day 7

Citizens of Humanity Emerson cut | husbands sweater

Last summer husband and I basically Marie Kondo’d the country house, nothing like having an on-site wedding to get you going, and now I’m feeling the urge to purge city-side too.

We were a family of eight living hard and large with kids doing all kinds of sports and activities. Most of them are launched, two come home this summer from college.

We built our house from the ground up and it was brand spanking new when we moved in. Like most things after fifteen years I’m feeling its age, and well-loved wear. I can’t do a complete overhaul, completely out of the question, so I’m taking whole days and some whole weekends and doing a clean-sweep.

online cooking school told me to store meats on the bottom shelf as its the coldest area, here you see chicken
really not much in the pantry, kind of lean towards fresh
used to do tons of canning, all those jars sitting empty

It’s me doing the work, and it’s okay, and therapeutic. Started with the fridge and pantry because of course that gives immediate results. Clean fridge lends a cleaner mind. Actually, those are the first two things I organize when home from a trip. Kept on cleaning and last night I even washed down walls.

cashmere joggers, black tank, of course

As for style when working at home I’m all about a favorite pair of blue jeans, these are boyfriend style, can’t really get on the high-rise kick, a tank for when it gets hot, and simple, easy cashmere pieces.

Every day dress, clothes: denim and knits, food: took my mom out to dinner.

Day 7, check!


day 4

still cold here….

Running a little behind here yet self-employed and self-published so I’m the only one losing any sleep over this, big huge problem.

won’t these look better than denim on warm summer days?

In the interim I have found the summer pant: intricate textured stretch jacquard Italian style pant in yarn-dyed stretch cotton in an on-trend plaid and stripe combination. Tried them on in the studio with twenty-six-year-old daughter, she loved them too, added them to doctor client’s order this morning, and placed my order this afternoon. Thinking these are the perfect dress-up run-around version of denim pants that I default too way too often. These are 76% cotton, 20% polyamide, and 4% elastane, giving them incredible wear and ease. I’ll pair them with a white blouse or tee and navy cashmere something, crew or cardigan if needed.

What I was really wearing as it’s still cold was a navy cashmere turtleneck hello late March, current favorite camo jeans, black scarf, black coat, and combat boots. All wardrobe classics and things that will hang around. The coat is Celine from before Phoebe left, and the scarf is Fendi from before Karl passed, both gifts from husband, and both things I’ll keep and wear until threadbare.

We ate out that night at Billy Club, and I had market salad as you can never have enough green things and Bolognese as I make it often and am constantly trying to improve it, therefore trying it wherever it is served. Chef added rosemary, thyme, and a bit of lemon, three aromatics I’ve never tried. House made tagliatelle pasta was divine. Started with a tequila Three Stacks cocktail because I’m kind of wondering just how much wine I can drink…. It was a great meal and a fun night out.

Every day dress: clothes, fun plaid pants and kind of all black, food: dinner out at Billy Club.

Day 4, check.

day three

satin olive pant, dark olive jersey shell

I’m working trunk the entire upcoming month of April, minus a getaway to celebrate Easter and maybe a quick trip to Florida. Working trunk means being with women one to one in my downtown studio surrounded by 300+ pieces of luxury clothing items and helping them find styles that they love. This has been the professional piece of my life for almost nineteen years now.

Most women love having help in the dressing room. I think deep down we all have a need for affirmation in how we present ourselves to the outside world. For sure the clothes we wear speak about who we are, where we are, and where we’re going. As a stylist I help women refine their message with what they wear. I’ve been doing it forever, it’s always evolving, and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it. It’s in my DNA.

Wear good clothes, eat good food, love those around you.

Most days I’m in jeans and a tee, this is where I’m truly most comfortable, and as a creative it’s a look I can do. At the studio I tried on a pair of easy flowing satin and reverse satin pants in on-trend olive green with a little fitted jersey shell from the summer 19 collection, these two items definitely upgrade the denim and tee look.

meatballs in watery tomato sauce, whatever

Before I leave for the day, I like to have dinner prepped or planned out, it simply makes me feel good and gives me a sense of calm knowing what I’m feeding those I love. Yesterday it was meatballs in tomato sauce. Sauce was a little watery on the plate, whatever, we had five at the table, nobody complained.

Every day dress: clothes: olive green, food: meatballs.

