For a little 60s do the vertical. For a little 70s do the headscarf. For a little 80s do the crop. For some 90s do the oversized blazer and dangly gold earrings. And for all things FUN do the zebra!

Zebra print silk tank top by Peter Som; Vintage striped skirt by Screaming Mimi’s; Striped cropped sweater by Top Shop; My old vintage wool blazer; My mom’s 70s striped headscarf; Vintage white sandals from Le Grand Strip (Williamsburg); Vintage heart-shaped earrings by DelDuca.

Photos by Terry Gates.

One of the pitfalls of working in the fashion industry, like I said before, is the heartbreaking shortage of straight men. It’s a dire, dire world out there, where queens reign and models thrive. So besides asking my loyal friends to set me up, I’ve resigned to on-line dating. Last year I would’ve died if anyone found out I was on one of those sites, but now it’s just like any other distracting hobby. I find it extremely entertaining. The profile photos are great fun – every man seems to ski, snowboard, love boats and do extreme sports on a regular basis – and it’s always a joy to see a new “wink” in my mailbox. But it’s not all fun and games. On-line dating is serious business these days and can be a brutal awakening. Here’s a few things I have learned:

1. Beware of guys who take “selfies”. This means they either have no friends, no family, no life, or no camera. If there isn’t a single soul in their close vicinity who could take a photo of them, not even the local butcher or worse, their own mother, you might have a social pariah on your hands and you must not even consider feeling sorry for them. It’s just plain wrong.

2. Beware of guys in their late 40s who have never been married, without kids. Think about it: how is it that a guy, at his age, with a good job, a sensible set of teeth and, according to his profile, a “generous, fun, easy-going, adventurous” life style, has never been able to sway a woman to marry him? Does he work such long hours he’s too exhausted to get it up? Is he a controlling maniac? Does he have a debilitating shoe fetish? Either way, it’s not kosher. In my opinion you’re better off with a divorced guy with kids. He’s probably made some mistakes but at least he tried.

3. Be gentle with guys who have unrealistic expectations. I sometimes sit and scream at my computer screen, wrecked by disbelief, when yet another delusional man contacts me: “What on earth are you thinking????” (I’m talking guys with ankle bracelets and neck tattoos, 27-year old kids who live with their mother, and men in Stetson cowboy hats…) I recommend either ignoring the request, or simply answering: “Sir, please ask yourself. If we were at a bar, would you come up to me and ask me out? If the answer is no, then you should not believe you have special powers just because we are in cyber space.”

4. Make sure you cross-reference their public age with the wrinkles in their profile photos. There’s a lot of older guys who change their age for fear of being inundated with messages from 50-year old housewives. I’ve heard it many times and some even warn you: if you are a 50-year old housewife, don’t contact me. Truth!

5. One of the games I play when I look at people’s profiles is to picture myself inside their photos. If you can’t imagine yourself hanging out with their friends at an open-air Beer Garden in Hoboken, or sprawled on a vinyl, flesh-colored couch next to their poodle, I would say, don’t force it. It’s bad enough you’ll come across a photo of your future mother-in-law one day and actually have to deal with it.

6. When a man writes to you and you have no interest in meeting, you are faced with an excruciating dilemma: do I write back and politely explain why I am not keen on joining him for a ride on his moped? Or do I simply ignore him and pretend I missed the message? In the former case you take a huge risk. He might not take no for an answer and become defensive. And trust me, there’s nothing worse than being put in your place by a shot-down man. So I recommend the latter.

7. Beware of the man who thinks that posting photos of himself surrounded by beautiful, scantily-dressed women is a blessing. I had an interaction with one such delightful man a few months ago. I warned him that no woman, especially not me, would take him seriously if he insisted on intimidating her with photos of girls in bikinis and thongs. I was genuinely worried for his future and told him he’d never find the woman “who likes to cook and learn new things”. He didn’t quite get that though and answered: “I just got laid last night, so I think I’m doing alright.”

