An Interview with Annabel Tollman

Annabel Tollman

“To me, New York was an intoxicating cocktail of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Interview magazine and Liz Tilberis’s Harpers Bazaar. It was Brodovitch typography, Helmut Lang, Linda Evangelista and sophisticated GLAMOUR and I fell head over heels in love with it.”

- Annabel Tollman

New York fashion stylist and journalist, Annabel Tollman has loved fashion for as long as she can remember. “I have always dreamed in clothes,” she said, “Even as a 5-year-old, I costumed all my stories and fairytales. I suppose it always just seemed so intrinsic to the character and part of the story. What good is a Princess without a beautiful dress?”  Annabel is the former fashion editor of Interview magazine and has styled the likes of celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightley, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Liv Tyler, Selma Blair, Anne Hathaway, Shakira, and Jessica Simpson to name a few.  She was born in Brussels and raised in both London and New York.

Has Annabel always worked in fashion?  “My first ever job was waitressing at a hotel in the country near where my mother lives,” she shared, “I was terrible – I would spill food and hit people on the head with the serving tray – but they were oddly enough always very nice about my clumsiness.” All clumsiness aside, where and when is this celebrity stylist happiest? “When I am being creative,” she said, “In the country on a long walk in beautiful scenery. With friends – ultimately it is our relationships that make us happiest.”

From stylist Sam Spector : A Rainy Day with Annabel Tollman

Annabel’s closet as featured on The Coveteur - SWOONING over the vintage feather dress!

“Oh dear. PETA here we come. I actually only buy vintage fur – somehow it seems less awful. The silver fox is a cape from the 30′s – it‘s absolutely huge on and makes me look like one of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz and entirely terrifying. The white monkey fur jacket (which is actually goat – they just call it monkey fur – I can’t imagine anything more terrible than wearing monkey) was an Alessandro dell’Acqua sample.” - Annabel from The Coveteur

Annabel Tollman

Annabel’s closet on The Coveteur

Annabel’s closet as featured on The Coveteur

So, what brought Annabel from London to New York?  Why Manhattan? “I always loved the idea of New York, before I had ever been here,” she said, “To me, New York was an intoxicating cocktail of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Interview magazine and Liz Tilberis’s Harpers Bazaar. It was Brodovitch typography, Helmut Lang, Linda Evangelista and sophisticated GLAMOUR and I fell head over heels in love with it.” What are her favorite places in New York City? “I love Jeffrey’s Grocery, The Waverly Inn, Niko, Tavern on Jane, and ABC Kitchen,” she said, “Favorite place in New York city is the West Village.”  And, besides the city, does she have her own style inspirations? “Oh too many to mention,” she said, “I am inspired a lot by my imagination and by literary heroines. Dominique Francon from The Fountainhead, Cathy from Wuthering Heights. I also love Paris, that frenchy lady style, but done a bit dark. Love Nina Ricci at the moment, as well as Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Jason Wu.”

Spending so much time in both New York and London, Annabel has a keen eye for the fashions of women in both cities and how their distinctly different styles are set apart by how they shop. “Fashion-wise, the two cities are worlds apart,” she said, “New York women are glossy, manicured glories who will wear a catwalk look head-to-toe. They will spend money on their look but put it together with no imagination – better to look sleekly rich than take a risk. Londoners wouldn’t dream of spending the kind of money that their American cousins do on clothing, or of wearing it head-to-toe. They would rather mix one piece inventively with their existing pieces. The whole look is generally less DONE, but a whole lot more FUN.”  Growing up between the two cities, how would she describe her own personal style? “Retro, girly, fairytale, bewitching, pretty, darkly romantic, glamorous,” she said.

