Sharlotte recently earned her stripes at Kate Spade Madison Avenue. She kindly offered to help me style some pieces during a quick photo shoot for The Greene Door. The day naturally started off with a few laughs (it’s Sharlotte, she simply is very funny) as she purposefully arrived at the store dressed like a full blown celebuteen from the Disney lot – sporting dark shades, sparkling red Tom’s flats and a Kate Spade for Gap striped boater tee & leggings adorned with a single strand of pearls. Her centered part & straight hair wavered ever so slightly to hide her face from the photographers that were not following her. Her world is so fun, it makes you yearn to be a free spirited, cute, nice, 9 year old eccentric. She favors a whimsical mix of classic young prep and wacky, offbeat tween clothes with a total sense of humor (there was that absurd Sponge Bob painters hat that she wore the color out of, thankfully, that had to be put to rest last summer.)

When we work together, business is business – and usually there is always a little swag in a bag to go, (in lieu of a paycheck) at the end of a long work day, so she definitely kept her eye on the prize at Kate Spade and became my assistant extraordinaire. She ran from floor to floor grabbing pieces as needed, arranging accessories, helping move camera equipment, refreshing water glasses and holding makeup bags (and my wallet, which she absentmindedly left on another floor, when she went on excitement overload admiring and trying on a fur bag in the wedding salon.) Thankfully she remembered where she laid it down before it was too late and retrieved it (we are in NYC and all sorts of hiccups could happen – even at tony KSNY.) I digress though, as she did do a wonderful job minding the store (and my wallet, after the mishap) and when she wasn’t on the clock – she covertly pranced throughout the shop as if Spade was her given surname.

She is unabashedly charismatic and sparkles as bright as that immense confetti ball chandelier that hangs from the mezzanine in the shop. I think if she were a decade older the manager would have hired her on the spot to be a part of the ‘Your Girl Friday’ sales team. She has a really keen eye for fashion, she is a born people pleaser and she knows what I like – so I did have to defer to her when she made an executive decision that a certain item of clothing was just ‘not working.’ And she was right. She was infinitely wiser than I was when I even suggested modeling and including the feathered hat for a shot. It was a ridiculous hat and when I took it off, Sharlotte replaced it with an adorable flowered headband that she had in her bag. “Much better now” she uttered. That small statement piece worked very nicely with the skinny jeans and black Fall woolen midi jacket that I was fashioning. The shoot turned out lovely, to be unveiled in another article for the magazine. Today, though, was definitely Sharlotte’s day.

I believe that enthusiasm is often more important than experience – particularly when working in sales, and this tween is bursting at the seams with passion. I am not alone when I say that I love hanging with Sharlotte, I am enamored by her spirit, and her very interesting mind – she is always on overdrive. It is a spirit that charges my batteries whenever I get the chance to play/work with her. And I knew she would have fun at KSNY because she has fun wherever she goes.

So we got to spend some time together at one of the prettiest shops in NYC and captured great outtakes of the two of us goofing around, and like I mentioned, she SWAGgered out onto Madison Avenue with a cute green notebook to take home with her that describes her perfectly. Because every aspect of Sharlotte is enraptured on the cover of that diary she chose – it reads

SHE IS QUICK AND CURIOUS AND PLAYFUL AND STRONG.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sharlotte striped shirt | sharlotte leggings | cat jeans | sharlotte clutch

cats glasses | white clutch | shoes

photographs by Viva Violeta Photography