Marmite is staring me down from across the room. She’s on the bed, her eyes dead set on mine, as if she wants to make sure I am aware and in awe of her ever-so-mighty presence. She seems just like any other big, black, fuzzyy cat who beckons to be pet right away, but Harley warns me: “Don’t be fooled. She’s not friendly at all. She’ll hiss.” So I stop dead in my tracks and retreat to the safe zone, i.e. Harley’s closet, where vintage, not feline is King. “Mo is my best friend,” smiles Harley, who has clearly been absolved of any wrong-doing after three years of pet ownership and is able to swoop up the beast without scathing repercussions. “I adopted her from the Bidawee shelter. She is massive!! Hence the nickname, Tiny. She’s my whole world! I’m definitely a crazy cat lady…”

Well, it takes one to know one, and I soon find out this is just where the similarities begin. When Harley opens the four doors of her wardrobe, and starts to pull out dress after vintage dress, I notice there are hardly any contemporary pieces. “I’d say about 75 percent of my closet is vintage,” says confirms. “I’m drawn to vintage shapes, prints, and ideas. I love that rush of finding an incredible gem in the bottom of a pile of clothes at a thrift store in the middle of nowhere. The hunt is half the fun. I’d rather spend money on unique pieces you can really call your own.”

And all the dresses are the same proportionate length too, like a new box of freshly sharpened crayons. “I usually don’t even shop by size; I shop by fabric, color, or pattern,” she explains. “And then I take bags of $5 dresses to my tailor who looks at me and shakes her head every time I come in. “You could spend a bit more on the dress and buy it in your size you know,” she says. But that’s why my dresses are all similar lengths and shape – because I’ve made them that way! I found a formula that hopefully sort of works with my proportions. In that way I’m a little bit predictable in that I have a day uniform of vintage min-dresses.”

On a recent trip to the Manhattan Vintage Show however, a curious thing happened. Harley found herself inclined to buy slightly longer dresses, just over or even under the knee. Whether this was due to her impending 25th birthday or an inevitable desire for change remains a mystery, but she’s unrelentless in her pursuit of a new-found, mature femininity, and has instructed her confused tailor to steer clear of the hemline from now on. “I think it all started with a new obsession with Betty Draper-esque 60s tea dresses…” decides Harley.

No doubt some of the short dresses will end up in the donation bag she’s been compiling. She buys regularly but says she’s also constantly getting rid of clothes. “Mostly because I have such little space,” she admits. “If I don’t wear something within a year it often gets axed. I sell a few things on Ebay, but my favorite thing to do is to slowly accumulate a huge giveaway bag and then have a bunch of my friends come over to go through it and take stuff. It’s always so hard to part with pieces you’ve earned, worn, and loved, but sharing them with friends makes it a joy. The clothes have a longer lifespan that way! I always bump into my girlfriends wearing my old dresses and I love it.”

Or maybe the 5-inch hemline drop is simply a way to keep her fashion sense in tune with her growing accomplishments as a DJ. Not a week goes by without seeing the name Harley Viera-Newton boldfaced on a flyer or invitation for a big name fashion party. She can count herself in the top 5 female fashion DJs in New York and rightfully so because her music is in her blood. Most defining is the fact that her father is the President of Columbia Records. “I was always immersed in all sorts of music,” she remembers. “My dad’s playlists at home would run the gamut from Neil Young to Janet Jackson to Massive Attack”. She played in a band with her girlfriend during high school in Los Angeles. She learned how to DJ after she moved to New York for college – she graduated with a double major in Egyptology and Social Science – and started a weekly party in the Lower East Side. Then she became a resident at the Beatrice Inn, and later hosted a weekly party at Lit. “It was during this time I was fortunate enough to meet people at Dior Beauty. We started a really great partnership. I DJ their events and also put together seasonal playlists to complement different make-up series.” For the past two years she’s been managed by Jay Z’s Roc Nation, who have skyrocketed her career to the highest ranks.

What you might not know though – and here is where all similarities dramatically end – is that Harley Viera-Newton is an expert fly fisher. Yes, you read it, Fly, Fishing! She’s been going on annual father-daughter fly fishing trips since she was a little girl. Her apartment looks like Steve Zissou’s wet dream; it’s filled with nautical trinkets and souvenirs like fish hooks, model boats, pictures of sea shells, books on oceanography, old yachting equipment and one giant flue fin fish. “We take a tiny plane out to Great Falls (MT),” begins Harley, “and then drive a few hours out to a remote little motel. The owner is our fishing guide for the week. We set out every morning at 5 AM and hike to the most stunning rivers in the middle of nowhere. We don’t see another human all day and just spend hours surrounded by wild life. I’m actually pretty good at it now! I think my dad is scared I’m getting better than him! But really it’s more about enjoying the serenity of the river and the beauty of the big sky country.”