The Olsen twins – as styled by Annabel Tollman

Annabel Tollman

editorial styled by Annabel Tollman

editorial styled by Annabel Tollman

Annabel Tollman as the Eiffel Tower for Halloween

Annabel Tollman as the Eiffel Tower for Halloween

Working in such a glamorous industry, could this fashion stylist possibly have a favorite memory? “Oh there have been MANY memorable experiences,” she shared, “My first week at Interview I went  to a dinner for Liza Minelli at the Carlyle, where the speaker fluffed the pronunciation of her name. She got up and said (in that famous Liza voice) ‘That’s ok, honey, I can hardly say it myself some days.’ Going to Tokyo with Karl Lagerfeld and the Interview gang to shoot a special issue, shooting at the Warhol Estate in Montauk with Bruce Weber…the list goes on.” Annabel said that for her, every job is a challenge and if it isn’t – she finds it boring. “Every single time I think that I’m not going to pull it off, I always do,” she said. From dressing a curvy body like Scartlett Johansson‘s to the petite figure of Mary-Kate Olsen - how does she automatically know how to work with the different shapes? “Experience, I suppose,” she said, “You sort of pick it up like a sixth sense. Not that I’m always 100 percent right, sometimes you are surprised by what ends up being right.”

And, is there a particular look or outfit she is most proud of piecing together? “It’s always changing,” she said, “What I want to wear evolves constantly.  It’s a representation of your ideas and inspirations and if it stays still then, well, I think you probably die.”  And, what seems to be inspiring her at the moment? “I’m currently enjoying Victorian and Edwardian clothing,” she said, “Especially anything to do with mourning – jewelry, capes etc. I also love the 20s and 30s – panne velvet, chiffon, lame, beading, glamour. Vintage is my main love. I love anything that tells a story…something that is tattered and falling apart can be very romantic.” Annabel lists the most difficult aspect of her job to be doing something she hasn’t done before and isn’t sure if she can accomplish. Currently, Annabel is working on a reality tv show, The Annabel Tollman Project, with Bravo. “For me, that’s not styling or shooting any more,” she shared, “Coming up with the concept for the TV show and writing the pilot was a challenge. The first time I wrote a piece for a newspaper on deadline was a challenge.”

Annabel Tollman

Keira Knightley as styled by Annabel Tollman

Selma Blair – styled by Annabel Tollman

Scarlett Johansson – styled by Annabel Tollman

Annabel Tollman

So, though her new television show will assuredly share some of her behind-the-scenes style secrets- does she have any tried and true advice for achieving a great look? “I don’t think that LOOKING like you were dressed by a stylist is the end goal to aim for, even if you were,” she said, “I think you should look incredible, effervescent, yet effortless.”  She said that the role of a stylist isn’t just to simply outfit a client. “I think that a stylist does several things – gives an honest opinion, challenges you to try new things, knows more about fashion than you do, and gets everything organized,” she said,  “You can essentially do this for yourself at home (but it’s  a lot of work). The thing that I always tell people is to try on their looks in advance. When we do a fitting for an event or a press tour, we spend a good few hours trying on looks and photographing them, deciding what works and what doesn’t and trying new things. You can’t expect to pull together your best look if you’re running out the door 10 minutes late, you’ll always resort to something that you know works. We all wear a very small percentage of our wardrobe.”

Recently attending the spring 2012 fashion shows, Annabel certainly has some collections she is looking forward to next year. “Paris is always my favorite,” she said, “I loved McQueen. Vuitton was beautiful too. I always love Meadham Kirchoff in London. Jason Wu and Prabal were very pretty in NY, and Calvin Klein was heaven.” With so many exciting projects going on and meeting some of the fashion world’s most incredible individuals and style icons on a daily basis, what does Annabel find to be the most rewarding aspect of her career? “I think that we’re all in this business because we love beauty, creativity and expression,” she said, “Seeing something wonderful and enchanting gratifies the soul.”

I know I can’t wait to see what’s next for the Tollman show – on Bravo, the red carpet, her Tumblr page (that blinking mask!), and beyond.  Visit Annabel Tollman’s website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter!