Why This New 'Southern Charm' Star Is Basically Elle Woods From 'Legally Blonde'

Southern Charm started in Charleston and Savannah, but now, the latest franchise of the show is taking the Big Easy by storm. Southern Charm: New Orleans offers the drama you love from the original, but with some voodoo and maybe a Sazerac or two thrown in. One of the cast members, Reagan Charleston, prides herself in her New Orleans heritage, and, unlike the city she calls home, she’s always moving. What businesses does Reagan own on Southern Charm: New Orleans?

According to Reagan’s bio on BravoTV.com, her family owned the world-famous Coghlan Art Gallery in New Orleans’s French Quarter, and “her ancestors are featured prominently in the city’s cultural history.” As Reagan told the New Orleans Advocate, her great-great grandmother, Mary Peychaud, was a member of the family that created Peychaud’s bitters, and, in turn, New Orleans’ favorite drink, the Sazerac. Reagan lives just outside of the city proper with her husband, ex-NFL player Jeff, and the two have dogs and a seemingly happy life. To Reagan’s credit, she’s not resting on her family’s or husband’s laurels when it comes to business, though — this busy woman is balancing not one but two accessories lines and studying for a law degree, all at the same time.

Per the Advocate, Reagan started getting her law degree at Loyola University in 2015, and she’s set to graduate in May 2018 with her J.S. But, since she's also a person who grew up in a family of artists — she started her jewelry company, Reagan Charleston Jewelry, the same year. In an interview with WGNO in New Orleans, Reagan was inspired to start designing jewelry after getting back from a trip with her husband. She said:

“My first collection was inspired by our honeymoon travels, and I came back and that was the very first piece I did, which was the Leone. I wanted to have something that commemorated my husband and I’s honeymoon, and we had been all over Italy, and in Florence, in particular, I’d seen lion doorknockers everywhere. I’m a Leo, so I really wanted this piece. I came home and said I’m going to have this done.”

Before long, celebrities and friends were scooping up Reagan’s designs. And, speaking of her trip to Italy, Reagan’s Instagram bio has a nod to a company called FRF Italy, which, according to its Instagram bio, is “bringing together the magic of Florence & New Orleans to create luxury hats. Handmade in Italy.” The website, though, is expired, and the social channels haven’t been updated since the summer of 2017, so perhaps this venture of Reagan’s has shuttered. It’s understandable — she has plenty to do just by being in law school.

From the looks of it, Reagan has plenty on her plate. She keeps a positive attitude, though, because everything she does informs the rest of her life. “I wear many hats. I’m in my third year of law school. I’m graduating, I walk in May. I have loved law school, every second of it,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I’m also a jewelry designer, I’m an artist. So, those things are, you think, polar opposites. But I think I’ve excelled in school because I’ve learned how to utilize that creative side of my brain that I’ve used for so many years with my jewelry business.”

Besides all the work Reagan will be doing, there will definitely be room for some play on Southern Charm: New Orleans — maybe even more so than the Charleston original. “You’re going to see the same [kind of] parties, excitement, the music,” Reagan told Entertainment Tonight. “I mean, we match everything that’s exciting about Charleston, but then you get to add all the New Orleans flavor to the mix, and it’s just exceptional.”

Watch out, Charleston, because New Orleans is coming for you.