Q&A | Lauren Gallo

Lauren Gallo is a wunderkind renaissance woman who kills it for Soho House Group by day and moonlights as a writer and creative powerhouse. She's wise and young, stylish and just plain cool. AND, let's just say people with the initials LG don't suck. Below, her Q&A...

If not in New York, I would live in...Rome. It’s truly a magical city with tremendous history. There is so much life and so much to love.

My dream holiday would be to...spend the summer in Babington, Somerset.

My current obsessions are...

Daily: high ponytails, red lipstick, afternoon tea and listening to Etta James on repeat. Oh and Soul Cycle.

Music: LP, The Strokes, and Jay-Z are on constant rotation.

Fashion: Beyond obsessed with Prabal Gurung and Dries Van Noten.

If I had to be outdoors all day I would...lay in the grass and read all d a y  l  o  n  g.

My favorite quality in a man is...his honesty, personality and drive.

My favorite quality in a womanis...genuineness.

I'm terrified of...not being able to experience everything I want in life.

My dream car is a...1967 Chevrolet Camaro or 1965 Ford Mustang in candy apple red.

My cocktail of choice is...Highland Park 18. Neat.

The beauty product of choice is...Essie’s Spring 2012 nail polish collection.

My friends and I like to...take up space in coffee shops for hours, walk the streets of New York, gab about everything and nothing.

If I could go back in time for one decade it would be...I wouldn’t. I love the life I live now.

As a teenager I was totally into...changing the world. Oh wait…

I tend to splurge on...blazers, handbags and shoes. All of which are worth the investment.

Despite for my dire love for shoes and handbags, I love being a girl in boy’s clothes and that…is what makes me have Tomboy Style.

UNIFORM | Imune

Wrist packs ($9), neon t-shirts ($22), friendship bracelets ($1) all available here.

CONTEMPORARY | Claire Boucher

Photo of Claire Boucher a.k.a Grimes by Guy Lowndes for Oyster Magazine.

"I think everything comes down to confidence. Anything delivered with confidence can be good. There is nothing that is bad. There is no genre of music that is inherently shitty. You can make something good if you approach it with enough gusto." —Claire Boucher, April/May 2012 Oyster Magazine

SCENE | Coffee in Koreatown

Snapped these today while having coffee with my friend Amy, mega babe and tomboy style muse, in some African beads and a J.Crew tee. More coming soon on her and a new column I'm working on for The Stylish...

UNIFORM | Julie Christie

Unpublished photo of Julie Christie by Paul Schutzer, TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty Images, 1966.

"Not long after she won the Academy Award in 1966 for Best Actress, for her role as a sexy social climber in Darling, a naturally gorgeous Brit named Julie Christie appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine, which dubbed her an “antigoddess” for her tomboy style and no-fuss attitude." —LIFE

Mason Pearson boar bristle brush ($151); Boy. by Band of Outsiders cotton and silk-blend shirt ($193).

UNIFORM | Keds at Opening Ceremony

 Me likes.

ICON | Cindy Whitehead

I posted about former skater and current sports stylist Cindy Whitehead back when this blog was just starting and I remember being so excited to find this photo of her in a half pipe in the late 70s. Since then, I discovered her old school photo gallery, which is definitely worth a look-see. The word rad has lost a bit of its oomph because of how ubiquitous it is amongst many of us again (guilty), but Cindy, you really are the raddest.

CONTEMPORARY | Caitlin Wylde

 
Photos of the artist via Caitlin Wylde and Mohawk General Store.

I don't know how I should file artist Caitlin Wylde—under Contemporary, Icon, or just Person I Want To Be. Shelter Half in Los Angeles is having an art opening featuring her work (!), opening tomorrow (Thursday) at ***update*** 7pm (not 5pm as earlier posted). I'll be there, at 6:59 sharp.

NOISE | Lia Ices

Love her voice and style; heard this on Girls last weekend and can't stop playing it.

UNIFORM | Joan Didion

 
Joan Didion in Los Angeles via Christopher Niquet.

"I am bad at interviewing people. I avoid situations in which I have to talk to anyone's press agent. (This precludes doing pieces on most actors, a bonus in itself.) I do not like to make telephone calls, and would not like to count the mornings I have sat on some Best Western motel bed somewhere and tried to force myself to put through the call to the assistant district attorney. My only advantage as a reporter is that I am so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive, and so neurotically inarticulate that people tend to forget my presence runs counter to their best interests. And it always does. That is one last thing to remember: writers are always selling somebody out." —Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968.

Aubin & Wills Bedford tee ($62); Proenza Schouler Leather and woven tweed wrap mini skirt ($562); Ancient Greek Lito sandals ($163).

Thanks Julia for giving me this book. 

GIVEAWAY | $500 to Rugby Ralph Lauren

Ok, so biggest giveaway EVER! Rugby RL is not only hosting a few Tomboy Style book parties on the East Coast this week, but they're also giving away 500 bones to a lucky winner! The contest ends at midnight EST on June 14th and you must be over the age of 18 and a US resident. Click here for a complete guide of the rules. To enter: Leave a comment below telling us what you'd buy with your Rugby gift card and please leave your email address (so we can contact you if you win, it won't be used for anything). Good luck guys!
To view some of my Rugby favorites above and below and see their newest collection, click here.

UNIFORM | Hero Shirt

Last night my friend Amy Keller, an LA-based stylist (who does personal styling, movies, editorial, ad campaigns, etc.), came over and helped me put some outfits together for a trip I'm taking to New York and Boston tomorrow. Side note: Just because one might look at fashion and style all day/every day, doesn't mean these people (me) can dress themselves. A stylist's touch can be incredibly effective. So anyway, Amy came over and as she was looking through my closet, we started to think about rock tees and hero shirts (sleeves cut off, sides a little droopy) and how they really never go out of style. She was wearing a solid black one and I wanted to look just like her, so she made me one from one of my favorite New York tees. Here's how she did it:


1. Practice steps 2-7 on a tee shirt you don't care about. Then you'll know how much to cut, what's too revealing for you, what looks right for your body.

2. Flatten the tee on a smooth surface.

3. Fold tee in half

4. Line up shoulder seams and the hem.

5. Get the sharpest pair of scissors you have otherwise you'll see cut marks. Amy, being a pro stylist, buys hers at the Japanese bookstore Kinokuniya in Little Tokyo, then takes them to knife sharpener.

6. Decide where to cut (use the practice tee as a guide) or start your cut roughly .5 to 1 inch under the sleeve stitching. Your brassiere may show, so be certain you want it to show or don't and cut accordingly.

7. Throw it on, and turn it out.

*Or just cut the sleeves off and hope for the best.

Amy suggests a hero tee or rock tee be worn casually with dark denim or black skinny jeans or even a white or black tuxedo suit.  

Do you guys wear rock tees? If so, how do style them?

And seriously, this woman might change your closet life. If you have a big event or just want to up your game, give AK a shout @ amykeller47(at)gmail(dot)com.

UNIFORM | Chance California Collection

On Saturday I went to Barneys to see the fabulous Julia Leach, founder and creative director of Chance, for the launch of her new California Collection. All I can say is: I want it all. The striped tees, the towels, the henleys! I went home with a pair of the cord beach shorts ($75) and wore them all weekend long. As part of the collection Leach also directed a short film called Saturday which she shot in Palm Springs. It will relax you and transport you all at once.