Table of Contents
Introduction 17
Fashion Lesson No. 1: That's So You! 31
Fashion Lesson No. 2: Embrace Your History 32
Where I'm Coming From 35
Style Influence: My Mother 40
Style Influence: My Teenage Years: Boarding School, The Adirondacks, The Grateful Dead, and J. Crew 43
Always Pack a Party Dress 47
Style Influence: Palm Beach 62
A Long Walk is the Best Way to Clear Your Head 67
How Commitment to the Man of Mydreams Set Me Free to be a Fashion Chameleon 79
Style influence: Christian Louboutin 90
Style Influence: Isabella Blow 95
Take the Thing You Most Love to Do on Weekends and Turn That Into Your Career 97
Fashion Lesson No. 3: Bells and Whistles 102
Style Influence: Tracee Ellis Ross 105
Sidebar: Informational Interviews 106
When a Rock Star Asks for Your Phone Number, He Doesn't Just Want to Be Your Friend 109
Style Influence: Lauren Hutton 117
Try Anything That Grabs Your Attention-You Gotta Start Somewhere! 119
Style Influence: Sofia Coppola 129
Style Influence: Amy Astley 130
Mistakes Are Okay, as Long as You Learn From Them 133
Fashion Lesson No. 4: Packing Fashion 137
Fashion Lesson No. 5: The Brilliance of White Shoes 140
Fake It 'Til You Make It 143
Fashion Lesson No. 6: Learn How to Smile for a Photo (It Took Me Fifteen Years!) 152
Style Influence: David Hicks 154
Sidebar: Thoughts on Taste 156
The Met Ball Can Induce the Highest Highs (A "Wow" From Anna Wintour) and the Lowest Lows (Arriving in a Beat-Up Minivan) 159
Fashion Lesson No. 7: Matching My Lips to My Nails 183
Style Influence: Duro Olowu 184
Style Influence: Molly Milbank 186
When You Art Stuck, Ask Someone You Admire What They See for You 189
Sidebar: Rules for Consulting 198
I Have Always Spent Too Much Money On Clothes … and it has Always Been Worth It (Until It Wasn't) 203
Fashion Lesson No. 8: How to Recycle Trends and Make Iconic Pieces Lust a Lifetime 208
Style Influence: Camilla Nickerson 212
"All Women Need a Good Dose of Humility From Time to Time." -DVF 215
Fashion Lesson No. 9: Hair and Makeup Know-How 231
Rejection is a Mandatory Rest Stop Along the Road to Success 235
Fashion Lesson No. 10: The "Coat Over Your Shoulders" Look 241
Fashion Lesson No. 11: Mixing Denim 242
Style Influence: Updated Classic 245
Of All the Places in the World to Fall Apart, I Neverthought It Would Happen in Paris 247
Style Influence: Céline 265
Fashion Lesson No. 12: What Was I Thinking? 268
Sometimes You Just Have to Start from Scratch 271
Sidebar: Self-Nourishing 280
Style Influence: My Artist Friends 282
A Year on the Farm: Making Jam is the Best Revenge 285
Sidebar: My Greatest Hits 294
Acknowledgments 301
Image Credits 303
