Fascinated to the point of obsession with clothes, jewelry, and the elements of wardrobe which make her the girly girl she is and always has been, she finally did it. Stacy joined Neva Group as the Creative Director in late 2004, and created and launched her first accessory line, StacyMcNeal.com, in January of 2005.

As with many girls of her era, Stacy's early fashion inspiration evolved and took hold when dressing Malibu Barbie and playing -- at great risk -- in her mother's closet and jewelry box. Yet for Stacy, like many who are bitten early by fashion's bug, the itch never faded. Surely it was an omen when, early in her childhood, while Stacy's grandmothers bought her beautiful things from grand-sounding faraway places like Marshall Fields, she obstinately cast them aside in favor of a faded pink corduroy jumper, paired smartly with scuffed majorette boots and a pastel candy necklace. Remember those? The colorful, sugary beads strung on an elastic cord that, when worn, made a sticky ring around your neck, as the whole point of wearing candy jewelry was eating right from the string while twirling your baton and never missing a beat.

Later while away at school, Stacy began to really expand her wardrobe tastes by experimenting with vintage clothing and accessories -- first for amusement, and later for the sheer pleasure of developing a style that allowed her to express her individual take on fashion. Likely due to her previous ransacking of her mother's jewelry box, Stacy still loves glittery stones and began collecting unusual vintage brooches, which at first she never wore, but collected simply because she found them beautiful. After graduating college and finishing a Master’s degree, Stacy moved to Washington, D.C. While working on Capitol Hill, her jewelry hoarding laid some early framework for the direction of her future.

Capitol Hill, despite its exciting aura, isn't the best place for a majorette boot-wearing, brooch hoarder -- so Stacy moved on. Seizing an amazing opportunity, she began work as a fledgling interior designer for an established and respected interior design firm in Washington, where Stacy was encouraged to indulge her interest and aptitude for texture and pattern, along with shape and proportion -- simply, to think outside the box. She learned about textiles and the concept of "hand," for a good marriage between fabrics, as between people, isn't as easy as it looks. Stacy loved the design world, its creative energy and its talented architects and artists. She toyed with moving to New York because being practical is just not her best thing. Then she got serious.

Stacy McNeal Designs is the elaborate result of the colorful ideas from a child's imagination, the creative experimentation of a university student, and the frustrations of a right-brained woman existing in a left-brained world. It would be fair to say that Stacy is a late bloomer, but that's fine enough. It led to a design career working with materials and items she found most comfortable and for which she has always felt the greatest affection, resulting in a design aesthetic which continues to reflect Stacy's own personal tastes rather than fashion's whimsy and breakneck pace. Her product line is made for women who court individuality and appreciate distinction -- inspired by women like her grandmother, Inez, who baked pies and vacuumed wearing high heels and earrings; by the gracious and stunning Tina Turner, who, despite the demand that she wear cheesy slashed, sequined gowns, followed her gift and believed in her own talents; and by Allyson, Stacy's artist friend who drives a stick and navigates icy city streets wearing a micro mini, lip gloss, and teetering heels with unmatched élan.

Not surprisingly, Stacy's core inspiration comes from all those little girls who wore -- and are still wearing --- cowboy boots with their purple tulle dance class tutus. You know who you are. So, be your own muse. It really is better to be stared at than it is to be ignored.