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With a lump in my heart, I have major news to deliver to you all—after three truly amazing years as your personal Style Guyde, the time has come for me to resign. As I (happily) chase my 18-month-old daughter, Paige, around the apartment (she's into—and on top of—everything now and talking up a storm), I realize that I need to devote all of my time and energy to taking care of my family. (The pictures above and below are from our trip to Capri last month)
This doesn’t mean that I don’t love each and every one of you—and, of course, I will miss you all madly. As a final goodbye, I am devoting this very last Style Guyde column to my top 10 favorite images from the fashion editorials that I conceived, produced and styled (with a truly amazing team of super-talented and creative people) for Instinct each month as Fashion Director.
All that said, the following are my personal highlights (in no particular order—as I could never play favorites and it was hard enough to select only 10 images)…
“Khaki Confidential”
August 2008
Photographer: Rick Day
Model: Alex Geerman at Major Model Management
I was hired as Instinct’s Fashion Director in mid-June of 2008. I was leaving for my summer vacation in less than two weeks. I thought that my first story would be for the September issue. Nope. The bosses wanted me to start with August. And I wasn’t about to say no (I mean, they just hired me!). The image above is from that story—and, even after three years, this photograph remains one of my all-time favorites. I absolutely love everything about it—the clothes (Bottega Veneta), the accessories (that’s my own Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co. necklace), Alex’s hair, Alex’s glowing skin, Alex’s bulging bicep—just everything.
“Home On The Range”
December 2008/January 2009
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Model: Cory Bond at Soul Artist Management
The second time that I shot with Vincent Dilio was for an artsy (i.e. lots of nudity) European magazine. We worked with Cory Bond and two other male models. As perfect as the other two were, Vincent and I completely fell in love with Cory. So, we decided to completely blow our budget and go down to Nashville to shoot Cory in his hometown—devoting an entire 10 pages to one model. If ever there was a model that deserved it—it was Cory (as you can plainly see). Just minutes before this shot was taken, one of the horses stepped on Cory’s foot as he was wrangling them together (with a bucket of oats) for this photograph—needless to say, Cory never complained and we kept on shooting.
“True Colors”
June 2010
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Models: Andrew H at Request Model Management, Henry Watkins at Red Model Management, Eian Scully at Soul Artist Management & Gavin Eastlack at Adam
My daughter was only a month old when we did this shoot. Luckily, my mother was available to come down to New York (from Maine) to watch her as I prepared everything. My mother had never seen the process before—she had no idea how much it takes to put a shoot together (she was completely overwhelmed by the amount of clothes that kept arriving every day—from 44 different designers/brands). Vincent really had to push me on getting all of the Converse sneakers (18 pairs total)—he was adamantly against using flip-flips (which would have been a lot easier) and, in the end, I’m extremely happy that he did. They were the perfect finishing touch to a very strong story.
“Top Coats”
November 2009
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Model: Sean Harju at Soul Artist Management
The chicest photograph that we ever took. The clothes were from Antonio Azzuolo. I went to Antonio’s New York Fashion Week presentation for Fall 2009 without any expectations—to be perfectly honest, I hadn’t actually heard of the designer before (it was only his third season in business). Wow! Was I impressed! The collection was fantastic; I wanted to wear it all and be “that guy” (which is exactly what you should feel during a fashion show/presentation—but, sadly, that rarely happens). I just knew that we had to shoot something! Plus we were very fortunate to work with Sean Harju—who walks the runways for every major designer in New York, Paris and Milan each season—and could make even a garbage bag look good!
“Let Me See You Sweat”
October 2010
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Model: Sean Sullivan at Soul Artist Management
The hottest photograph that we ever took (for Instinct’s annual underwear issue). Both figuratively and literally. We shot on location in Brooklyn at Gleason’s Gym (where Raging Bull was filmed and where Hillary Swank trained for Million Dollar Baby, as did Russell Crowe for Cinderella Man). It was the middle of August and they don’t have air conditioning (boxers REALLY like to sweat while they’re training). Sean Sullivan was breathtakingly perfect (at 6’3”, he’s a tower of muscle) and a real trooper for parading around in skimpy underwear in front of everyone as the gym was open for business-as-usual while we were shooting.
