The Editorial Director and Co-Founder of Who What Wear
opened up her L.A. office to us — namely, her beautifully curated bookshelves.
My book display motto…
The more, the merrier.
I organize my shelves and coffee table
books by…
Color and size, usually, though despite my best attempts at controlling my shelves, they often get a bit chaotic.
On my bookshelves, you’ll also find…
I’m quite sentimental and have a fondness for offbeat or odd accent pieces, so I accessorize my bookshelves with everything from personal photos — including the first press picture Katherine and I ever took in 2006 — to a Kidrobot figurine from my friend Debbie Sabet (she’s the founder/designer of District Homme and makes the most incredible suits for men).
The difference between my bookshelf at home and at work…
I have just as many fashion photography books at home, plus heaps more literature. I’m a total bibliophile and a bit of a hoarder, so there are books in every single room: stacked in and around my fireplace, placed in specific piles in my bedroom, somewhat arranged in a bookshelf in my home office…and don’t get me started on my vintage/current cookbook collection.
The most stylish book covers…
As a font fanatic, I love simple covers like Judith Krantz’s Scruples — which also happens to be one of my favorite books of all time — specifically, the black-and-white hardcover from the second printing that’s just the title and author’s name. When it comes to photography though, I’ll take anything with Bardot or Kate Moss on the cover. I simply can’t help myself.
Right now, I’m reading…
Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, Gulp by Mary Roach, Cherry Bombe magazine, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Everything Is Perfect When You’re A Liar by Kelly Oxford.
Book I always reread…
Besides Scruples? Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion — it’s heaven.
Guilty pleasure read…
Besides Scruples? I love a food memoir or a travel book, so things like Ruth Reichl’s Tender At The Bone, Bill Buford’s Heat, and Sarah Lyall’s The Anglo Files are my go-tos. I also have a fondness for the Sookie Stackhouse novels…
Book I always give as a gift…
I give vintage copies of Scruples or The Best of Everything to my friends who adore a campy story, Kate: The Kate Moss Book to fashion lovers, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs or The Phantom Tollbooth to my friends who have kids, Special Topics in Calamity Physics to my pals who love literature, and In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite to anyone who cooks.
Favorite bookstore…
Warwick’s in my hometown of La Jolla, California — the staff is incredible and they always stock the best books. I’m also fond of Book Soup in West Hollywood and Powell’s in Portland.
Book that changed my life…
Bret Easton Ellis’ The Rules of Attraction. Reading it as a freshman in high school really impacted me because it felt so youthful and present and real — it made being a writer seem like something a teenager could do. And Slouching Towards Bethlehem. I read it for the first time when I was 22 and just starting my first job at ELLE in New York. It made me fall in love with magazine writing in a whole new way.