DORÉ

I am wearing an Aspeci white collarless shirt, my favorite Toogood raw denim jeans (which I am literally obsessed with at the moment), an 45RPM neck scarf, and FEIT white hand-molded sandals. I am pretty neutral and clean when it comes to my personal style, preferring functional pieces that I can move around in easily and transition throughout the day. I have a minimal approach with most pieces being high quality and understated.

Everything I wear must be made out of all natural materials like cotton or wool. I feel most comfortable when those materials are on my body. And all my shoes are the same, I think I only own FEIT shoes. At least it saves the spending on shoes. You could say I have an obsession :)

As a child in Russia I wore a uniform daily. I guess that sort of instilled in me the sense for a basic wardrobe of key pieces. I am a purist and minimalist when it comes to clothing. Most of my closet is filled with neutrals and various shades of black and navy that can all interchange and be paired together. With the running of FEIT and raising two boys I don’t have the luxury of time to think about what to wear every morning. I sort of gave up heels as well in the last 5 years since having children. Plus I felt really like I was wearing shackles on my feet. I did that for about 15 years while training in ballet. No, thank you! In addition I have a really tough time when it comes to work out clothing. I find it suffocating and uncomfortable to wear synthetic leggings. I am usually in a shlubby pair of sweatpants and an over sized t-shirt in my yoga or ballet class. I love the freedom of movement this gives me.

I am a huge fan of white shoes as well as white shirts. Each year I get a pair of FEIT white hand sewn low shoes, white courts and molded white sandals. I love the look of clean white shoes. It’s a weird obsession. Don’t worry the older ones are then worn to run around after my kids on the football field. And lastly the shoes are then resolved and cleaned up for the next season.

White button downs in all shapes and sizes! My most coveted piece is an old French nightgown I bought at Brooklyn Flea a few years back. It serves many purposes as a nightgown, a beach dress and the perfect summer over-sized shirt dress. Did I mention its also made out of the most amazing cotton! For me it’s all about oversized and large silhouettes.

Also my old pair of beaten up sandals from FEIT that keep giving life season after season. They’re 4 years old and perfectly broken in now. I’ve been wearing them with socks and an old pair of oversized military pants I purchased on my last trip to Japan.

Other key pieces in my wardrobe include a Lauren Manoogian Hand Knit box pull over – I love it due to it’s ability to sort of take on new shapes with wear and time. My Arts and Science Black Trapeze dress that I picked up at Noodle Stories in LA, is the perfect heavy weight cotton and will be timeless for a long time. I know it’s one of those pieces I’ll be wearing over the next 20 years. And Toogood’s photographers jacket, I love it’s ability to transition from season to season with me being able to layer heavier pieces under or t shirts in summer.

I only buy 3-5 pieces per year. I don’t shop just to shop and waste time and money. I tend to purchase pieces that I really like that will serve me for a long time, timeless and heirloom. I guess I would be a terrible customer with the exception of a few brands.

I like to know where my clothing comes from and who made it. Its usually a pretty personal feeling for me as most pieces I purchase or own come from people I know or work with and or I respect. Most of the people i work with are a bit of an outsider.

Just as the movement to buy local and in-season food there has to be the same for clothing. There has been so much talk about food and eating quality food. But people are still wearing clothing and shoes made by machines, synthetic fibers that use tons of oil and energy to produce. This is not only bad for the environment but it’s also something that is on your body. These clothing items consume so much energy and ultimately become landfill.

With FEIT our collections really start with the type of natural materials available to us and the type of hand sewn construction we are looking to do before we really start the design process. Hence, why we choose to work with people on high level projects who we feel are doing something very similar in their field. People like Toogood for the past two seasons whom I admire and respect and Lauren Manoogian coming for this fall. Both women design and craft their pieces by hand, not by machine. There is a certain human touch and look to all of their pieces, having a life to it. It’s not just about sustaining the planet but its also about sustaining the people that inhabit the planet. If we take care of the people, we will take care of the planet.