Ann Mashburn
How would you describe what you do to a toddler?
I would say I help make clothes and then play dress up with those clothes. I basically get to work with a lot of people who all get to think about things to play dress-up in. We use what we already have in the dress-up box, but we also get to imagine and make crafts and more things to have in the dress-up box. That’s a lot of what the people who work for me do, but what I do is I actually think about and tell stories about what’s in the dress-up box. It’s kind of like “pretend” in a way.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up all over the Midwest, and I moved every couple of years. I was born in Iowa, but then I lived in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. I graduated high school in New Jersey and I went to college in Colorado. Then I moved to New York, but I also spent a little time in California with Sid.
Out of all of those places, is there one place that really changed how you thought about clothes? Or do you remember having that big realization that clothes were important to you?
I loved to play dress-up as a kid, and it was really important to me how I looked. My back-to-school outfits were really important. My mom dressed really simply and was really practical, but super chic. All summer long she wore a golf skirt, even though she probably golfed only five times in the summer. Still she’d always wear a little shell and a golf skirt. I was really proud of how she looked all the time, but she was so no-nonsense–she was not a fashion person at all. She sewed things for me, she painted, she wallpapered, she decorated on her own–she was really creative. Whatever house we lived in, she made it really her own. I was not into fashion except as a person who moved a lot to try to fit in. So, it was like, “okay, if this high school is wearing these Levi’s cords, I’m going to do that.” I was really aware of how I looked relative to other people to try to fit in and understand the sociological mores–like “where am I now?”
But it wasn’t until I went to Europe after college with my brother that I really was like, “wow, I love how these women look.” But to be honest, some of it also had to do with practicality, like “wow it’s so easy”–they just do it this way, they don’t have to worry, they don’t have to go to the mall and think about all this other stuff. I think I’m a lot like my mom in that way.
Where in Europe did you go?
My brother and I spent a month in Paris, and then I took a side trip to Greece. We went to Vienna and then we went to Italy. I think we started in England. It was typical, you know. Now I look back, and it’s crazy, this was in ‘83 or ‘84. There were no cell phones, I’d communicate with my parents sparingly by writing letters, and you’d go pick up the letter at the post office.
Do you remember the first item you bought on the trip or the item that changed your outfits when you got home?
I have a diary of it where I was like, “okay, I just need a little black skirt and some scarves.” I don’t think I bought anything on the trip at all, because I was traveling from place to place and I had an over-packed bag anyway. I remember being tremendously underdressed--I did not bring the right things on the trip. I was freezing the whole time because we went in March. Yet I wanted to look cute, so I had dresses and flats, but it was freezing. I think I looked pretty cool–I was just cold the whole time! The other thing I will say is I was wearing things that would be so cool now, but they were so uncool then.
What were they?
I had this Laura Ashley dress that I thought was so cool, but it wasn’t at the time–it was so idiosyncratic and it was not cool. I can remember prior to going on this trip with my brother, I met him in New York and went to a party. I was waitressing in Virginia, and he was living in LA. The party was down in Soho, and I showed up in the Laura Ashley dress, and I was like, “whoa”–I immediately knew how naive I looked.
I’d love to hear a little bit about the outfit you’re wearing today. Are there any stories behind the pieces?
This shirt is actually from the first collection. The shirt was the first thing I did. I wanted to make the store so that it would be a counterpart to Sid’s. I really wasn't going to do it, but our landlord really pushed me into doing it. I always thought, I love my style and my clothes, but a lot of the designers I like, nobody else likes them, or they go out of business. So I really didn't have a lot of confidence that what I liked would translate. I was also a little insecure, because Sid is a full-on menswear designer, and I am not. I worked at a magazine–I'm a stylist. I don't even like to shop that much! I just like to acquire the things I want to wear somehow. And I didn't like retail, because I grew up with a father who worked for JCPenney, and I just thought that it would be so boring to stand in a store all day. So, I said, "okay, I'm going to try it, and I'm going to fill it with just the things I love. I’ll fill it with the things I think are cool.” Basically exactly what you look like today! And if people like it, that's great.
I did say I have to have some of my own product too, and I'll make shirts because I do know that's something I can't find out there easily--a shirt that I really love. And we had Sid's shirt factory, he had all menswear factories, and you can't make women's clothes, you really can't, in menswear factories. I tried early on to make pants at men's pant factories, and it just doesn't work. They could make shirting though, so I started with a line of shirting amidst all the other stuff. We opened in the summer, so it was bright. I did white, of course, and I did orange, green, red, and Liberty print classic shirts. There was a popover and three of my styles that I still have today on the line. I actually have a great picture of a bin with all of them. And I love this green shirt, because (I actually got it out of Harriet's closet-- she ends up wearing it the most) this style shirt is the one that all my girls wear the most often. And it feels the most like the style I was trying to portray, which is a little bit tomboyish. I find that it's kind of sexy to be a little tomboyish, but be a woman. This shirt is ten years old now!
