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Kate Schelter in the Coco Weekender, Harbour Island. House of Lavande necklace. Photo Kate Schelter.

My friend and Gypset Style author Julia Chaplin, recently launched a Gypset dress and pareo line with the tagline Here and There. I was very lucky to be able to test drive the brightly colored tunics during my recent jaunt to Harbour Island, where I personally imported an order to India Hicks’s breezy boutique The Sugar Mill where they are sold. I had fun meeting India and her partner Linda and wearing the tunics all over the island. Here are a few snapshots as well as some insider tidbits from Julia herself.

Kate Schelter in the Sant Joan on Harbour Island. Photo Kate Schelter

Kate Schelter: What’s you favorite Gypset location?

Julia Chaplin: Lamu, Kenya

KS: What’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home in pursuit of adventure?

JC: I went to Trancoso, Brazil from Mexico via Uruguay so it really took forever. I was in Jose Ignacio, went to a late dinner then a party, drove 2 hours to my 6am flight in Montevideo, flew to some city in Brazil, missed my connection, slept in a luggage storage area for 8 hours, flew to Salvador, took a ferry and than a taxi down a bumpy dirt road and finally arrived in Trancoso.

KS: Where did you get the inspiration for the Gypset clothing line?

JC: So I could have something groovy to wear when I arrived in a Gypset enclave. Cool but not dripping with logos.

KS: Where are the fabrics from? Where is the line made?

JC: The fabrics are from both the east and west coasts of Africa. Some I smuggled back in my suitcase. I had the line sewn up here in NYC’s garment district.

KS: How often will you put out a new line?

JC: I’ll do stuff as often as I’m inspired. I like the idea of being a bit outside the fashion industry in that sense. It’s more Gypset to operate on your own schedule.

KS: Gypset is a great term. What’s the best Gypset slang you know?

JC: A Gypster [rhymes with Hipster] is the younger Gypsetter who maybe lives in Bushwick and has an 80′s caftan.

KS: Can you name three pieces from your collection and where your girl is wearing them in your mind?

JC: Sant Joan – Jade Jagger in Sant Joan Ibiza.

Coco Weekender – Karen Elson in Montauk

Poppy Weekender – Honor Fraser at Art Basel

Available at www.gypset.com

Coco Weekender watercolor by Kate Schelter.

Harbour Island watercolor by Kate Schelter.

Tom Ford True Coral lipstick watercolor by Kate Schelter. The perfect Gypset color.

Tracy Smith, founder of House of Lavande. Photo Billy Farrell Agency.

In January we flew south to see some sun (after months of snow, snow, snow) and to celebrate the town of Palm Beach’s Centennial with vintage couture jewelry brand House of Lavande. Since it also fell on HOL founder Tracy Smith‘s birthday, and because you can’t give a cake and candles to a beach, we toasted with lavender colored vodka shots, cabana stripes and surf boards.

All our favorite friends from NYC attended and all our favorite editors were there to record the dancing, diamante, and debauchery from Vogue, Elle, Purple Magazine, W, Paper, Teen Vogue, Tales of Endearment, and Fashionista. Even Page Six had a spy lurking in the sand by the dance floor as guests kicked off their heels and the chandeliers swung from side to side in the oceanside winds!

I have been a fan of her blog ever since I first laid eyes on it,  two years ago. I love her work and often felt we shared an aesthetic. So, when she emailed me out of the blue this cold January to ask to get together and, oh, yeah, take your picture, I had to keep from jumping out of my skin with excitement. She is one of my favorite photographers and you know what it’s like to meet your idols in life!! I had to act cool. Instead, we immediately started exchanging stories and jokes, and hours and hours flew by. Just like that.

© Photo Garance Doré www.garancedore.fr/en/

And then she asked me another favor: would I write a NYC guide? (I am a Gemini, and anyone who follows astrology knows that we are walking databases!) So I had two heart attacks, one after the other!! Just like a teenage girl.

© Photo Garance Doré www.garancedore.fr/en/

Thank you, Garance!!

I want to share with you the amazing post Natalie Joos wrote on her blog Tales of Endearment about my vintage clothing obsession/passion/collection/karma. Thank you so much, Natalie! xoxo

Kate Schelter in vintage YSL. Photo Natalie Joos courtesy of Tales of Endearment.

I am so thrilled to be included in Vanity Fair’s feature Fashion’s Night In. It’s a play on the real Fashion’s Night Out, fashion’s largest retail event of the year. Photographer Jennifer Robbins shot me in my own apartment which was so fun. See the full article here.

Thank you, Vanity Fair!

Kate Schelter for Fashion's Night In!

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.

NAME: Jennifer Zuccarini
OCCUPATION: Design Director, Victoria’s Secret / Co-founder of Kiki de Montparnasse
TRAVEL DESTINATION: Sao Paulo, Brazil. I had so much fun there: great architecture, food, nightlife, fashion… and just a little dangerous.
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: Anytime, especially from December to May. HOTEL: Hotel Emiliano is a very cool boutique hotel in the posh Jardins neighborhood.
RESTAURANT: KAA is one of the hottest, much talked-about new restaurants. It was designed by Sao Paulo’s own Arthur de Mattos Casas of Studio Arthur Casas Architecture and Design.
HIT THE TOWN: After dinner, head to Skye on the top floor of the boutique Hotel Unique for great views of the Sao Paolo skyline, with an amazing pool. Have a night cap at the Lions Club that long ago housed an elegant men’s club.
SHOP: Thais Gusmao for the best lingerie (cheeky-good fun), Galeria Melissa for shoes, Adriana Barra for quirky, graphic home furnishings, accessories, and sexy reversible bikinis (located in an amazing, historic townhouse with each room fully outfitted in her distinct style.) Choque Cultural is the premier grafitti and underground art gallery.

KAA Restaurant

Galeria Melissa. Photo courtesy of Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times.

Hotel Unique has a thriving nightlife on the roof with 360 degree views.

By any means possible, go see this film on the big screen. The styling is perfection. Tilda Swinton’s wardrobe nonpareil. The Italian cinematography is magical and you won’t be able to take your eyes off this film once the story pulls you in deeper…

It’s a film like they don’t make anymore. Watch the trailor here.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.

NAME: Mary Ellen Matthews
OCCUPATION: Photographer, Saturday Night Live
TRAVEL DESTINATION: Mal Pais, Costa Rica for the surfing!
HOTEL: I stay at a barefoot hotel called Tropico Latino, www.hoteltropicolatino.com. It sits right on the surf break… I love the bungalows they have there… truly a surfer’s paradise.
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: December – May.
RISE AND SHINE: Wake up before sunrise for a morning surf session then breakfast at the hotel or one of the amazing local restaurants down the dirt road…some down time with a book then back in for another surf…a nap then, my favorite part of the day, a sunset surf. Nothing can compare to having your friends in the water with you as the sun goes down and you catch your last wave of the day before dinner and cocktails! A dirt road connects a few breaks and great little towns… Santa Teresa for one.

A bungalow at Hotel Tropico Latino.

Palm-y pathways.

The endless surf break at Mal Pais.

Originally published on The Huffington Post on June 7, 2010.

Watch me tour the city’s premier vintage archives: the hush-hush resources for celebrity stylists, fashion insiders and top designers, and the most eccentric, amusing dress-up chests imaginable. I also share some vintage shopping tips.