A: Growing up in New York City and attending a variety schools do you find that your style has evolved as you have gotten older? 

I definitely think that style evolves as you grow older no matter who you are. Growing up in New York we had so many amazing style icons! The older I got the more classic I actually got with my style. I love trends but I would never buy something that wasn’t perfectly fitting just because I liked it. It has to be wearable for the next however many years. I really believe there is a common element in fashion, and that’s what I look for.  


A: Are you influenced by trends from the past?


C:  There are certain aspects of reverence to the past that I love like the good things that happened in the 80s.  I wore a shirt with MINI shoulder pads the other night, it’s the timeless things that will still look good in 20s years, that’s what I steal from my moms closet. I still have my great grandmothers furs. It’s really all about putting together something that represents who you are. 

A: Do your personal interests influence your style choices? I remember you were into sports journalism.

C: Yes I wanted to be a sports journalist SO badly. It’s fun though because your interests definitely influence your style in terms of what you are doing. I remember tailgating at the University of Southern California for football games. All the girls would wear their “Go Trojan” stuff and their USC sweats and everything. Not me. I would wear red jeans with a yellow Lacoste shirt and gold flats, that was my own spin on being a Trojan. Everyone used to laugh about that. 

A: Now that you are at Harvard do you find that you have toned down your fashion for Boston versus New York?

C: As a New Yorker I’ve always been taught to veer to the overdressed side. Its really interesting though, I remember my first week there I went out with tights underneath shorts in high heels and people were like, ok who is this person? But I mean you can be yourself in any city and just tone it down when you have to.

NYC TORN AND RAISED:

A: Do you think that working in art at Sotheby’s has influenced your personal style?

K: Yes, I do! While I'm at Sotheby’s I get to see such a great mixture of mediums from ceramics to furniture and paintings. For example, last week we had Asia week which really influenced me to wear a lot more turquoise and jade. I feel like my environment really influences what I wear and seeing all these different inspirations all over the room really impacts my style.

A: What do you think about the relationship between art and fashion?

K: In art you have each movement which I feel like is influenced by music, and music is very influenced by literature, and all three of those combined can really influence a fashion movement. Its crazy how something with words can influence something visual but the total mixture is just so eclectic and it all comes out to be relatively saying the same thing and kind of conveying a sort of feeling out there. 

A: We know that you lived abroad while you were studying at Sotheby’s in the UK after graduating from College of Charleston, how did the fashion differ at both schools?

K: In Charleston, it’s very much a southern school. You see most of the girls walking around in Lily Pulitzer and pearls, and they would never dare go out of their apartment in sweatpants or a sweatshirt. In the UK it's all about the grunge factor- anything goes. Mixing beat up converse with a bright pink sweatshirt- they just have such a creative style! I feel like it's due to the environment they grew up in and the variety of culture they see everyday.

A: Who is your favorite designer and why?

K: My favorite designer is Matthew Williamson. I love the way he mixes colors and textiles they are so vibrant and happy which is how I like to live my life!

NYC TORN AND RAISED: Sabrina Burda

A: Do you find that your German heritage influences the way that you dress?

S: I do, especially when I started at boarding school everyone made fun of my style because I went to school with really preppy American girls. I also feel like living in London I picked up certain styles as well so I actually have a pretty international fashion perspective.

A: Going to college at Richmond do you find that you started to dress more like a Southern Belle versus a New York City girl?

S: I think that I definitely dressed more casual when I went there, like I definitely never wore heels there but I don’t think that I became a “southern belle.”  But I think my whole wardrobe was mainly jeans and going out tops and flats because it was pretty informal.

A: Since you frequent electronic concerts do you find that you have incorporated neon colors into your wardrobe more such as neon pinks and greens into everyday outfits that you never thought you would be wearing before?

S: My love for Electronica has definitely influenced my style. I love neon t-shirts and tie dye shorts at concerts!

A: When do you feel the most beautiful?

S: I always feel more beautiful in the summer because I eat healthier, I work out more, I’m tanner, and I just love wearing summer clothes. I love getting dressed up at night and throwing on some wedges with a skirt, it’s much more exciting than during the winter.