I have memories of going into the first store when I was younger. I still remember what I got!
What did you get?
The little Petit Bateau underwear and tank set. I think it was the only thing that fit me! I was so excited about it. It was in the little basket by the dressing room. I was so happy.
So cute! I still have that!
This pair of jeans–which ultimately, to be able to get from first making just one thing to actually be making jeans–is really big. We buy jeans from J Brand and Levi’s, but we actually have a nice business with our own four different shapes. This is a new one this year–it’s a wide leg which I love. And I’m also wearing my little Manolo Blahnik heel, which, for me (we make really great shoes) was always such a treat to be able to get a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes. I think I have a little collection–I don’t have that many, but the ones that I have are very loved and very specific. If you’re in fashion that’s kind of the gold standard.
Do you remember the story behind the first pair that you bought?
I will tell you, I don’t remember the first pair, but I have a great story about shopping with Sid at Bergdorf’s. It was the big shoe sale; typically, I buy them at the end of the season because I have small feet, so there is always a lot to choose from. There was a pair of boots, and they were so awesome. I was like, “oh gosh, they’re so awesome, what should I get? The brown or the black?” and Sid goes, “both!” They really were like 70% off. It was such a funny thing, not that I need his permission at all, but it was really sweet.
Are there stories behind the jewelry that you’re wearing?
Oh yeah! I love my rings. I have really big knuckles, so my rings slide around. This silver one was a gift from my brother whom I was super close to. He passed away very young when he was 29 and I was 28. I love this ring because it reminds me of him. This is the Cartier with the five loops because I have five girls. This ring here Sid gave me when I first had Elizabeth. It was the first Mother’s Day gift, and it's our birthstone and hers. My engagement ring I love. It's also a special story: Sid proposed to me and got the ring while my brother was living in New York, and he kind of helped organize him getting it on 47th Street. And this is my wedding band which I have not taken off ever since 4:30pm on December 5th. I wear my engagement ring on this finger since it fits better. I had tried to get the ring properly sized when I was younger at the same place on 47th street that Sid bought it from. The jeweler said, "No, you'll have babies, you'll get fat, I'm not going to, it's fine!" That's why it's on that one!
This actually is turning into the brother story but on my hands. This ring belonged to my brother-- a friend of my brother’s had it and gave it to me a few years ago. I just threw it on there--it's pretty gold. I'd love more, but I'm running out of real estate! I'm really not a big jewelry person. I love Marie-Hélène de Taillac--I kind of collect that. I have some really pretty feminine pieces. I'm the person who would wear hoops and just keep them in forever, but I do like the sentimental things I have. It's something now as I'm older that I really appreciate more. I have these beautiful, gorgeous, dangly Marie-Hélène de Taillac earrings that I would have never worn a long time ago. Somehow it makes me feel . . . I feel old in a good way. I feel like an older lady that's wearing her jewels, because why not?
It’s like when you get to a point when you realize, “I can wear rings because I’m not going to lose them now.”
That’s true! I was a careful person. In that same vein, I would be like, “I love these Manolo Blahnik shoes. They’re so special.” Well, if they sit in your closet and collect dust, they are worthless so just start wearing the dang things! I wear flats and more comfortable shoes all the time because I’m very active all day, but sometimes I do love (once a week or every two weeks) to wear really high shoes. You feel different–you walk differently. My goodness, it’s hard to walk around. I think I may never buy another pair of heels again! I don’t need them–I have too many. I’ll wear the ones I have.
It’s fun to come back to something too. What’s your go-to shoe these days?
My go-to shoe nine months of the year are my pull on cowboy boots!
That’s my winter go-to too!
I have three or four pairs and I wear them all the time. I have holes in the bottom of two of them because they’re about six years old–they are like slippers. When my feet are cold, I’m cold, so I wear them up until it’s hot. That’s absolutely my go-to shoe. I wear that more often than any other shoe. They’re all a little different too, because they’re made really well. My black ones feel a little wider though they’re not, and my brown pair is a little sleeker.
What do you buy “too much” of?
I have a ton of striped cotton t-shirts, and I would not say I buy too many of them--they are all just a little different. So I’m like, “oh! I need that!” T-shirts are really specific. They’re so similar, but the tiniest differentiation makes you like it. I wear them all the time, even in workout clothes. I’ll put a cuter t-shirt on than workout clothes because why not? I think if somebody looked in my closet, they’d say I have a lot of those. They would say I have too many shoes probably, but that’s not true. I’m 59! I’ve been collecting shoes for a really long time.