Day three, check.

white things and grilled cheese

how about this white and black outdoor seating arrangement?
we visited Restoration Hardware Tampa yesterday, this is upstairs outside on their 4th floor

It’s Monday and we heard it’s snowing again up northeast and we’re wondering what to write on the blog that might inspire, so we’re going with some year-round classic basics, white things, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

making grilled cheese in cast iron with cast iron press wearing white denim, sliver tank, camisole straps are okay, it’s a good one
good olive oil and balsamic are always on hand….and butter is love
white denim, silver tank, black scarf, simple makeup, rooftop at The Canopy at the Birchwood, downtown St. Pete’s

We love white denim twelve months a year, and grilled cheese. Here we added spinach to get those greens in and sliced figs to a simple green salad. We always love a tank; white, black, or even silver.

grilled cheese on sour dough, mixed greens with figs
new votives I picked up at Restoration Hardware outlet

White flowers are also are go-to. Husband and daughter are convinced these ruffled tulips are past their prime yet I’m holding on. Wrinkles and imperfection have got to be okay.

white tank, same white denim, tweed duster


white on white and sorry some of these images are huge, remember cottage industry here and can’t figure out how to resize, eye roll…


White denim and tweed from Carlisle | Per Se, heading back to work trunk show later this week.

Every day dress, white things and grilled cheese, our favorites. xoxo

a pinstriped dress

my current day after day dress | Carlisle / Per Se

If I could I might spend forever living in the Italian countryside wearing only clothes by Brunello Cucinelli, cooking and eating pasta with family and dear friends all the while drinking Brunello di Montalcino.

I do love bill collins

For now (or the month of March) I’ll live and be in Saint Petersburg FL, work and plan for upcoming trunk show, cook and eat pasta, maybe drink a beer, and perhaps gift my husband with a cashmere sweater or two, because I always borrow. Husband’s cashmere sweaters from Cucinelli are always the best.

Brunello Cucinelli Dress

Every day dress and a great pinstriped dress. xoxo

some simple things

Alfresco pasture-raised Vital Farms eggs, Italian washed linen napkins
farmers market fresh flowers in brown paper
farmers market haul from Saturday morning
no salad spinner yet, hand washed the greens and wrapped them in dish towels to store in the fridge
vegetables, up close and personal. our goal is to incorporate them in all meals, 3 times a day
sometimes a chocolate croissant wins 🙂

Even when we’re home away from home we keep our routine pretty much the same. Eggs, the best we can get our hands on, fresh flowers, farmers market vegetables, white denim and a black tank. These are some of our tried and true.

these jeans are pretty see through so I cut front pockets out and sewed the seam closed
I also hemmed them just above the ankle, showing a slash of skin

Simple style notes: white denim is best with a seasonal refresh. Sure, we can wear last year”s pair, it simply feels better when they are new. Last years white’s can do the dog walk and the garden tour. The pair you see here I cut the front pockets out and stitched the seam closed. It’s a cleaner look, especially if you don’t like to distract the eye with funny pocket linings that you can invariably see when wearing white denim.

Happy Monday, some simple things, and every day dress. xoxo

really bad dinner

always candles, always flowers

Snowed in and thinking about food, and clothes, obviously. We’re in spring trunk show mode and traffic is light, especially when everything is closed for three days and counting. Kind of love snow days, time is at a standstill.

Thinking too about the blog, and what I need to do to inspire myself. Yesterday got myself up, dressed, made the bed, packed up some ice for the drink bin and grabbed fresh flowers off the kitchen counter, headed downtown for client meetings, and with the snow falling the cancellations rolled in. Headed home, and all I could do was double denim, blue jeans and a blue shirt, and contemplate what could be had for lunch.

