I am thrilled to share today's style muse, pretty lady - Jessica Kleoppel. Her blog - something concerning everything occurring - is one of my absolute favorites; I am very happy to have discovered it. Jessica's blog is always thoughtful, inspired, and beautifully written. She truly reminds me to notice the little things, and seeing life through her eyes is a lovely thing.
Jessica currently lives in Chicago, and her blog posts often make me miss that city I called home. I think if I still lived there we would be fast friends. {And I don't mean that in a weirdo stalker sort of way.}
Thank you, Jessica, for being a L&R style muse!
{Photos taken by Jessica's boyfriend - Sam. Wonderful job, Sam!}
L&R: Who are your style muses?
J: Katharine Hepburn and Diane Keaton always, and Sofia Coppola, Alexa Chung, Chloe Sevigny, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Bosworth, my boss, and people on the street.
L&R: How would you describe your personal style?
J: Bag lady meets teenage prep school boy? Bohemian Amish? (This will make sense to my friends, I'm sure.)
L&R: Are there pieces in your closet you find yourself wearing constantly?
J: White button downs of any sleeve variety, breton striped shirts, tapered trousers, midi dresses cinched with a belt, and a massive shawl to throw off all the structure—a walking contradiction.
L&R: Your favorite "find"?
J: Although not quite a find, my 98-year-old great-grandmother's slave bracelet is probably the piece that means most. She would travel from Missouri to Brownsville, Texas every winter, where she'd spend the season teaching painting classes and giving organ lessons to the other "Winter Texans" out of her motor home. The bracelet is Navajo, and I imagine was purchased during a detour west.
L&R: What was your last purchase?
J: I made a resolution to go the year without buying "new" clothes—shoes aside, though, since I always seem to wear through the soles. So, I just purchased a new pair of Bensimons to last me through summer bike rides and evening walks. They're the perfect amount of rugged and pretty, able to make the transition from hiking trail to casual dinner, which they did often on my recent trip to Portland.
L&R: What is the outfit you feel the best in? that feels the most "you"?
J: At the moment: white linen tank, high-waisted cotton trousers, loafers, and bright lipstick. I'm all about comfort anymore. I want to be able to run after a bus if I have to; to sit cross-legged in the park if I get to.
L&R: You are a graphic designer, but you also take wonderful photographs and write beautifully. What else do you enjoy doing?
J: What a wonderful thing to say, Molly. Thank you. To answer your question: if I could travel for a living, I probably would. Also: reading (another of my aforementioned resolutions is to read 50 books this year), tending to my plants, cycling, listening to music, cooking, dining, having drinks with friends. I love being surrounded by beautiful things, so I'm always collecting, always improving my place—I find great joy in this.
L&R: Tell us a little about yourself, and the path that led you to where you are now?
J: Well, I grew up on a farm in a small town in Missouri, moved to Chicago six years ago for school, and have been here since. I thought I would study biology, or French maybe, but ended up with an art degree. I suppose it was a natural progression, looking back on it—my mom's a talented florist and owns a shop in our little town, and my dad can build and/or fix anything. I suppose I was surrounded by more creativity than I realized.
Now I have a great job as a designer at a local art museum, where I've worked for the past five years. And, I live with my boyfriend Sam in an apartment in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, close to the brewery where he works. (He took these photos a couple minutes from our apartment, at a secret spot on the river he found and surprised me with last month.)
L&R: What are your favorite spots in Chicago?
J: Oh! Let's see: Lula Cafe for brunch at the bar, The Fountainhead for great beer and food, The ReBuilding Exchange is a new favorite with amazing recycled building materials, Music Box theatre for weekend classic matinees, Half Acre Beer Company for a tasting and the cool people, and a cafe in our neighborhood called The Grind with a secret back patio and the sweetest barista with horn-rimmed glasses. In fact, I could spend all afternoon going between said cafe, the record store next door, and the used book store across the street. That's my kind of day.
With less of a neighborhood-y sort of experience in mind, any good vantage point (the River, Montrose Harbor, Lake Michigan, Millennium Park, the Brown Line) for Chicago architecture is—not to sound cliché—breathtaking, no matter how long you've lived here. And there's more incredible food here than you'll ever know what to do with. I'll round this out with a few things that really make me feelalive, which is why I imagine many people choose to live urban lives: walking around The Loop , an evening at the Civic Opera House, morning and evening bike rides on the Lakefront Path, and summer concerts in Millennium Park. Yes.
L&R: Three products you can't live without?
J: My beauty regimen is pretty low key, but lately I've been enjoying a few things in particular: NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Mexican Rose (as pictured), Olay Total Effects moisturizer with SPF, and Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo Powder (helpful when I arrive at the office sweaty each morning after an 8-mile bike ride—yikes).
Jessica has sealed my fate - I will own a pair of Bensimons soon. I mean, it's the cool french girl converse. Or so they say. And when you can't go to France - buy their shoes. Or something like that.
Happy weekend, friends! It's supposed to be 101 / 103 here... Ugh. Drink water + use sunscreen!
Last, but certainly not least... a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderfully cool father-in-law, Bill! We'll see you soon, and love you very much!
