Produced, edited, and styled by Lesley M. M. Blume
Photographed by Stephan Wurth
Photo assistant: William Taylor
True style is derived not from access to unlimited funds and a slavish devotion to the latest trends.
It is premised on courage, resourcefulness, and high individuality.
Welcome to the second installment of WOMEN OF STYLE, my monthly Living section feature that showcases and celebrates women who embody this sort of boldness and creativity.
The women selected for this feature must have no formal affiliation with the fashion industry; nor can they have a personal stylist. The clothes and accessories are part of each subject's personal wardrobe, and cannot be provided by a designer or sittings editor.
This month, our subject is renowned photographer Elizabeth Heyert, whose work has been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine, American and British Vogue, Elle Décor, and Architectural Digest. Her powerful photographs are part of the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as well as numerous private collections.
And as you would expect, her daring approach to dressing reflects the cutting-edge art world in which she lives.
"I'm especially drawn to clothes that look like pieces of architecture or sculpture," she says. "I wear my clothes as architecture and my body is the frame."
While Ms. Heyert concedes that her look may not be for everyone, she is an inspiring example of intelligently-conceived high style, utterly uninfluenced by faddish trends. You can peruse her impressive wardrobe here, photographed by fashion photographer Stephan Wurth in Ms. Heyert's New York City studio.
Below, she talks about the relationship between age and style, and recounts her encounter with one of the greatest fashion icons of the twentieth century.
Please see the Q&A with Ms. Heyert below the slideshow.
Q: Your look is very specific. Have you had any unusual reactions to your highly-stylized ensembles?
A: Last year when I was wearing my reversible Miyake fête dress on the silver side (see slide show), a woman at Lincoln Center climbed over several rows of seats just to tell me she adored my dress. And a ladies room attendant at Bergdorf kindly offered to sew up the loose threads on one of my "deconstructed jackets" (see slide show) since obviously I looked to her as if I were falling apart at the seams.
My husband, who doesn't particularly share my love of fashion but is a quick learner, always assumes now if something is shredded or uneven, it is a design statement and not bad grooming or a mistake.
What I really enjoy is when strangers approach me to talk about the ideas behind what I am wearing so I can have a good discussion about the art of the piece and the brilliance of the designer.
Q: Do men and women react differently to your style?
A: I often get compliments from men, I think because what I wear is dramatic and they actually notice it.
Women also give me compliments but usually in relation to themselves--as in, you look amazing but I could never wear that. I go to the ballet quite a lot and I always joke that I am really dressing for the ladies room crowd at Lincoln Center. Often, at intermission, I get quite a lively exchange of comments about my various outfits. I have an enormous, bell shaped Japanese skirt, which I wear with a tight black top and a black boa made of some high-tech material, and that's always a big hit in the Ladies.
Q: Talk about the relationship between age and style.
A: I don't think the role of style is different for a woman of any age. Style, to me, is about experimenting with what gives you pleasure, a joyous expression of imagination. I emphasize joyous because too much is written about fashion that takes the pleasure away--clothes that make you look thinner or clothes that make you look younger or, horrors, clothes that make other people envy you or that -- double horrors -- are "age appropriate".
I like clothes that stimulate the senses, fashion that is both exquisite and intellectual. I love it when it takes me a few minutes to figure out how a piece works or when I can't quite uncover the puzzle of how to wear it. For me, style is about forgetting the rules or creating new ones.
Q: I hear a rumor that you were once given the stamp of approval by my heroine, the great Diana Vreeland (former editor of Vogue). Please tell us about that.
A: Yes, it might be my finest fashion hour. I had just moved to New York after graduating from the Royal College of Art in London. One of my first photography assignments was to photograph the legendary Red apartment designed for Diana Vreeland by Billy Baldwin. Mrs. Vreeland would be there, which raised the question of what to wear when meeting the quintessential icon of style.
I didn't own any designer clothes. I decided to borrow an old cream color silk shirt belonging to my boyfriend at the time, which the dry cleaner had conveniently shrunk to oversized from enormous. I wore it tucked into my standard wide-legged black trousers that are perfect for working in (I still wear the same style trouser when I do a photo shoot today), and a pair of black ballet slippers, another staple I've worn for years when I take photos.
Mrs. Vreeland opened the door, we stared at each other, and I still remember her wry smile. She and I were dressed -- head to toe -- in identical outfits.
Q: Who are your favorite designers, and what draws you to them?
A: Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons, who is the quintessential anti-fashion designer. Her imagination seems endless, and she has created her own fashion language--extra sleeves where you don't expect them, pieces made from several different garments, collections with layers of references to history and popular culture.
Yohji Yamamoto, of course, whose clothes are functional, elegant, austere and yet endlessly imaginative. His clothes are my favorite to work in.
Martin Margiela, who combines extraordinary craftsmanship with brilliant imagination and an evil sense of humor. Nothing is what it seems to be, and yet when you try on a piece, it all comes together beautifully and makes some kind of sense.
And finally Issey Miyake, at least what I think of as the old Issey Miyake from several years ago.
Q: So, many of your pieces are from expensive designers. Can you advise women on how to acquire an elite wardrobe, even if they don't have a big budget?
A: I don't buy a lot of clothes. The outfits you see here are acquired over many years. Although I try on lots and lots of clothes, I buy extremely selectively, and have to be in love before I get out my credit card. The way I usually shop is to try on whatever crazy thing takes my fantasy. If a piece really grabs me, usually I'll ask the store to hold it overnight. If I can't get it out of my mind I'll buy it. But as you can imagine, that doesn't happen all that often.
I like to feel that I really would like to own a piece forever before I buy it. That's raising the bar pretty high. I would so much rather own one special piece than five pretty good ones.
Also, don't forget the joys of sale days. If I like a piece a lot but it seems too expensive, as it often does, I'll put it in the hands of fate and wait for the sales. You'd be surprised at how often the piece you love is still there. And if you love it at full price, I guarantee you'll love it even more at 40 or 50% off. And if it isn't there, it just was not meant to be.
Q: Why should the modern, educated woman care about style?
A: You may as well ask, should the modern, educated woman want to become invisible? I think that woman are often lumped into categories--single gals, or soccer moms, or career women, or women of a certain age. For some reason our society wants women to wear labels, and not only on their clothes.
A book I loved as a child was called Don't Knock The Corners Off, or something like that. Style allows us to keep our corners intact for the world to see, the uneven, unconventional, creative sides of ourselves that separate us from the group. I think that's a wonderful thing.