, he kinda went on this new adventure with me, and he became my blog photographer. He was behind the camera, I was in front of it, kind of art-directing him, but together, we kind of both learned how to shoot on a DSLR."

Q: What's your dream photoshoot?

A: My dream photoshoot would be to work with a Parisian client like Sézane or Rouje Paris. Their colors are very warm, the fashion is cozy, approachable, it’s just easy parisian chic. Their branding is very much for everyone. 

Q: Do you have any style inspirations? 

A: Athena Calderone. She does more interiors, but I feel like her personal style really reflects her interior style as well. She’s all about unique shapes that are very welcoming for the home but also complimentary to her body, femininity, and style. I think she wears her interior style into her personal style very seamlessly. She's just a very chic New Yorker. I love everything that she wears and everything she touches is just effortless.

"I then went into corporate jobs in the fashion and beauty industry, and within those roles that I had, photography was always playing a little piece. I took this self-paced course that my job paid for and that’s how I learned to shoot manual. My business ended up starting as a side gig from there. Photography on the side was just a great hobby, but also a great outlet for flexing the creative muscles outside of work, and also bringing in extra income."

"I worked alongside some great commercial photographers, learned from them, observed them, and as of April 2019, I’ve been on my own, freelancing full-time. It’s been a joy, a thrill, a crazy ride, and really scary. The fear and the fun ebb and flow, as it always does for any freelancer, I’m sure. I’m really grateful for where I am now and for being able to do it in a beautiful place like Charleston, where the creative community is always buzzing. It’s a great place to be. "