“At Ease”
March 2009
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Models: Salieu Jalloh at Red Model Management & Joey Kirchner at Soul Artist Management
Hands-down my favorite two-page spread featuring two guys (which, even after three years, can be a struggle—you don’t want one of them ending up in “the gutter” when laying out the page). The Cubist-inspired backdrop was created specially for us by Andy Harman (the set designer who works a lot with Terry Richardson), and it provided the perfect setting for showing off the season’s new easy silhouette. Spring 2009 was really the first time that designers loosened up a bit—showing us all that you could look sexy without skin-tight clothes. The color palette for the shoot (and Andy’s set) was also softer than usual—everything was meant to feel more relaxed and less hyper-masculine than what had become the norm.
“Executive Class”
November 2010
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Model: Roger Frampton at Soul Artist Management
Roger Frampton showed up almost two hours late for this shoot. It was the only time that a model was so late that I didn’t think he was going to show up at all (we did once have a model leave a shoot when he realized that he would be posing in just underwear for a gay magazine—gasp!— luckily, his agent rapidly found us an even better replacement). Roger was totally worth the wait, though, as all of the suits fit him perfectly and he completely embodied the Don Draper-esque character that we envisioned for this story (which was shot in front of Lever House and the Seagram Building on Park Avenue).
“Cruise Control”
March 2010
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Model: Lucas M at New York Model Management
Inspired by a Harper’s Bazaar cover story from February 1993 by Patrick Demarchelier, which featured a pixie-haired Kristen McMenamy (who has recently made a comeback sporting waist-length gray locks—as seen on the cover of the May 2011 issue of Vogue Italia). Lucas M is sitting on my boyfriend’s 1988 Mercedes 560SL (that he bought on eBay)—which we used throughout the shoot—and, naturally, the khaki-colored clothing featured was chosen to perfectly compliment the car’s classic champagne paint job.
“River’s Edge”
December 2010/January 2011
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Model: Patrick Kafka at Soul Artist Management
Patrick Kafka was probably the sweetest model that we ever worked with—and the most beautiful (he skin was absolutely flawless). He really enjoyed the shoot and was very comfortable playing the role that we had imagined for the story. Everything we asked him to do was something he had fond memories of doing back home in Austria (where he loves to hike)—not that he would actually be doing these things in countless layers of Nordic knitwear, mind you, but you can imagine what I mean. We shot it at the height of the fall foliage season at my friend’s 50-plus acre home in Litchfield County, Connecticut (close to my own country home), where not only is the property on the river but it also boasts a pond, an infinity pool and a stable stocked with horses.
“Ship Mates”
March 2011
Photographer: Vincent Dilio
Models: Sam Waldman at Ford Models & Joey Regan at VNY Model Management
The hardest photograph that we ever took. Remember how I mentioned earlier that it’s a challenge to compose a two-page spread with two models (that’s both interesting and different from what we’ve previously done)? We felt that we just couldn’t get this one right—no matter what we tried. It’s the first (and only) time that we gave up before we were really sure that we had it—we had to walk away from it and move on to the next shot. Later, when looking at the images on the computer in the studio, we knew that we had something—and none of us wanted to go back to it. Never did I think we had one of my top 10 all-time favorite images, but that’s exactly what it ended up being.
SWAG SUITE!
To complete the circle, my loyal fans, the Style Guyde insisted that the final Swag Suite giveaway be from (my good friends at) Banana Republic. This column started with Banana Republic (back in September 2008)—so that’s how it’s going to end!
And it’s not just any old giveaway either—no sirree—it’s a gorgeous, limited-edition silk tie from Banana Republic’s sophisticated (but totally wearable) “Mad Men” collection.
Launched last month, the collection was designed by Banana Republic in collaboration with Mad Men Emmy Award-winning Costume Designer Janie Bryant. Inspired by the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning AMC series (which returns for a fifth season in early 2012), the line offers a modern take on the cool polish and panache of the 1960s era through the Banana Republic lens of affordable luxury and noticeable quality.
E-mail us at
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with “Banana Republic” in the subject line and tell us in 100 words or less how much you’re going to miss the Style Guyde (he really needs to hear it). The first 10 entries (with a valid e-mail, home address and telephone number) will win a silk tie from Banana Republic’s “Mad Men” collection—which retails for $59.50. Only one entry/winner per household please.
Check out www.bananarepublic.com for more great pieces from the “Mad Men" collection!
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