Cortnie Roshaune Hordge lives by the motto: life isn’t perfect, but your home and wardrobe can be.
The New Tampa resident is known among her friends and family as being “extra” — from her bright, bold apparel to her contemporary modern home décor. Her passion for fashion and interior design fueled her to create Cort of Appeal, a client-focused fashion styling and interior design business, which she started in October 2021.
Her mission is to bring style to both wardrobes and homes, not only in the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel communities, but also nationwide.
Cort of Appeal derives from Hordge’s first name and her goal to appeal to her clients’ fashion and interior design expectations.
“Fashion is really about how you feel and how you want to feel in the clothes or in the environment that you’re in,” she says.
Her online business is made up of two parts: Cort Fashion and Cort Design. She also has created a shop called Cort’s Curvy Closet for curvy women, where new and gently used apparel from her own wardrobe can be purchased.
From updating a client’s wardrobe to on-call styling assistance, Hordge says Fashion Cort is for bringing out the beauty in her clients.
Treesa Battles, another New Tampa resident and creative consultant at Cort of Appeal, said both the business and Hordge’s apparel are distinctive and fashionable.
“She has really unique pieces, very bold pieces, very bright, vibrant pieces and it’s really what folks are looking for when they are fashion forward,” Battles says.
Hordge’s mom, Natalie Simmons, inspired her daughter to always look her best. Simmons says she is proud of her daughter’s accomplishments and knows the business will excel because of her daughter’s love for beauty and her attention to every detail.
“She’s extra with everything,” Simmons said. “She amps everything up.”
Your Home, Your Personality
Hordge’s business is best known, however, for its interior design consultations. From homes to offices, Cort Design works with clients — virtually or in-person — to create a personality for each space, and works with wholesalers for home décor items she thinks will fit the vibe she is shooting for to make her clients happy.
“There’s a lot of cohesion, there’s a good vibe and energy feel from what she puts together,” Da’na Langford of the Village of Healing Center (a health care center in Cleveland, OH), one of her clients, says. “It’s very beautiful, it’s unique, it stands out. It looks very modernized and professional…there’s a flow to everything.”
Hordge worked virtually with the Village of Healing Center from late December to February of this year to renovate its building’s interior. Langford, the center’s co-founder, hired Hordge to create a space where Black women could feel safe and become better educated about healthcare services.
The Center was designed to showcase Black history, with photos and descriptions on acrylic signs. Without Hordge, Langford says the space would have had printed photos framed on walls and would lack the emphasis on Black culture.
“We wanted Black women to be able to walk in and see themselves,” Langford says. “And so, Cortnie just brought all of that very much to light for us.”
When Langford hired Hordge to complete the job, she was initially concerned about the interior design being too time consuming. She was pleased to find out she only had to say “yes” or “no,” and Hordge and her team would do the rest.
“She’s very bubbly, professional, down to earth and, if she does not think that something will gel well with what you’re thinking, she will definitely let you know that. And then, we’ll send another option, instead of just saying ‘no,’” Langford says.
Hordge’s favorite interior design is her most recent house project because she was able to convince her client, Neoshia Woodson, to step out of her comfort zone. Woodson hired Cort of Appeal to design her newly purchased home in Wimauma. She wanted to use all of her furniture and elevate her space while still maintaining her budget.
Hordge introduced Woodson to wallpapers and convinced her to have a teal accent wall — additions Woodson was initially unsure about.
“Cortnie gave me the glam, and she gave me the glam that I really didn’t want and didn’t know I know I needed,” Woodson says. “She took my place to another level.”
Although Hordge’s business currently is primarily online, she still believes in an in-person presence.
Hordge and her team have attended pop-up shops in Tampa to showcase their fashion and interior design items from her business and will attend another pop-up event on Sunday, August 14, at 200 East Madison St. in Tampa. She also will compete in an event as a stylist at Fashion’s Finest Tampa Bay on Saturday, August 20. Next year, she hopes to open a shop at Wesley Chapel’s KRATE at the Grove container park.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (813) 421-0054 or visit CortAppeal.com. Cortnie also can be found on Facebook and Instagram by searching @cortappeal.
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