Tomboy Style

ICON | Charlotte Gainsbourg

She's just it.

ICON | The Contemporary Artisan

Photo of an Hermès leatherworker by Vanessa Winship scanned from the cover of Le Monde D'Hermès A/W 2011.

I just picked up this 2011 Hermès catalog which printed a collection of photographs by Vanessa Winship of the luxury brand's artisans. A stark juxtaposition to the color pages that followed, sure, but this feature also serves as a welcome and frank acknowledgement of where such beautiful silk scarves and buttery leather belts actually come from.

"Young or old, men or women, what they share is the presence, the empathy and the commitment of those who have chosen a manual trade. A contagious aplomb that comes from joy and patience, from the mastery of painstaking techniques and the drive to create, from pride, and from putting their heart into their work." —Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Artistic Director of Hermès.

ICON | Rachel Ward

Photo of actress, director, and screenwriter Rachel Ward off the coast of Newport R.I. by Stan Shaffer scanned from You Should Have Been With Me: A Photographic Scrapbook by Stan Shaffer.

"All anything takes, really, is confidence." —Rachel Ward

UNIFORM | DIY Tretorns

Tretorn sent me a pair of classic white-on-white Nylites ($60) complete with a decorating kit for The Nylite Project. I used blue fabric dye and switched out the laces. I'm not a skilled DIYer, so believe me when I say fabric dye on shoes is really easy (and kind of fun!). Also, Nylites are really really comfortable.

Q&A | Zinzi Edmundson

Photo of Zinzi in her home by Michael Flores via Refinery 29.

Zinzi and I went to the same teeny college, but we never crossed paths. Then we both worked in editorial at Bon Appétit Magazine, but she started just after I left. Years later we finally met, and have not really stopped IMing each other nonsense since. Zinzi not only edits the feature articles at FOAM Magazine, but she is one-half of the band KISSES whose freshman album is one of my top records of all time—not because we're friends, because it is so freaking good. Zinzi also has a great tumblr, At the Tree House and is a freelance writer. Basically, she takes pleasure in making all her peers feel unproductive in comparison. I'd hold all this against her if she wasn't so hilarious.

If not in Los Angeles, I would live in...Providence, RI, my hometown.

My dream holiday would be to...my summer house in southern Maine or Greece, probably! Someone take me to Greece, please?

My current obsessions are...

Food: I can't stop eating pizza! I made an awesome brussels sprout/lemon/burrata number using a cast iron skillet technique the other night. So good.

Music: I just remembered how much I love Roy Orbison. So much alley cat singing.

Fashion: Bolero ties. I'm obsessed and I want one, like, yesterday. Also, peter pan collars—my mom just started a line called Arrowhead and she makes a pretty mean one.

Retail Store(s): I don't go shopping that much! But, I recently went to a CRYBABY presents opening at Space 15 Twenty. Not only is the shop stocked with everything one would need to be an extra-cool L.A. lady, but Dakota and Lisa who run it are total dream babes and the nicest.

I channel my childhood self when I...eat pizza and potato chips with unbridled joy, all the while pretending what I'm doing is completely normal so no one makes me stop.

The fictional character I most relate to is...Odysseus, nbd.

If I had to be outdoors all day I would...hopefully be wearing sunscreen.

My favorite quality in a man is...patience.

My favorite quality in a woman is...circuitousness.

I'm terrified of...most things; water. Larger bodies, not really drinking water or anything, jeez!

My dream car is a...70s/80s Mercedes SL; funny trapezoid car.

My cocktail of choice is...a Manhattan.

My celebrity crush is...Chevy Chase. Just, leave me alone.

My beauty products of choice are...Aesop Ginger Flight Therapy, Josie Maran Argon Oil Color Match, Malin + Goetz Eucalyptus Deodorant, Clarins Chamomile Toner, Sponge Herbal Cleanser and also Rose Water Spray.

My friends and I like to...crack wise!

If I could go back in time for one decade it would be...so alarming. No, maybe the gay 90s? I love gaiety.

As a teenager I was totally into...dying my hair red to look like Angela Chase and listening to the Foo Fighters and making things from Fimo clay!

I tend to splurge on...beauty products and food.

