Prepping for Paris with Jalil Johnson
Forget CBK let’s talk about prep!
March arrives and life happens again. Tuesday night I attended the book launch of one of my best and most brilliant friend, Tanya Bush. Tanya wrote a genre-defining narrative cookbook that will make you laugh and sob, and also teach you how to become a good baker. Earlier in the week I got to stop by Little Egg, the restaurant where Tanya is a pastry chef, and watch as she made a sublime carrot cake. I have such a terrible sweet tooth so most of my “baking” is actually geared towards suppressing it. When I need a fix, I eat something stupid like way too many figs, when I really need a fix I have secret stashes of peanut butter cups.
Watching Tanya bake feels like being seduced. I’m like, “That’s a lot of sugar for a girl like me” and she’s like, “That’s what makes it taste good.” She’s so capable, frequently handling things that burn in my hands, and she’s one of my favorite writers, frequently writing things that melt into my mind! I truly don’t know anyone with a stronger sense of vision, style, and purpose. Her book launch featured a brilliant discussion with The New Yorker’s Helen Rosner and a Hojicha tiramisu that she created (She’ll be doing a book signing at Radio Bakery in Prospect Heights on Friday alongside a hybrid pastry she made) I mean….
Earlier that day, I was part of a lucky group that got a private tour of the Visible Storage gallery with the sensational jack-of-all-trades Dolly Meckler! Armed with a microphone printed with a fun “Hello, Dolly!” insignia, Meckler led us on a scavenger hunt through the soon-to-close MET gallery, a slice of history if there ever was one. Highlights: Liana and I showed up wearing the same pair of pants (Levi’s engineered twisted seams with a whole lotta whiskering)! Three different and equally chic people had umbrellas sporting zoomorphic handles! I saw a Frank Loyd Wright chair that made me dreamily reconsider everything in my apartment!
And, high up on the Upper East Side, surrounded by lunching ladies, Jalil Johnson and I had a real melding of minds. We talked about the CBK infection that has all the young working women of New York in its grip and the concurrent—and far more interesting—rise of New Prep.
How do you define your style?
Eclectic Americana or eclectic preppy. Preppy is definitely the foundation of my wardrobe, but I say eclectic because I’m still pulling from various different styles. It could be a little bohemian, a little edgy.
What does preppy mean to you? What was your gateway into it?
I didn’t grow up with the style. It didn’t feel accessible to me. I always think about going past J.Crew and my mom being like, “Well we can’t shop there that’s not for us” and then wanting to shop at J.Crew. I also think preppy is distinctly American, because at the root of it there’s a sense of pragmatism, and pragmatism is the bedrock of American style.
What do you think people get wrong about prep?
That they cannot participate in it.
You made an interesting point earlier by pointing out the difference between prep and the clean girl aesthetic. How do you see Carolyn Bessette fitting into it all?
The American sense of sexiness is different from the European sense of sexiness because at the root of American style is the history of the Puritans. That still influences our idea of what sexiness looks like and how we dress. Everything with the clean girl is very manicured,like a calculated unkeptness. Whereas with prep, it’s just kind of how things are: the clothes are broken in because you’ve worn them for ages. You didn’t go on the hunt and search for a broken and beat up Birkin. This is just your life. Your hair is in a state because that’s just who you are. I think that’s the big difference between prep and clean girl. I feel a little sad about this CBK at all because it’s like when will she get to rest?
What are the preppy wardrobe essentials?
I’d suggest a great pair of chinos, a sensible shoe—like a nice loafer—and an Oxford shirt. There needs to be something monogrammed in the wardrobe, be it a shirt or a bag.
How would you style me personally? I need your help.
I like your little party girl look, but I also kept thinking about Katharine Hepburn and how you’d look fantastic in chinos that were slightly oversized and a great big fisherman sweater with Belgian loafers and a pencil in your hair. There’s this movie called Rich and Famous from 1981. In it, Jacqueline Bisset plays an academic type, and her fashion is fantastic. She wears a grey sweatshirt and jeans like Levi’s 501s and a watch. It’s basic but looks so fantastic. I feel like you should dress like Jacqueline Bisset Prep could be your work daytime look, and then you get to go into your party girl look for night.
Who does new prep well?
Marcus Allen who runs Society Archive, who feels like a really big part of New Prep. Also Olympia Gayot (she’s divine), Renatto Balladares, Julian Fetterman, Karen Brown Brody and Michael Rider at Celine.
