The Tamesis
In the mirrored lobby of the Fifth Avenue hotel Thursday night, the Portrait Bar was packed with guests and camera bulbs flickered. What’s the reason to celebrate? Stylist Erin Walsh gathered a starry room to launch her new book, The art of dressing deliberately.
During the cocktail hour, Walsh wore the same marshmallow-pink Oscar de la Renta dress as on the cover, along with her family, longtime clients Anne Hathaway, Ariana DeBose and Beanie Feldstein, as well as guests including Stella McCartney, Prabal Gurung Gurung, Jennifer Fisher, Fernando Garcia, Tanner Ritchie and Fletcher Kassell were among the friends in attendance.
“Honestly, it’s overwhelming being around so many people,” Walsh told us Fashion. “I love what I do and I love the people I work with and the women who inspire me. I’m humbled and moved by the process. It’s very cool to feel that support.”
Walsh came up with the idea for the book a decade ago, stemming from the anxiety her friends and clients felt when choosing what to wear. In the early days of the pandemic, suddenly with some free time on his hands, Walsh sat down to write a book aimed at highlighting, as the name suggests, how to dress and live a more meaningful life.
The result is a book filled with styling tips and advice for staying rich and down-to-earth, from editing your wardrobe to visualization, Feng Shui strategies, and incorporating scent into your prep routine. The book also includes anecdotes and interviews with fashion industry figures such as Rachel Zoe, Zanna Roberts Rassi, Mariska Hargitay and Diane von Furstenberg, whose original style advice became a core tenet of Walsh’s.
“When we talked, Diane said, ‘I live by this intention rule: Every day, I ask myself, ‘Who is the woman I want to be? How does she feel? What does she embody?’ By doing this — deciding what you wear, who you surround yourself with, what your surroundings look like, your energy choices — you find consistency.”
Walsh’s book debuts during a particularly busy season for the stylist, who has dressed Anne Hathaway on her whirlwind international press tour, in addition to her upcoming collaboration with La Ligne and collaborations with brands like Quince and Freda Salvador. The Devil Wears Prada 2 and overlapping appearances to facilitate virgin mary. During their fashion-filled trip around the world, Walsh used advice from her own book to stay calm, cool and collected: “I’m relying on this approach more than ever,” says Walsh. “When you’re jet-lagged AF, you feel overwhelmed and exhausted…think: ‘What are the three words I need to feel today so that I can be of service to others and become the woman I want to be?’ It gets me through it, gives me clarity, and makes me feel grounded and focused—even during the hectic days of juggling.”
Ultimately, she hopes readers will harness the power of clothing to influence your mood and behavior every day. Guests each left a copy, ready to enter the world and use her wisdom. “You have to ask yourself every day: How do I want to feel? That’s how you get back to the best version of yourself and the intention and integrity of who you want to be,” Walsh told Fashion. “You bring that energy into your closet—then your closet stops being an overwhelming place and becomes a portal of possibility.”
The Art of Dressing Deliberately is out now.