Marmite is upset because we displaced her food bowl. She may actually be sulking. She photo bombs each shot for lack of Harley’s attention. “Don’t mind her. I’ll feed her when we’re finished,” dismisses Harley. “Which shoes?” she asks when we decide to venture outside. I point at a pair of black sandals perched on the top shelf. “I love those!” she cheers. “Did I mention Charlotte Dellal is my cousin?” That would explain all the fascinating footwear at our disposal. And what about the Tom Binns jewelry? “That’s my mom’s company.” Ah, what a gloriously creative family! If we could just get Marmite to like me too. Alas, when I leave she is back on the bed, on the other side of the room, her head turned to face the wall, in dismay.

Text by Clare Maclean.

Thank you Miroslava!

Right at the end of New York Fashion Week in September, a photographer and journalist at Elle UK came to raid my Closet…. And it was anything but Confidential…

I have no idea what this article reads but somewhere it should have my favorite places in New York (from last year)…

Here’s a transcript of the interview, by Leaf Greener.

1. What do you do exactly as a casting director?

I am the link between the client and the model agent. I help designers, photographers, magazines, editors etc find the right model(s) for campaigns, runway shows and photo shoots.

2. How many shows you will be casting during 2013 S/S NYFW on SEP? And who are they?

I have not confirmed all my shows yet. Charlotte Ronson and Karen Walker and definites, the rest is still TBC.

3. What s your study background? And how you get started as a casting director?

I studied Political and Social Sciences w a major in Journalism. I wanted to be a Fashion Writer I guess. I became a Casting Agent after working as Craig McDean’s Studio Manager for 6 years.

4. How long does it take to know when a girl’s right for a particular show?

It usually happens as soon as she walks in and does her walk for the team. Or when she tries on the clothes and it’s a perfect fit.

5. When you cast for, do you have a brief from the designers? What kind of thing they might say to you?

6. What is the “new look” for the girls next S/S 2013 season?

We have all kinds of girls at the moment, all ages, all ethnicities, all sizes pretty much and ranging from drop dead gorgeous divas to funny looking weird girls. Really it’s all over the place!

7. How you started your blog? How long you need to prepare to update a new blog?

I started the blog bc I was bored – work was slow early 2010. And because I wanted to write more. I had forgotten how to write and wanted to pick it up again. I also wanted an outlet for all my vintage finds. All my content is original so it takes a shoot and a piece of writing.

8. How you define your personal style?  Sexy, cute, fun, colorful, feminine.

9. How you define New York City? What s the key words make New York different from Paris, Milan and London?

New York is about success and money. It’s very business-driven and it’s constantly moving. It’s very hard to be bored in NY. Paris is more traditional. It’s more rigid; doesn’t change so much. I don’t know much about Milan. I love the climate there. Seems that every time I am there the sun is shining!

10. What s the typical NY style from your opinion? Please try to use 5 fashion items to describe this as well.

NY style is more conservative than let’s say London, not as elegant as Paris and not as sexy as Milan’s so in all it’s more subdued, reserved and on the safe side. People rather conform than break the norm, buy quality pieces rather than seasonal, trendy things.

Trench coats, Little black dress, stilettos, skinny jeans, blazer.

11. What are your top 5 brands from NY at the moment? And why you choose them?

Peter Som – very sophisticated, beautiful work.

Derek Lam – tough but elegant

J. Crew – so easy and light, perfect colors, cheap

Theyskens Theory – Olivier’s collections for Theory really stand out. They are affordable but super cool and edgy, while staying true to the brand’s “basics” identity

Ralph Lauren – I love preppy and Americana – sometimes I just want to dress like a snob

12. Describe what you do in a typical day please.

I spend a lot of time behind my computer. I go to the gym and I do a LOT of interviews and photo shoots, either it’s me being the model or I shoot others.

13. What are your must have pieces from F/W 2012 season?  A Peter Pilotto fur bib, Josh Goot peplum skirt, Casadei boots, MIH jeans, lots of big big sweaters!

14. Please tell us your Top address file in NYC:

Top vintage store: Marlene Wetherell

Top fashion store: Barney’s / Opening Ceremony

Top Bookstore: Barnes & Noble

Top Restaurant: The Waverly Inn

Top Café: Café Select

Top Breakfast: Balthazar / Pain Quotidien

Top Club: 141 Chrystie Street

Top Spa: Cow Shed (in Soho House)

Top Nail Salon: Serenity Beauty Spa

Top Museum: Moma

Top Gallery: David Zwirner

Top Flea Market: Artists & Fleas in Williamsburg

Best place in NYC: Soho House

Best view of NYC: Boom Boom Room / Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg

15. What you will must-have pieces to pack for the new season of fashion week?

Cropped tops, pencil skirts, tight dresses with long sleeves, Roberto Cavalli shoes

Thanks for your time