INDstyle

Style Times Two

by Amanda Bedgood

A fashionable couple marries personal style

Personal style is a personal thing - and no less so when you're married. Just ask Valerie and Rickey Miniex. She's Free People and he's Canali. While Valerie's look fluctuates on the day based on how she feels, Rickey sticks with more traditional and conservative looks.

"I am somewhat eclectic, and I find a challenge in making things work together when they ordinarily might not. Rickey, on the hand, is very conservative and traditional. He likes comfort and practicality," Valerie says.

She says Rickey is malleable - and not just in his sartorial choices.

"He is so comfortable in his own skin that he does not have to rely so much on fashion," she says.

And yet Rickey loves the way his wife maneuvers fashion by mixing and matching pieces. Perhaps her ability to make the unexpected work in the closet is a parallel to Valerie's best attributes in life. Rickey's favorite quality is her ability to adapt to the situation at hand - something he has had plenty of years to witness after 18 years of marriage. A marriage that has evolved, just as their style has.

"Our style has evolved into a more mature elegance," says Rickey.

Or, as Valerie puts it, "Our style is classy chic."

And when asked who they would choose to be if they could be anyone else, Valerie gives an answer that never goes out of style: "Just as we tell our kids, there is no one we'd rather be than who we are."