Were shoes a big thing that you always cared about?
Yes, because I’m more of a simple dresser. I think that if you wear simple clothes, a good shoe is really important. I can remember as a kid I bought a pair of ballet shoes that were multicolored or something. My dad, who just loved me–literally there is nobody on the planet that could ever love me as much as he did, and I can just remember the look on his face–and he goes, “ah, and why do you like those? Tell me, Annie, why do you like those?” I was like, “they’re just fun!” He was just so delighted in my enthusiasm–it was cute. I like my shoes.
Also, I think because of the business I’m in, shoes are something where there was always a shoe I wanted that I couldn’t really get yet. It was really important to me that we make a good loafer and I wanted it in gold because when I lived in New York, there was a store called Hélèle Arpels on Park Ave and they had these gold loafers. I’ve always loved a bit of a frumpy shoe, and I was like “if I just make a little bit more money next year, I can buy those shoes!” Of course, I never did, but you know that was a status thing. Or a Manolo Blahnik, or Delman was a big brand there. It was a status and achievement to be able to buy yourself a really great shoe. I still think shoes are the most important thing. You can have an amazing outfit, and if you have a shoe that’s cheap or you can’t walk in, it ruins everything!
The other thing that is really important is that you have to see your shoes. For years I would keep them in my closet in shoe boxes, and never wear them. Chanel used to have a sample sale for just editors, and you had to be on a list. They really just gave things away--not free, but it was so inexpensive. I bought so many little pairs of shoes. Sometimes you buy things “just because” and you never wear them.
I love shoes. This is my dream shoe set up. Also, the best thing about shoes is that your feet don’t change size.
So you really can collect them! This is a great memory: I love my Barbara Shaum sandals. She was such a great, amazing woman. I bought a second pair of these, and she said, “Why do you want another pair?” She was like, “You have one. Why do you need two?”
They age so beautifully. What movie, or book, or maybe it’s a show, had the biggest influence on your style?
Sometimes you look at something, and you might not like it, or you’re like, “hmm, I don’t really get that.” Then, you will say, “oh, but I remember this scene, like Lauren Bacall in this scene, and that’s what it looks like, and you’re like, oh that’s kind of cool.” I think I’m not as influenced by movies as I am by still images. I guess there are stills from movies or actresses. You fall in love with a woman, and you’re like, “oh my gosh, Audrey Hepburn.” I could say I really loved the clothes and the whole style in Roman Holiday because she’s so perfect. I know another one I love the clothes in. I don’t know if it influenced me that much, but I loved Two For The Road. I need to look at it again. It shows a series of Audrey Hepburn, as a young girl, in mid-life, and as an older woman, and it’s so cool to see how she dresses. It’s hard sometimes–you get so stuck on what the actresses look like that you look at yourself in something and you don’t like it. That’s really what maturity has done for me; I see myself in clothes better than I did at a young age. Before, I would look at myself and see the clothes, and I would see me, and think, “gosh, that just isn’t how I thought I saw myself in my head.” And now I really, I feel like I look like me.
I love that! You mentioned dress up at the beginning, is that something you still find exciting?
More than ever, actually. I worked in magazines and in magazines, you go to work, and you’re dressing for other women in a really great way. It’s not competitive in a bad way. It’s more that you want to share–it’s like show and tell. Editors didn’t care–we might all order the same thing ahead of time from the designer because that was the one thing to have, and nobody cared if you had the same thing because it was just so cool. And you were smart enough to know you were collecting clothes and who cares if somebody else wears it? So you really made an effort everyday. It was like dress-up for other girls, like “look what I have on!”
It’s kind of the same way at work. I was dressing up to go to my store so that I could show people how to wear things, but in the office I really wear more of a uniform because I’m working. I don’t really think about it. I found during Covid, I really enjoy dressing for me. I would come home from work last summer, and I would jump in the pool or have a bath, and I would change from my work clothes into something that I could cook in and be casual. I wear my Birkenstocks around the house a lot because my girls gave them to me for Christmas, and they’re really comfy. Or I wear driving moccasins. I like to wear shoes around the house–I don’t like to go barefoot. I pull on a pair of comfy jeans that are stretchy and a t-shirt, cashmere sweater, you know, something cute. I wear my boyfriend shirt a lot–just something clean and fresh. Every Saturday night, we have a little family dinner party, and I always put on something pretty for that. And I’ll think about the shoe that I can still walk around in the house–for me, it’s a pretty mule. I have really dressed for myself more than ever in a really happy way and for my family. I like it when the girls or Sid say, “oh, you look so pretty!” I feel like I do it now more than ever; I appreciate how clothes really make you feel even when you’re by yourself.