If you're wearing a jacket, as I always am, the sweater vest always needs to be buttoned, with the exception of the bottom button. But if you're going sans jacket, you can leave it open.

The color, the shape, and the texture--none of it is accidental. Every item we wear has a glorious (or sometimes not so glorious) history, and that history extends back years--centuries, even--before Oscar de la Renta's 2002 collection.

Mood has a scuba section? Who knew?

I learned from teaching. If you are perceived by the student to be belittling them or purely criticizing them without offering up words of encouragement and support, they shut down and discredit you.

Everyone has a best feature, so find clothes and accessories to accentuate those, whether it’s your shoulders or your long legs!

I believe that it's very important to get to know people with whom you can have a substantive dialogue about design and its development. In addition, read everything about fashion that you can get your hands on. A palpable point of view is what makes a designer, so you need to be confident about yours.

There's nothing I like better than going to my apartment, closing the door, cooking my little dinner for one and just tuning out. My apartment really is my haven. It's a nest where I go to heal.