Stubbornly continuing to live my life as the oddball embodiment of everything I love...is what makes me have Tomboy Style.

ICON | Rita Hayworth

Photo of Rita Hayworth with her 1941 Lincoln Continental via PTA Transit Authority.

I never thought Rita Hayworth would appear on this blog, and yet here she is leaning on her coupe, owning it.

UNIFORM | Margaux Arramon-Tucoo

Photo of French surfer Margaux Arramon-Tucoo by Kassia Meador via The Swallowtail Society.

"I grew up in Biarritz, France in front of the ocean, and in my mom’s arty workshop. People inspire my soul and I travel to feed my mind in the sea and on Earth. I am close to nature and passionate with all that humans have to share at their purest state. I am thankfull to have two hands and observating eyes with which I can create with no limitations. Clear soul, Balance and Grace are my major words." —Margaux Arramon-Tucoo

Lymore Tee ($56); Skimboard; A.P.C. Anchor Denim Bag ($25); 10 Crosby Ikat Shorts ($225).

ICON | Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed

Photos of Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed courtesy of the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum.

In 1907, Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed became the first president of the Ladies Alpine Club. She wrote seven books on mountain climbing and over her lifetime climbed twenty peaks that no one had climbed before. Under the name Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond she made at least 10 films of alpine activities in the Engadine Valley of Switzerland, including ice hockey at St. Moritz and tobogganing on the Cresta Run. She is probably among the world's first three female film-makers, after Alice Guy and contemporary with Laura Bayley.

"There is no manlier sport in the world than mountaineering. It is true that all the sports Englishmen take part in are manly, but mountaineering is different from others, because it is sport purely for the sake of sport. There is no question of beating anyone else, as in a race or a game, or of killing an animal or a bird as in hunting or shooting. A mountaineer sets his skill and his strength against the difficulty of getting to the top of a steep peak. Either he conquers the mountain, or it conquers him. If he fails, he keeps on trying until he succeeds. This teaches him perseverance, and proves to him that anything is possible if he is determined to do it." —Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed (a.k.a. Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond) from the preface of her book True Tales of Mountain Adventure for Non-climbers Young and Old, 1903.

ICON | NICO

Photo of Nico reclining in Andy Warhol's mid-town Factory in 1966 by Nat Finkelstein via Rock Pop Gallery.

CONTEMPORARY | Jeanne Damas

Photos of model and blogger Jeanne Damas via Vogue Paris.

Q&A | Bekah Stewart

Photos by Emily Sill.

It's been a while since we've had a Q&A up on the blog, and who better to reignite the genre, than Bekah Stewart of A Well Traveled Woman. In the vast tumblr world, hers has an aesthetic and thoughtful contextual focus that is so very spot-on. Turns out she's as ace as her tumblr!

If not in Louisville, I would live in...preferably not in the city. On a little piece of land with a view of the mountains somewhere out west. Colorado is my dream.

My dream holiday would be...a little cottage or cabin on a lake. Lots of fishing, hiking, camp fires and a view of the mountains, kind of sounds like home.

My current obsessions are...morning coffee. Yoga, pushing my body to its limit. Sitting alone in my favorite vietnamese restaurant with a bowl of pho. Chambray shirts and wool socks. Bubble baths and scented candles. Music on vinyl and Sherlock Holmes novels.

I channel my childhood self when I...play outside with my boys. The dirtier the better.

If I had to be outdoors all day I would...most likely spend it in my garden.

My favorite quality in a person is...honesty and loyalty are things I value equally in both men and women.

I'm terrified of...not being able to be here for my children when they need me.

My dream car is a...Toyota FJ40.

My cocktail of choice is...I have yet to find a cocktail I'd take over a good beer.

My beauty product of choice is...sun, water, sleep and exercise, if lacking in these a little bronzer helps.

My friends and I like to...browse antique and thrift shops, have coffee dates and dinner parties

As a teenager I was totally into...adventure, adrenaline rush and traveling.

I tend to splurge on...food, whether it's eating out or buying good ingredients, I don't bat an eye at spending money on good food.

Growing up with eight brothers and two boys of my own and dressing to fit the part...is what makes me have Tomboy Style.