Allison
Bornstein would like for you to take a deep breath. Light a candle, make sure your phone is on silent, then focus on your inhale and exhale 10-counts. Open your eyes and stare into your closet, which you're now ready to clean. Yes, the stylist insists, think about this process as a form of self-care. How you approach your wardrobe is linked to how you feel about yourself, and thus cleaning it out, editing it down, and refining it is its very own wellness activity. This practice is outlined in Bornstein's first book, out September 26, Wear It Well: Reclaim Your Closet and Rediscover the Joy of Getting Dressed. It's found in the chapter titled “Visioning You: A Meditation,” which acts as a preamble before you embark on her AB Closet-Editing System. It's these quippily titled tactics that have made Bornstein so popular on TikTok and Instagram (where she has a combined 376,000 followers)—and now, she's turned her tao into a book. You may have heard of Wrong Shoe Theory, which advocates for pairing a chunky sneaker with a floaty dress, or the Three-Word Method for defining your style. (Bornstein's own three words are 1970s, classic, and elegant; her Instagram is filled with images of light-wash jeans, trench coats, and Jane Birkin). Online, over FaceTime with her hundreds of personal clients, and now in print, Bornstein teaches an introductory—but comprehensive—class on how to get dressed.
Before Bornstein was crowned “TikTok's favorite stylist” with 1,500 individual sessions under her belt, she worked with celebrities such as Katie Holmes. During the pandemic, Bornstein was looking for a way to raise money and offered styling sessions over video call. She charged a flat fee, and 30 percent of the proceeds went to benefit the Food Bank for New York City. She liked working with regular, nonfamous people—those who couldn't have a PR agency messenger them a crucial accessory at the drop of a hat—and their closets. Now she charges $275 for an hour. It's an extra $100 if you want her to send you links to stuff that will complete your closet. (Bornstein says she hears from clients that the cost of a session is cheaper than the clothes they would have bought without one.)
“Are there rules with a sweater around the shoulder? Or do you just scrunch it and do it however,” Bornstein's repeat client Josie Graham asks over Zoom on a recent Friday morning. Graham, a creative director and mother in Cincinnati, has met with Bornstein 12 times over the past three years. Bornstein, dressed in a Bottega Veneta silk shirt printed to look like a denim jacket and a silver Tiffany & Co. bone cuff, answers immediately: “If you think too much about it, it ends up looking a little contrived.”
Graham—who, Bornstein points out, has good taste to begin with—approaches her hour-long calls with the energy of an aspiring valedictorian. She references typed notes from her previous sessions, takes a picture of her outfit every day to see which ones she likes, and keeps a reference binder of outfits that she and Bornstein have okayed. “In the morning when I do my makeup, I go through the books,” Graham says. “If we haven't made a look and it's not photographed, I will never wear the items.”
Once the sweater is in place, appropriately nonchalant, Graham snaps a photo. She and Bornstein have been trying to find a way to wear a black formfitting sheath from The Row in a way that channels a Ralph Lauren ad but still feels comfortable and work appropriate. Graham had worn it before with sneakers, but likes it a lot better with knee-high black boots, a blazer, and a sweater over the shoulders. “I get teary,” Graham says. “This is me! This looks like somebody on a Pinterest board.”
