Heather Hurst has become an enigma: a Washington, D.C.-based fashion influencer. Amongst the power suits and workwear of the capital city fashion scene, Hurst has cultivated a refined, eclectic charm to her wardrobe. Hurst encourages thoughtful consumption and focuses on building a timeless, personal and long-lasting wardrobe and has copious advice to share with those beginning to build their collection.
The influencer is better known as @pigmami on TikTok, named for her dog, “Piglet.” Pig Mami began on TikTok during covid to advertise for her vintage business and has since blown up to over 119K followers on TikTok and 19.7K on Instagram. Today, Heather shares “Outfit of the Day” (OOTD) videos, styling tips and her best closet curation methods.
For her interview with Her Campus, Hurst arrived at the West End Tatte in Schutz flats (which she does not recommend), Moussy jeans (similar), her favorite Leset T-shirt and an “H” embroidered Sezane Cardigan. For jewelry, she donned her classic Anine Bing ring, Don’t Let Disco bracelet, Cartier watch, James Allen tennis bracelet and Mejuri earrings.
A lot of Hurst’s fashion ethos revolves around wearing what makes you feel good and sticking to that in terms of your personal style. She says,
“I [love] when you find something that you like to wear for your body that you’re excited about.”
Hurst is taking that strategy into the summer season in the form of maxi dresses, which she says are her “favorite thing to wear” due to their ease. She’ll also be playing with thong flip flops; she’s been eyeing this JCrew pair in particular. Hurst is most excited to make a return to big basket bags. She was not a fan of the micro bag trend,
“I like to just schlep my stuff. I don’t need anything that I carry around, I just like to have it.”
With her emphasis on responsible consumption, Hurst’s OOTDs often come with a hefty price tag, including selections from her growing personal collection of designer pieces. In terms of saving for investment pieces, Hurst wants to remind her followers that,
“Social media is so difficult, I know this is beat to hell and back, but what you see on social media is not real life…So first of all, don’t put pressure on yourself if you’re a college student who thinks you need to own designer things because you don’t, even when I’m 25 I don’t need to own designer things, it’s just something that I’m obsessed with and I’m excited about.”
Hurst proposes a few things for those who are also excited about designer goods. Firstly, she opposes the often recommended strategy of starting small and building up. Rather than squirreling away money on several smaller pieces, she suggests saving for one big ticket item you really love.
“I didn’t own anything designer and then I went right into buying my first designer bag, which was an Hermés bag, and it was like a few thousand dollars.”
Secondly, Hurst is a huge fan of secondhand shopping on websites such as Ebay (with whom she has a partnership), Poshmark, Depop and others. She feels that these finds can also have special sentimental value,
“Anything that I have that’s thrifted or custom I think are my favorite things just because, not that nobody else can have it in an exclusive way, but they’re special and irreplaceable.”
Unfortunately for the carless readers, most of Hurst’s favorite thrifting spots are not within metro accessibility. However, she did share that she’s had some good finds in church opportunity shops, notably the St. Albans catholic school store.
“If you google ‘church thrift store’ that’s a good hack. Especially because that’s where a lot of the wealthy old ladies are going. [They] are not driving an hour out of the city to donate their stuff. They just want to go on Sunday to the church to drop off their fur coat or whatever.”
Other favorites from Hurst’s closet are her wear-everyday pieces. She totes a classic cashmere sweater everywhere, “even if it’s 90 degrees out.” She also has a special connection to her everyday jewelry,
“I put them on every day and I’m like ok I’m dressed for the day, if I forgot to wear underwear I would still be like ok we’re good.”
While she has honed in on her personal style now, Hurst was not always as chic as she is today. In college, she admitted to having “criminal side-eye, terrible style.” Although, this was in the 2016 era of Free People lace-up bodysuits and filled-in block brows, so who can really blame her? Hurst finds that her biggest style problem during that time was her insecurity,
“It was just, ‘what is the cutest top I can find on the clearance rack that everybody else is also wearing?’ That was a big mistake I made in college, I was so preoccupied with fitting in.”
Before coming into her fashion career, Hurst worked a plethora of jobs. She studied public health at Miami University in Ohio and worked a traditional 9-5 for a while, but Hurst has always been a hustler. About a year and a half ago she was working four concurrent jobs. She shared,
“I would go to the bathroom at my 9-5 and answer my emails for TikTok campaigns. I’d be in the bathroom making a PowerPoint on Google Slides.”
Hurst’s best tip for getting multiple jobs is to build and maintain a network. She believes that the best way to make connections is to talk about your interests. This had worked out for Hurst on several occasions, such as a home staging gig that fell into her lap after she expressed interest in interior design to friends. She’s also a fan of cold emailing, so long as you use a short, professional message and have a clear and achievable ask. Hurst is also a firm believer in thank-you notes,
“If somebody took time to talk to me or do something nice for me I might send them flowers or send them a thank you note and that goes a very long way, it really makes you stand out.”
On the side of juggling multiple jobs, Hurst emphasizes the benefit in finding a balance between pushing your limit and setting realistic expectations for yourself,
“It’s good to know the capacity at which you can hustle. Your 20s are such a time of earning potential and high energy and a good time to capitalize on networking.”
Hurst plans to move to New York soon, but until then, she will continue to lead the charge in D.C.’s fashion scene.