Styling Petra, Scolding Thomas

I was so excited when I got the request to style Petra Nemcova for the Diesel Black Gold Fashion show.  She is an extremely beautiful woman who has graced the pages of countless magazines, including Sports Illustrated, and has appeared in many ad campaigns. When she walked into the Diesel store, neither Hannah nor myself were prepared for how striking she is.  Petra has a very clear idea of what she likes, which is extremely beneficial to a stylist.  I love it when people know what they like and what looks good on them.  It makes it easier to hone in on those options that will work, because you ultimately want to have a selection of options to choose from.  It’s always best to have to make a decision from a selection of different looks, rather than just settling for one.  Luckily we had multiple options for Petra.

The thing that I found most incredible about Petra is that she is just as beautiful on the inside.  She is so warm and sweet and lovely.  She divides her time equally between work and her philanthropic endeavors, mainly her charity, The Happy Hearts Fund, which is a non-profit that rebuilds schools and restores hope in the lives of children after natural disasters.  It was an honor to get to work with her! You can only imagine how happy I was when she called to have me fit her again for the Fashion Cares Gala in Toronto, Ontario (my hometown!).

New York Vintage is one of my favorite stores in New York City and the owner, Shannon, has become a good friend and source of support.  I met her when I was assisting Rachel Zoe and have continued to pull amazing vintage from her for my clients.  Lena Dunham wore a 1940s French couture gown to the premiere of GIRLS in New York; Stacy Keibler wore a vintage Alaia to the premiere of Argo.  When I saw the vintage Alaia gown on the rack, I knew that Petra needed to wear it, and as you can see in the episode, I was right! It looked sensational on Petra and was perfect for this type of event. When you know, you know!

Watching Hannah with Petra was priceless.  I don’t think I have ever seen Hannah freak out so much for someone.  Clearly she has good taste in clothes, men (her boyfriend is super cute), and women! I don’t really know what to say about the poo talk thing.  All I can say is that I am not very aware of the cameras anymore and try to be as open as possible.  We work very closely together for hours and hours and hours and it’s hard to keep some things private, so we talk freely about pretty much everything, sometimes to a fault. It’s very rare that I get really upset about something my assistants have done.  Let’s not forget that I made some pretty big mistakes when I was an assistant and was given second chances. I would be a horrible person if I weren’t fair when mistakes are made, however, some mistakes are bigger than others.  I was on my way to the Tory Burch show when I got the text from my client saying that they were 45 minutes away from leaving their hotel and they still didn’t have their outfit for the fashion show they were attending.  I called and texted Thomas and there was no answer.  I called Hannah and she was just about to leave the hotel.  I told her what was going on and she told me that Thomas had everything and should be on the way.  I thought about it and said, “Go to his room and knock on the door.  He’s still asleep,” and he was.  Hannah rushed down to the client’s hotel and she got her her look in time. I believe that things should be let go once they are discussed.  Apology accepted.  End of story.  There is work to be done.  We moved onward and upward… and no one has slept through their alarm since.