What does style mean to you?

Gloria Vanderbilt said “Decorating is autobiography.” Similarly, I think that the act of getting dressed is a daily practice of writing your autobiography. 

I was the graduation speaker at 4th grade graduation, and I remember insisting that my mother take me to Dillard’s because I *needed* a white silk scarf to tie around my neck to go with my red and white polka dot dress. It provided the gravitas I needed my outfit to convey that day. I’ve always been a method dresser, long before that term existed. I dressed like a Main Character and became the Main Character in the process. 

I recommend coming up with a three-word description of your style for both interiors and fashion. It’s a way to filter whether you should add something to your home or wardrobe by determining if it fits your personal style. My last house I described as “Town & Country Tenenbaum.” I describe my fashion aesthetic as “Virginia Slim Aarons.”

What can’t you live without?

Diet Coke and my pets! I have two Standard poodles, Tippi (5) and Norman Rockwell (4), as well as a spicy 16-year-old Maine Coon cat named Gwynnie. I love to travel all over the world, but I love coming home to them even more.

How has living in Dallas inspired the way you dress and decorate?

Everything is bigger in Texas, and there’s no place more vibrant than the Big D! I realize how much being a fourth-generation Dallasite has impacted the way I dress when I travel. In college, I spent a few months working at a summer camp in Amherst, Massachusetts. People acted like I *invented* fashion.

I recently visited Park City, Utah for the first time, and people kept stopping to ask where we were from because we were “so dressed up!” In Dallas, too much is never enough. Women love to show up and show OUT. They’ll follow any theme. They’ll buy a new dress for lunch. No print or color screams too loudly. When it dips below 80 degrees, the minks come out. It’s a glamorous town. I LOVE my hometown and how over the top we are!

What’s one item in your closet that tells a story?

It’s more challenging to find an item in my closet (or home!) that does *not* tell a story. I have the memory of an elephant so I remember everywhere I’ve worn a dress. Instead of being a packrat, I call myself an “archivist.” 

My mom always said, “You know you’re old when a trend returns and you can say, ‘I lived through that the first time!’” For example, the Fendi baguette I bought in the early aughts is hot right now. Luckily, all I had to do was open my archives! 

This coral jacket I’m wearing tells a story. It’s from the 1960s (my favorite era), it was made in Italy (my favorite country), it’s coral (one of my favorite colors), and it features two poodles (my favorite topic, my children)! I love modernizing it with these fab FV cream-colored cigarette pants and then the metallic strappy heels.

“I think that the act of getting dressed is a daily practice of writing your autobiography.”

You wear many hats — storyteller, philanthropist, host, humorist. Is there one role that feels most like you?

I am, and always have been, a “troop leader” by nature. In school, that probably leaned a little too Tracy Flick in Election or Max Fischer in Rushmore; I was competitive and “President” of entirely too many things. 

As an adult, I realized that my role as a leader is to bring people together and make it fun. Whether that’s assembling a bus full of strangers to go treasure hunting in the fields of Round Top, Texas at an antiques show, hosting a dinner party to celebrate keeping my sourdough starter alive for an entire year, or chairing a sold-out fundraiser for a cause I care about in my community, I go all in on bringing people together and making it fun. I believe in celebrating even small things grandiosely. 

I often appear buttoned-up and serious, but I don’t take myself too seriously. People who don’t know me are always surprised by my sense of humor, which is quite cheeky! I love to write and perform non-fiction comedic essays and make people laugh. 

The role that feels most like me is probably being a fangirl! Whether it’s a TV show, a brand, a celebrity, or simply as a fangirl of my friends and their accomplishments, I ooze passion for the people, things, and causes that I love. A shortlist (without context) of things that I’m a professional fangirl of and for: Diet Coke, Standard Poodles, Joe Burrow, Mad Men, Schiaparelli, Cattle Baron’s Ball, Nora Ephron, and Friday Night Lights.

What’s your favorite pastime?

A mall day! In the rest of the country, malls face extinction, but not in Dallas! NorthPark Center is the greatest mall in the United States. It’s got everything from Great American Cookie to the most heavenly Prada store you’ve ever seen. I love “taking a lap” at a mall day with a girlfriend. We pause for lunch, of course.

As someone who loves to travel and dress up, is there a tip that you love for both fashionable styling and practicality?