Sautéing the cabbage which I sliced to make like wide egg noodles, did not work
steaming the ‘farm raised’ yet ‘organic’ salmon, I totally know better
forgot to grab fresh dill, so parsley in a pinch
the only thing we ate was the salad, yet there was plenty of wine
Friday night lights

Last Friday night, in an effort to be new year healthy, picked up four salmon fillets and a head of green cabbage on the way home from the studio, having had worked with new spring clothes all day. Salmon and cabbage? Kind of spring like; and even though the cooking, technique, plating, and presentation were on point, it was a really bad dinner. The thing is it’s just not spring yet, and not even close to being spring like. So, while I might be dressing myself and my women in new spring clothes for the season ahead, the food correlation is just simply a no-go. It was a dinner for three, and not one of us could get through it. Instead, we tucked into the wine. Started with white, because you know white with fish, ha-ha. Took a look out the window, snow blustering all around, and poured some red. Ate some of the cabbage and simply pushed the farm raised pink stuff around the plate. I should and do definitely know better: do not buy farm raised fish, but I did. So, no dinner and over served on the wine. Went to bed hungry and spinning. It was for sure a really bad dinner.

what we should have had, two nights in a row

Having made meatballs and sauce the day before served that up for lunch the next afternoon. That was the dinner we were looking for on a cold snowy night, live and learn. When you get it right it should go on repeat? We can do meatballs and sauce two nights in a row, especially and particularly in January.

vegetable stock mise en place, usually use Spanish onions, red was what I had
mise en place for hearty Minestrone, no canned tomatoes on hand, only crushed, soup was excellent
soup, sandwich, white, could have grilled the bread and cheese a little longer, I was anxious

Still trying to do healthy, yet wanting warmth, and comfort. Simmered up a double batch of vegetable stock, some for a hearty minestrone soup, and some for the freezer. A bowl of soup, combined with a grilled cheese sandwich, butter is still love, be still my January heart. See you later bland, pink fish.

As for spring clothes, we put in our order: a tailored single-breasted glen plaid blazer, for denim in all configurations, dark, distressed, white. Added the matching glen plaid trouser, not for a pant suit look but maybe, simply for having a nice trouser in the wardrobe. Try as I do denim can’t take you everywhere and felt a grown-up trouser for spring 19 was a must have. Also did a white blazer dress in a beautiful crepe with princess seaming, a bit of an asymmetric hem, to be worn as a dress, and as a coat. A black ballet inspired tee, semi-fitted, extended cap shoulder, because again, try as I do sometimes a tank is simply feeling a little too exposed. Added a beautiful navy unlined crewneck cardigan, with six silver buttons, a little fringe detail, tonal stitching, and long, cuffed sleeves, it’s stunning. For underneath a white pique blouse with silk chiffon trim, very classic and luxurious, hidden button front and long sleeves with deep cuffs and two rows of buttons. Of course, there is denim, a new pair of white, always need to refresh those to look best, a cool textured jacquard pair done in a black and navy texture, and a color block one with a cool fringed hem. Yeah, three pair of jeans yet that’s what we wear. To top it all off added a little iridescent jacket in a jet black and navy Moiré cotton, with silk habotai hem and cuffs. All great pieces can’t wait to get them, hopefully UPS is snow-proof. 

color version is on the Instagram, great Sarah Flint boots

As for the blog, they say write what you know, so food and clothes. Not for all, I know. If you like what we’ve got, thanks for hanging around. My in-house photographer grew up and went to college so the clothing shots have been lacking, only so far I can push the husband, and selfies feel a little weird. Speaking of selfies, here’s one in the studio, while snow swirls all around. A few DM’s about the taupe suede boots: they are Sarah Flint, a direct to consumer brand. Sarah makes great footwear using some of the same production sites as Hermes, Louboutin, and Blahnik, and counts the likes of Meghan Markle, Lady Gaga, Jane Fonda and Cindy Crawford as fans. I’m trying a little six month ambassador thing with them, and in return they’ve given me a code for clients and friends, RCOLLINS50, to use at checkout for $50 off your first pair. I do like her shoes and boots, have three pair now.

That’s all for now, I’ve broken the ice and re-fed the blog. Off to take an afternoon bath, time stands still on snow days, and then back to work on wardrobing women in new spring things. Really bad dinner, see you later. xoxo

same gig, new line

watercress and endive salad, fettuccine with shrimp. notice the motive ring? separate post coming soon… 
dishing it out, merci
yeah, no KETO, sorry
totally missing her…

Spent the weekend cooking, shocker, and getting two college girls back to school, and setting up new clothes.

Cooking and clothes, same gig, new line.

Sure, change, not easy. Loved having them home, yet they need to go.

all about a v-neck
folded knits…
leather pants and spring sweater on a Sunday afternoon in January, thinking this piece needs a swimsuit and a yacht, hahah
Miriam, thank you.

