Category: Travel

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WHAT I WORE IN PARIS

Since getting back from our trip to Paris I’ve been slightly overwhelmed with wanting to share it all.. but not knowing where to start. So I finally figured – how about with the fashion? Some of these pieces I bought specifically with Paris in mind, but they’re just pieces for my “forever wardrobe” and thought would be fun to debut there. They each feel like they have a bit of a story and definitely have a few more to tell after coming on this trip with me. As always, I’m a sentimental shopper at heart. Below – everything I wore in Paris. In no particular order.

I changed into this as soon as we landed for a late lunch and stroll for pastries. I love this outfit as it feels very ‘New York meets Paris’ to me and definitely plan to repeat it often now that I’m home. The jeans are a rigid, high waist (I cuffed them under so they hit at my ankle bone) but they break in beautifully and the white tee is my new favorite. I plan to buy in multiples. The sunglasses – which you’ll see in a lot of these photos – are prescription, which is why they’re basically now the only pair I wear.

This was in Versailles. I wanted an outfit that was equal parts Marie Antoinette at the Palace, Marie Antoinette at Petite Trianon and Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette – hence the Converse. I realize this is a very specific reference, but I studied Fashion History as a part of my college courses and so, this stuff thrills me. I ended up in this corset-like floral top, a slouchy sweater, big eyelet midi skirt and aforementioned Converse. It was a good outfit for the 7-8 miles we ended up walking there.

A pre-dinner walk along the Seine. The same jeans and tee as before, just swapped the jacket and the shoes for the Chanel look-a-likes.. until I can work up the nerve (and the savings account) to spring for the real deal. Grabbed this glossy little chain strap bag and a pair of hoops to finish it off.

This dress was the first thing I bought after our flights were booked. Pink, tweed, mod. Just so much fun. I wore it out and about on my birthday with a black leather backpack I’ve had (and been traveling with for years) and the same black slingbacks with a walkable block heel.

This is a little bit bold for me but I wanted something that felt sort of YSL/seventies glam for my birthday dinner and ended up really falling in love with this fuchsia draped dress. It’s by a designer that I wasn’t familiar with but after eyeing it on The Outnet (Net a Porter’s designer discount site) – I finally got it when it went on extra sale. Paired with chunky gold platform sandals and swinging disco ball earrings.

On our last day in Paris we went straight to the (fashion) source. 31 Rue Cambon.. aka Chanel’s Flagship since 1918 when Coco herself took over the space. I’m not sure that I fooled anyone inside Chanel that I belonged.. but I had fun pretending. I’ve had this dress in my closet for a few years now, but I found a similar option here. Paired with ladylike extras – a tweed jacket, top handle bag and silk grosgrain headband.

So many of the French girls I saw in Paris were wearing midi dresses and high top Converse. This outfit was the closest I got to feeling like one of them. The straw bag was a birthday gift from Adam I found in French boutique Sussan Shokranian – all hand-embroidered in Paris!

Baby’s first Blahniks! These Manolo Blahnik embroidered heels were a birthday present to myself. When I saw them on The Real Real a few months ago in pristine condition, in my size, for an absolute song – I knew it was fate. I pictured wearing them at this exact location with a super menswear inspired look. In style serendipity, I found this double-breasted jacquard vest at a Pearl by Lela Rose sample sale in April. And then I dug out a pair of black shorts I’d had since I was honestly 22 years old and grabbed an oversized button down shirt and chunky gold link necklace. This look is all the things I love about fashion – mixing high and low. Playing with texture and proportion. Old pieces paired with newer ones. It’s one of my all time favorite outfits.

A very sweet little date night look, worn on our second night in Paris. The dress has since sold-out so I’m linking a few similar options. Paired with that top handle bag and black slingbacks.

Excuse the grainy photo here, but this was the view from our AirBnB bedroom window! And I was just waking up! In Paris! Loved this little travel pajama set that came with a matching robe. It’s super soft and packed up nice and small.

I wore this on a Seine boat cruise and then on to dinner. The top was another Pearl by Lela Rose sample sale find (I really lucked out there!) paired with a super cheap midi skirt, ordered last minute when I couldn’t find quite the right thing to pair with that top. For what it’s worth – the quality and fit were pretty decent. Paired with these gold platforms again which were so comfy and a vintage YSL bag.