You know that viral clip of André Leon Talley saying, “It’s a famine of beauty, honey! My eyes are starving for beauty!” That’s me. No one associates me with practicality, nor do I want them to. I prioritize glamor over practicality! (Cancel carry-on-only culture! Bring back hat boxes and steamer trunks!) My best piece of advice is to buy the dress and find the occasion later. I once found an amazing pair of opera glasses that were trimmed in olive green velvet and came in a matching purse. As soon as I bought them, I thought, “Well, I must see an opera at La Scala.” I booked a flight to Milan for a long weekend and packed a vintage 1960s coral shift with a matching coat trimmed in fur (I call it a “First Lady Coat”). Let your special pieces cause a little commotion! 

Whether it’s a weekend trip to Santa Fe or a 10-day trip to Dubai, I check a bag. I commit to a Law Roach level of method dressing. I don’t know if this is a subset of synesthesia, but I associate cities with colors, and I lean into that destination’s palette. This naturally provides a cohesive storyboard for the entire trip. I also subscribe to the “wrong shoe theory,” which means picking an unexpected shoe to finish an outfit and make it more interesting. If something is too pretty or saccharine, I like to add something a little ugly. (“It gives it a little something extra, don’t you think?”)

“I prioritize glamour over practicality! My best piece of advice is to buy the dress and find the occasion later.”

If someone had 24 hours to experience your Dallas—not the tourist version—where would you send them to eat, shop, wander, and people-watch?

It’s Friday in late October. For the first time in months, the weather is perfect to take my seafoam green 1986 Mercedes 560SL convertible on the town with the top down. I pick you up from your hotel, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (I inform you to simply call it “The Mansion” to sound like a Dallasite). My poodles, Tippi and Norman Rockwell, join us, smiling as the breeze blows through their curly ears. (They think we’re en route for puppuccinos.)

We’re starting on my side of town, East Dallas, with picking up bagels at Benny’s Bagels (garlic, toasted, with plain cream cheese for me) and then hitting Curiosities, a favorite antique store. I immediately find the perfect 1960s glittery lucite bag, a poodle brooch, and a gold Nantucket lightship basket vintage belt buckle. We pop into Good Records where I treat you to something on vinyl (maybe Kacey Musgraves’ new album, Middle of Nowhere).

We have lunch at Rise No. 1, where I insist you order the Chardonnay Apricot iced tea, Marshmallow Soup, and the Rise Salad before we share an Oreo Souffle that I order off the secret menu. (I packed a fresh sleeve of Oreos in case they’re out, though they’ll also send a hostess to CVS in case of emergency).

From there, we head to Vintage Martini, where they just rolled out a fresh rolling rack of new (old) arrivals. I spy a 1990s Moschino jacket that Fran Drescher wore on The Nanny. It’s $199. It fits. We return to The Mansion and needlepoint by the pool while sipping strawberry daiquiris and scrolling on our phones because we’re just girls!

We change for dinner. I’m wearing a cream-colored tweed Frances Valentine dress with a feathery beta fish and my vintage lucite handbag I bought earlier. We snagged a 6 p.m. reservation at Norman’s, which serves both incredible handrolls AND delicious pasta in a beautifully-designed space that’s both Japanese and Western. We return to The Mansion and post-up in the moodily lit bar for people watching and a Dirty Shirley Temple. We call it an early night, and I recommend you order cake from room service and enjoy it in the bathtub.

Favorite places for vintage in Dallas?

Vintage Martini stands alone as the best store for vintage clothing in Dallas. I recently found a custom 1960s mink vest and mink shorts(!) set that we gifted my friend, a fellow vintage enthusiast, for her birthday. It was such a perfect present that the real gift was watching her open it. To me, there is no high like finding the perfect vintage gift for a friend.

Other favorite stops include Curiosities (mentioned in my ideal Dallas day), Dolly Python, Forestwood Antique Mall, North Dallas Antique Mall, and Lula B’s in the Design District.

What is your current vintage fashion “white whale”?

Let it be known that, borrowing from Melville, I am the Instagram originator of the term “White Whale” for a fashion item that you have searched for for years with little to no luck of finding. (I never liked the use of the term “Holy Grail” for a rhode pocket blush.) During the last five years, I’ve successfully connected many people to their White Whale, all while I continue to hunt for mine. 

The OGWW (the one I’ve looked for since 2021) is a Charlotte Olympia “Pandora” poodle bag from S/S2013. I know from that collection’s line sheets that it came in both pink and black. I’ve never seen one (in either color) available for sale secondhand anywhere… ever. I’ve even DM’d Charlotte, lol. I believe I will find it (eventually) in London! This summer, I came quite close and found a different Charlotte Olympia poodle tote from the same collection. I have earned some wonderful secondhand karma, so I know I will find it eventually. I mean, it took Odysseus 20 years to get home.

“In Dallas, too much is never enough. Women love to show up and show OUT. I LOVE my hometown and how over the top we are!”