LADIES OF CASTOR & POLLUX: LADY NO. 31
Karyn Starr
“I will never complain about this heat in a million years!” exclaimed our dear friend Karyn Starr when she picked up the phone on this sweltering June day. “I’m like, bring it on. I feel a sense of freedom.” As one-half of the aesthetic consultation firm White-Starr, Karyn has worked hard to achieve that freedom. Seven years ago, at 25, she was busily logging six-day, eighty-hour weeks at a glitzy women’s apparel company, and watching her colleagues neglect their personal lives while spending endless hours at the office. She was aghast. “I was like, ‘This is crazy. This is not the life I want.’” At her father’s encouragement, she left her job, pursued yoga with abandon, and thought hard about the direction her life was going to take. It was a painful time. “I sat on my kitchen floor bawling my eyes out, like, ‘Who am I? What am I doing?’”
During a short stint as a freelance stylist, the seed for her business was planted. As she styled subjects for editorials, her colleagues noticed her “spot-on” ability to read personal styles and assemble looks, and would ask if she’d ever done personal styling. “A lightbulb went off,” says Karyn, as she realized that “[styling] is important work. I never knew it was okay to make a career out of getting dressed.” Shortly after, she met Andrea Longacre-White, her business partner, who had a background in photography and design and shared Karyn’s love of fashion. The connection was instantaneous. “She’s a a Virgo; I’m a Capricorn. [Andrea] is my experience of love at first sight – we loved the way each other looked.” White-Starr, their aesthetic consultation firm, will celebrate its five-year anniversary in September.
Their diverse clientele is united by their love of fashion but a lack of downtime to wade through the ever-growing bog of resources on the subject. They are, says Karyn, “successful people who know to delegate. They have to get up, get dressed and look their best every day, and they just don’t have time. They had all the time in their world when they were in their 20s,” but later in life, devoted to families and careers, “it’s not the priority.” The strength of White-Starr lies in the partners’ desire to spread the good news, so to speak, about clothing and products that are going to enhance their clients’ lives. “Everything we love, we just want to share it,” Karyn says.
Check out Karyn’s blog and read her questionnaire below for more information about what makes the 31st Lady of Castor & Pollux tick.
Photo by John von Pamer
Favorite recipe?
Roasted chicken and roasted root vegetables with lots of sea salt, black pepper, fresh rosemary and butter.
Last great book you read?
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.
Summer drink of choice?
A gin or tequila gimlet from Diner in Brooklyn at sunset.
Your animals: names and breeds?
None at the moment. But I think of my horses William and Flynn that I had when I was young every single day. William was a Welsh Section B chestnut roan pony and Flynn was a Thoroughbred cob. I dream of having a horse again someday.
Do you exercise? What do you do, if so?
Yes. I love to exercise. I practice yoga and Pilates; I ski, ride my bike, swim, walk and carry my little boy all over the place. I have also tried every hard exercise class in New York City, except Tracy Anderson. (Anyone have a less expensive way to get in the door?)
Salty or sweet?
I like them best together.
Who inspires you and why?
My dear friend Gaines Peyton. She owns Sears-Peyton Gallery in Chelsea. Gaines works as hard as she plays and plays as hard as she works. She shows me all of the time that we are the only ones in charge of our own happiness. She is a wonderful mother, wife, artist and a total bad-ass.
Pool or ocean?
Ocean.
Favorite city?
New York and London have always tied in my heart, but I think New York just won.
Last great vacation?
Miami for three days with one of my dearest friends. Yoga, sunshine, cocktails, sleep.
Favorite TV show?
Friday Night Lights.
Weirdest job you’ve ever had?
Working at Out of the Fog, a coffee shop in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is really weird.
Favorite restaurant?
Marlow and Sons, Diner and Roebling Tea Room (I can’t pick one; they’re all in Brooklyn) and Souen for lunch by myself.
Favorite object in your home?
A bright tartan blanket that belonged to my grandpa Starr.
Favorite piece of clothing?
Really? You’re making me choose!? AGH! Today, it’s my Givenchy leather pants. They are black and tight in all the right places: calf, at the ankle (with a zip up the back), but not too tight in the seat. If it was the middle of summer: my white Karen Walker button-down sack-like dress; it’s very thin and the shape is exquisite.
Favorite blog or website?
The Tumblr site of my dear old friend Jaime Johnson. The most beautiful thing on the internet.
Something you’re scared of?
A day alive without my family.
Favorite record?
Hmmmmm.
Favorite pop song?
“Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.
Your ideal day?
A tie between all day at the beach with my dearests, buying food from the farm stand with sand still on our feet, followed by cooking a big feast, or a day skiing with my husband and my brother.
Favorite gift you’ve ever received?
My baby boy Louis (pronounced Louie)!
Favorite flower?
Lilac.
Favorite scent (perfume)?
Le Labo Rose 31.
Astrological sign?
Capricorn. Earth.
What do you do for a living?
I love my job; I am a personal stylist.
Where do you live?
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Your lucky number?
3.
What piece of art would you buy if you had absolutely no budget?
An Alexander Calder mobile. There was one at my high school and I think of it often.
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