Style Icons: Kate Schelter
Have you ever wondered what the homes of tend setters and style icons that we admire look like? We are stating our look into the homes of these amazing influencers and our first subject for this topic is the fabulous stylist and fellow blogger Kate Schelter. We have fallen in love with her personal style over the years and now have fallen in love with her interior style as well. We were lucky enough to get a first hand tour of her New York apartment and were able to ask her a few burning questions we have been dying to hear the answers to.
Check out what she has to say as well as her amazing works of art and fabulous curated pieces that make this apartment uniquely Kate…
Tell us a little bit about your business:
I am a fashion stylist/expert, creative director and brand consultant and the president of Kate Schelter LLC. I studied graphic design and photography at Rhode Island School of Design with honors and as a creative director and fashion stylist, she has styled campaigns for Lulu Frost, Hollywould, Wren, as well as celebrities such as the Olsen twins, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, and Margherita Missoni just to name a few.
How would you describe your style?
It’s so hard to describe something so inherently visual with words but I’ll try… I like classic pieces (and a lot of menswear: blazers, shirts, trousers), pencil skirts, tailored with a very feminine twist. I also love over-the-top-feminine pieces like vintage YSL and vintage Ungaro with tons of colors, floral prints juxtaposed with something unexpected like a studded belt or leather jacket. With a woman’s wardrobe I definitely believe less is more – that is the key to creating one’s “signature” style with a carefully thought-out palette of great accessories, basics, and a few fun pieces thrown in for fun. Shoes, shoes, shoes!
Can you tell us a little about your amazing artwork collection?
My art collection is something I have built ever since I was little (whether I was aware of it or not). I have everything from a painting I did in 11th grade that won a scholastic art awards to a giant painting my mom did when she was 15 to a Damian Hirst to artwork purchased on the street from a homeless man to many water color studies I have done over the years. I only hang what I absolutely LOVE on my wall. I also experiment with grouping paintings and objects on the walls in a traditional “salon” style. This can totally change the way you see something.
The paintings I have painted myself are from when I was in school (at RISD – I still think that is when I did some of my best paintings because we had to practice ad nauseam), and also I love to paint when I go on vacation or travels. For some reason, I can’t find myself painting when I’m in NYC. But I buy big sheets of watercolor paper and score them into a deck of 4×6 cards so I can easily whip out the watercolors and paint little objects that inspire me. I tend to paint banal objects more than scenes: lipstick, my eye lash curler, sun glasses, shoes, things found in the kitchen. Richard Diebenkorn is my favorite American contemporary painter and he did endless studies of small objects (a knife and a tomato, a flower in a glass, a deck chair). I think I find beauty in the small things in life. Plus they are quick to paint and fast to dry! The best advice is to work with what you love. So I paint what I love to look at.
Where do you get your unique finds?
Art Galleries; the artist themselves; estate sales; flea markets; travels; friends; photos from shoots I’v worked on; family inheritance; I make a lot of things as well. I’m a huge DIY-er
Finally, can you tell me a little bit about your blog?
This is a grouping of people, places, happenings, and things I find inspiring – mostly things I’d want to personally incorporate into my own life. Again – I focus on what I LOVE.
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