Good Vibes: Susanna Merrick on the Power of Aura Styling
Based in New York, Susanna Merrick is a highly sought-after intuitive energy reader, stylist, and spiritual coach. She is the founder of Aura Wear, a method and brand that focuses on self-expression through color, fashion, and wellness. Susanna’s mission is to empower people to take the reins of their self-expression through personal style and spiritual practices by managing the health of their closet. Her work has been featured in Goop, Elle Magazine, Well+Good, and Vanity Fair.
What is Aura styling and how does one dress your aura?
Susanna Merrick: Aura styling is stepping into your energy from a place of self-awareness and then dressing accordingly. Meeting yourself with your mood, your desires, what you want to be experiencing, and manifesting, and letting your outfit be a direct reflection and expression of that. Dressing your aura is a practice…. Each aura color carries its own personality—an aesthetic feeling, a knowing, which I’ve derived from an understanding of color, psychology, spiritual understanding, and my personal experiences with people and how they like to show up in these auras and energies. Dressing your aura gives you a place to really start to feel seen and experienced and in your most authentic state.
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How did you get into this field?
SM: I was an actor and performer for many years. I did traveling shows Off Broadway and was really immersed in that. In between gigs, I did some styling work, editorial stuff, and I kind of just fell into it because I needed money at the time, which is not a very glamorous story. A lot of people did [styling] because it was their passion, and I started to realize, Oh, wait, this actually is my passion.
When I switched jobs and was looking for my path—what I wanted to create in my life and how I wanted to spend my time and energy—I got this massive download to create Aurawear. There’s no other way to explain it. It’s so bizarre! But I received messages that I was to create this thing, and I did. I realized very quickly that there was a massive white space, no one was doing this, and it was 100 percent my path and my purpose, which is wild to think back on.
How, if at all, do styles and auras alter between different neighborhoods in New York?
SM: I definitely think there are collective energies and that we like to be around communities of people just like ourselves. So if you find yourself in Murray Hill or the Upper East Side, you’re going to find the collective of a green-like aura energy, or old classic energy versus the kind of energy you would find in the West Village, which is certainly more magenta, more move to the beat of your own drum, you know, wacky, zany, fun, quirky. I certainly find the West Village and Meatpacking kind of the same area versus the energy you’re going to find in Midtown or Times Square, which is very violet.
The Lower East Side is more on the red side, where fiery, sexy, passionate people like to hang out and go out to clubs. And Park Slope is full of lots of old-school turquoise energy. Same with parts of Williamsburg.
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What are your predictions for the future style and aura of New York?
SM: I think we’re in this kind of energy of retraction and we’ve felt little bits of it propel us forward. But then there’s been these catastrophic things happening in the world that weigh us down. I still believe we’re getting ready to really propel forward. Everyone’s sick of the mindset and energy that’s been thrust upon them, and the sense that the world is a terrible place. Everyone’s over it and ready to be free and expressive in any way they want to be. So we’re going to see a big push into violent energy, with asymmetrical shapes and futuristic elements and clothes.
We’re moving into a more refined version. A version of trusting our intuition, trusting our own kind of style knowledge and knowing, and really not caring what anyone else thinks and just dressing for ourselves. This is going to be a big, big, big part of the next big style movement.
What are you working on right now?
SM: I’m working on a card deck, which I’m really excited about! I’m launching the Style Collective and I’m going to be doing this every 10 to 12 weeks. It’s an eight-week container for women to join a community and learn the practice of styling their aura and energy through a place of self-development and wellness. It’s awesome. I’ve been doing workshops. I just taught a workshop for Squarespace. There are lots of fun collaborations and things on the horizon.
Website: aurawearnyc.com
Instagram: @aurawearnyc
WORDS Sara Radin
