Betsey Johnson's Assistant Stephanie Wagenman On Her Champagne-Swilling Boss

For the latest profile in the "Assistant Files" series, the Daily Front Row sat down with Stephanie Wagenman, Betsey Johnson's right-hand gal.

What Wagenman revealed was even better than we could have imagined: Betsey drinks champagne out of coffee mugs! She calls her office the "Pink Tank Think Tank"! She doesn't know how to make a cell phone call and she plays dress-up with her employees!

One of the best tidbits from the designer's ballet-dancing, modeling, blogging super-assistant is about that time Betsey took her to the ballet:

I went to the New York City Ballet with Betsey recently, and she decided to dress me up like one of the seven deadly sins. We picked wrath. Betsey drew all over me with a Sharpie, made my hair really crazy, dressed me in a giant hoop skirt with red bloomers and my butt showing--and she put me on a chain. She was dressed as anger management, and I was anger. I don't know what crazy drugs you had to be on to think of this, but that's just sane, normal life around here. The Post ran an item about how we almost knocked Sarah Jessica Parker off her heels.

All in a day's work. At least they probably capped the night off with some bubbly:

What does Betsey usually eat for lunch?

I have to make sure she gets fed and eats her lunch at 12 p.m., and she can't eat too much shrimp so she won't get mercury poisoning again. She eats shrimp cocktail every single day! I try to make her eat chicken soup at least once a month. She used to eat blueberries and yogurt every day, with about 10 packs of Equal in it. It's gross. Betsey likes to eat out, and she never cooks--but she used to like to decorate cakes. It was actually a job she had when she was younger. And then she has "traveling music."

Traveling music? Is that an iPod playlist or something?

It's champagne. She takes it home with her--she travels with it in a mug. There's also "funny coffee" which is when we put champagne in coffee mugs and sit at the table in the showroom, instead of drinking out of champagne flutes.

Sounds like our kind of office. Read the rest at FashionWeekDaily.com.

(Via The Cut)

Comments

[K White]

06:26 PM on 06/30/2011

I'm down with enjoying some "funny coffee" and "traveling music" with Betsey. Going to the ballet dressed as the wrath with a chain and marker on my arms, not so much. And I have never heard of an adult who doesn't know how to use a cell. Even my ancient granny wants to upgrade her 1999 cell phone to an iPhone.

[Cassandra45]

05:43 PM on 06/30/2011

I love Betsey Johnson, she's in her late 60s or something and still does cartwheels down the runways at the end of shows.

[redclaysreturn]

03:53 PM on 06/30/2011

Shelley he will outlive you.

[evilchihuahua]

07:08 PM on 06/29/2011

I don't know who they are but they sound like fun.
Paddle me with a soup spoon and call me Spanky, I'm in.