How could I not end on this?! I saw this dress last December (part of an exclusive collaboration between Nicola Bathie and Antonio Melani and was swooning over it) – but had no occasion to wear it and no excuse to pay full price. I thought of it by chance last month and took a quick search on Poshmark.. only to find one, new with tags, in my size for a quarter of the original price. More style serendipity! It was so much fun to wear for midnight drinks at Bar Hemingway inside the Ritz. When else can you be that over the top?! Paired with my favorite (and truly comfortable) black Perfect Pumps from Sarah Flint. Code: SARAHFLINT-BASTEELE gets you $50 off your first order.

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WARM WEATHER GETAWAY STYLE

I am trying to play it cool but I’m very excited to be heading out of town next weekend. Pre-pandemic (doesn’t that feel eons ago?) we had fallen into the habit of heading somewhere warm every year around this time and it really saved me from the winter doldrums that set in without fail by about mid-February. Our last trip was March 5, 2020 and I was so grateful we somehow snuck that in, but two long years later and I am absolutely in need of vitamin D, a pool and temperatures in the 80s.

Naturally I couldn’t resist picking up a few things for the occasion. While they’re technically for the trip, I know that I’ll be wearing all of these often this spring/summer. I’m especially excited about this swingy eyelet shirt dress that I’ll re-wear at the office with flats, this lace-up sweater that will be so cute with cut-offs on summer nights at the lake and these suede sandals in a walkable heel height that will go with virtually everything. And – in an effort to show restraint – just one of the books that will inevitably make it into my carry-on next weekend.

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HOW TO BRING TRAVEL HOME

Half in a daydream, my bags already mentally packed – I’m a person that is always conspiring towards my next trip. In fact, our suitcases were barely back in the closet after an escape to St. Pete Beach, FL in late February when the world went into quarantine. And while, judging by Instagram at least, it does seem like people are moving about the country right now on summer trips – we have no plans to do the same (in the immortal words of JVN – “Just because you Ameri-CAN, doesn’t mean you Ameri-SHOULD”). And the rest of the world won’t even have us. Which leaves me without any travel plans for the first time in about a decade.

To fill the void, I’ve started to think about how I could bring the feeling of travel home instead. And here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Escape into a Book or Movie instead. Dreaming of Paris? Pick a rainy afternoon, pop the champagne and have a movie marathon – I love Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn and Midnight in Paris (minus the connection to Woody Allen). Had to cancel your summer getaway to Italy? I read Call Me By Your Name earlier this year and then watched the movie all in one weekend and felt totally transported. I can’t wait to read ‘From Scratch’ a memoir set in Sicily next.

Cook a Dish from that Region. I think we can all agree that trying the local flavors is one of the best parts of traveling. And has there ever been a better time to learn something new in the kitchen? Try recreating that amazing paella you had in Spain, find the recipe for those biscuits you fell in love with in South Carolina or learn to make sushi before that dream trip to Japan. Admittedly, I am not the world’s most innovative cook, but I actually love doing this with cocktails. I whip up a French75 when I want to reminisce about Paris and 8 years after a trip to Arizona, I’m still trying to recreate a perfect spicy tequila cocktail I sipped there.

The Steele Maiden: Travel Guide to London

Sort Your Travel Photos. This always seems like such a chore – but at the beginning of quarantine I sorted through our travel photos to find all of my “front door” pictures and saved them to a separate folder in my phone. I plan to get them printed into a coffee table type book, but even now – just looking at them all grouped together makes me feel happy and takes me back to the places where the snapshot was taken.

Dress for the Trip You Want. I don’t think it comes as any surprise that I take a lot of joy in planning the outfits I’m going to wear on any particular trip. I like to try and add a little bit of the feeling of that destination into my wardrobe. And even if I can’t pack my bags – I could still dress up for a movie night at home in my favorite French-inspired look, mais non?

Do Your Research Now. Shy of actually booking your flight – now would be a great time to dig into researching some of the places you’d like to go in the future. I like to use a mix of Instagram (search hashtags of cities or tagged locations) and Google Maps (I star anywhere I want to visit and then plan each day of the trip based on what’s grouped nearby). It’s the equivalent of hitting ‘add to cart’ and then not going through checkout. I really do still get a little rush of endorphins just from the planning.

Happy virtual travel friends!

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WHAT’S NEXT FOR NEW YORK?

Last night Adam and I reminisced about summer nights in the city. We have a shared favorite memory that started at happy hour in the East Village followed by a crowded subway ride, then an outdoor movie in the park – a blanket squeezed in among strangers – which led us to a loft party in Williamsburg and finally a cab ride back to my old apartment on the Upper East Side. It was the kind of night that began with almost no plans at all and was swept along by the current of New York City in the summertime. A night that seems as impossible now as it seemed possible then.