Kind of like work, you’ll never know until you try. Carlisle, here we come. In town until February 11th.

Short post, it’s Monday. xoxo

the long run

Never a huge jewelry person, I wear a few special pieces round the clock and only on occasion change it up. Dear husband has gifted practically the entire lot to mark time and special occasions. Only once did I buy precious earrings, and that was when I thought I lost one of the diamond studs I wore daily for twenty plus years. Didn’t have the heart to confess the missing stone, so bought a small pair of hoops to fill the holes for several months, and then found the missing earring under a chair in the bedroom while vacuuming. Passed that small pair of diamond hoops onto fourth daughter when she started her first semester of college this past fall.

While raising a half dozen babies changing earrings for the day never really crossed my mind, and who really had the time or the energy. Factor in taking something small off of value and the risk of losing or misplacing it simply hugely escalated, it was a very busy time.

Engagement ring, wedding band, watch, simple earrings, and a stunning diamond ring husband gifted me when he turned fifty are my tattoos of choice – they are the daily forever look. While in NYC for thirtieth wedding anniversary, that’s a big one, purposely walked arm in arm into Cartier on Fifth Avenue to peruse the goods. We were celebrating love, so the Love Bracelet was my desire. Dear husband likes to fulfill desire, so a white gold Love Bracelet with four small diamonds marked our three decades of marriage.

In turn, we gifted our oldest daughter the yellow gold version for Christmas last year. She was newly engaged, and we wanted to commemorate this special time in her life with something lasting, and that she could wear on her wedding day. I knew the classic look would complement any dress she chose, and we wanted to bless her pledge to love and marriage, and inspire her in going for the long run.

This piece of jewelry, designed in 1969, has a locking mechanism and requires the small included screwdriver to wear and remove the bracelet. The playful permanence of wearing this speaks to my heart, and of our commitment to love and family.

The long run is not easy, like our tenets of every day dress; making the bed, protein at breakfast, putting on good clothes and maybe some makeup, walking or exercise or anything that moves your body, work that feels meaningful, making some dinner, and most importantly spending time with those you love, it requires consistent effort and attention. In our world it’s this daily effort and attention that yields the far biggest reward, a rich life of family togetherness.

Like that bracelet, our family feels secure, sure there is struggle and tears and vulnerability and change, yet the circle continues with goodness, and joy.

And now, I digress: personally, I am fully and deeply committed to husband and family and passionate about feeding those I love. Professionally, and also personally as there is for sure crossover, I help dress many beautiful women. For eighteen years, since the birth of our youngest daughter, I’ve been aligned with Worth New York, and it’s been a good, long run. Not married to the company, and after much thought and reflection, I’ve chosen in this new year to venture out try something new; a new challenge, a new line, a new look, a new company.

Yesterday, my colleague and I met in our studio and outlined our launch. These first strides are unsteady, and a little uncertain. Carlisle, thank you for the opportunity. We’re digging in, and giving it a solid good go. Let’s see how we do.

Every day dress, the long run.

all photos: Sarah Bridgeman

winter capsule

Our team is rounding in the fall winter 18 fashion season while feverishly prepping to enjoy all holiday gatherings and the ringing in of the new year. Everyone is on the go go – shopping, cleaning, cooking, baking, decorating, travel, getting kids home from school, work work work. Doing all this stuff requires clothing (optional?), and sometimes it’s best to keep it tight. 

A capsule wardrobe is a collection of a few essential items of clothing that can be worn over and over.  The term capsule wardrobe was coined by Susie Faux, owner of the London boutique ‘Wardrobe’, in the 1970’s. Donna Karan popularized it here in the 80’s by releasing a capsule collection of seven interchangeable work-wear pieces. While not shiny or colorful, the concept works.  You can always mix in a few trend pieces. 

black turtleneck, black skinny trouser
Worth New York

black silk blouse with tie, black silk skirt
Worth New York
ultra luxurious black suede dress, feel free to layer a blouse, tee, or bodysuit underneath
thank you Michelle of Black White + Kuhl  

You know we love black, so here are a few of our current picks for this busy, challenging, and most wonderful time of the year, eye roll. 

silk blouse with tie as belt
silk skirt woth graphic tee
and now for some fun add a sequin mini t-shirt dress, wink wink