You know when you get invited to a dinner party, where you will know very few people, and wonder who you will be seated next to? You are as excited as you are nervous, because it could go either way. Someone super cool, or someone….well, not so much.
You see them coming from a mile away. They are the modernized realization of Rainbow Bright… times two. I met the Beckerman Twins (Samantha Beckerman & Caillianne Beckerman) last year at a dinner hosted by The Coveteur (my friends and fashion savants) & The Outnet (where I buy fantastic finds, like this & this).
Meet Jessica Stam – supermodel, sweetheart, humanitarian and expert dog cuddler. She has graced the cover of Italian Vogue an unprecedented six times, and has shot with some of the world’s most reputable photographers, including Mario Testino & Peter Lindbergh.
The fifth of May conjures up vivid musings for me – I close my eyes and picture parties for Cinco de Mayo, cucumber laden margaritas and tacos in hand, a piñata bursting at the seams with tamarind candies and ring pops. I see the Kentucky Derby, a deep rooted tradition I have long wanted to take part in, which falls on the same weekend.
About a month ago, I was late night Instagramming, after a very looong 14 hour day on set. I was wired, and wanted to numb my brain with mindless pix of shoes or people making duck faces. But what I stumbled upon wasn’t mindless at all. It was a perfectly crafted dress. A beautiful, glorious, effortlessly sexy dress.
Over a perfect dinner at Whitehall in NYC, I meet Elettra Wiedemann for the first time. We are with stylist extraordinnaire, Chloe Hartstein, and my beauty guru, Daniel Martin. And while ordering mushy pea fritters, a plate of oysters, a few branzini, and frites for days, I look over at Elettra and think — “My lord, she is so beautiful.
If you go to a party and see a guy dressed to the nines with a radiant smile, an ability to make everyone feel comfortable, and a laugh that carries in that boisterous, contagious, unselfconscious, Julia Roberts way, you are probably looking at Joe Zee.
If you’re a fashionista, you read Man Repeller. If you like to laugh, you read Man Repeller. Frankly, if you listen to the likes of TIME Magazine, Forbes, or Fast Company, all of whom have cited Leandra, with her cheeky & brutally honest, fashion driven site, as one of the most creative & influential people in the blogosphere, then you also read Man Repeller.
Press events require you to look dolled up. Getting dolled up requires hair and makeup. Hair and makeup requires a glam team. The best half of that equation is undoubtedly celebrity makeup artist, Daniel Martin. I love this man, and not in that industry way of saying you “love” someone as casually as you order your macchiato.
Dreadlocks. Nose ring. Yoga instructor. Social worker. Free spirit. Lover of potato chips & lemon tarts. And if the DJ cues Al Green’s soul classic “Call Me,” just forget it. She will swivel her hips into the sweetest little dance you’ve ever seen, swaying her head and snapping her fingers to the beat like she’s been dancing since the womb.