A few of you have asked me to describe New York right now and if I had to sum it up – it would be that the spark has sort of gone out this summer. That feeling of spontaneity (the best kind of uncertainty) has gone missing. The spark has been replaced instead with a slow burning tension. A shared understanding that we’re all but powerless over the fate of this city.

Teenagers sit on stoops looking restless, itching to get into trouble just to have some say in the story of their summer. A cashier at the grocery store laments to me that he used to work in theater and misses the creativity.. but is thankful to have a job. The park is full of women and their babies in the morning, many of whom look unsure about their newly appointed title of stay at home mom. They wear workout clothes while their heels presumably collect dust at home. 

Cops stand guard alongside barricades outside our neighborhood precinct and in front of the Washington Square Park Arch. Protecting themselves and their monuments while a convenience store 20 blocks away is robbed at gunpoint. An older woman in our neighborhood compares it to the New York of the 1970s. She says she’s seen it all. Tells us to be careful.

Moving trucks line the streets as fair weather city dwellers go in search of fairer weather. Without the usual swarm of summer tourists those of us that are left spread out like we own the place – because well, we do. The streets are ours alone to rule or to ruin.

The truth is that no one has ever known what’s next for New York but that hasn’t stopped the evolution. And so, we go on. The protests and the progress. The work that needs to be done and the feelings that need to be wrestled with. The thick August heat and our relentless hope keeping the embers of this city hot until it can spark up again.

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MY NYC HOLIDAY BUCKET LIST

Aside from the cold – this really is the most magical time of year in New York. The city is decked out in its holiday best, there are lights everywhere and plenty of occasions to pour a glass of bubbly. I can’t get enough. Which is why I wanted to create a holiday bucket list to be sure that I make time to enjoy as much of the season as possible. Some of the things on my list are beloved traditions at this point while some are things we have still yet to experience in New York and really want to get around to doing this year. Also – a reminder that not everything has to be expensive this season – plenty of the things on my list are super budget friendly, if not free!

Ice skating Dates:

Now that Adam and I both own ice skates, we want to take advantage of all of the fun rinks in the city! My favorite is skating in Central Park – with the city in view around you – but Bryant Park and Rockefeller Rink (if you get there super early or on a weeknight) are also great. Budget tip: Bryant Park is actually free to skate at and so are locker rentals if you bring your own lock, so this is a great cheap date idea.


Lights at Dyker Heights:

Remember that one house in your town that used to go all out with lights and yard decorations for the holidays? Dyker Heights is like that.. but x100. A neighborhood in Brooklyn where for about 4 square blocks – every single house is boasting thousands of Christmas lights, and more Santas and snowmen then you have ever seen in one place. We usually pack a “car picnic” and then drive through the neighborhood while listening to holiday tunes. Festive and totally free!


Dinner at Lucien and Minetta Tavern:

There are some restaurants that just really shine in the winter. Cozy and intimate, all candlelight and linen tablecloths, they make braving the cold for date night well worth it. Lucien in the East Village and Minetta Tavern in the West Village have been on our restaurant bucket list for a long time and I’d love to finally try them both this holiday season.


Hot Toddies, Rockefeller Tree + Fifth Avenue Windows:

This has quickly become one of our favorite holiday traditions. We pick a Sunday evening in December, make a big thermos of hot toddies and then head uptown to see the Rockefeller Tree and the windows on Fifth Avenue. Notoriously crowded and often quite cold – we found that the hot toddies really raise your spirits on the trek and ultimately make the whole thing a lot more fun.

Volunteer:

It can be easy to get swept up in all of the consumption of the holidays without pausing to think of those that are having a much tougher time. I hate to think of families that are struggling to get a few gifts under the tree for their kids – so this year, Adam and I starting the yearly tradition of picking up toys for local families. Someday, we plan to continue this with our own little ones, letting them pick out toys for kids in our community that are less fortunate than them. We’re looking into Stockings With Care or Operation Santa – or both!

Jazz Standard Holiday Show:

I love live jazz any time of year, but it feels extra festive around the holidays. Jazz Standard in Gramercy is one of our favorites for big band style jazz and last year we went on January 1st which was such a fun way to kick off the new year.  

West Village Wander:

Is there any place prettier than the West Village around Christmas? I love taking a Saturday, hot chocolate in hand and just wandering through the streets and looking at everyone’s decorated doors. Grove Street is a particular favorite. 

Classic Movie at the Theater:

Our local movie theater plays classics like It’s A Wonderful Life this time of year and I want to make it a point to catch one – even better if it’s one I’ve never seen!

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