Miles of Style with Elysze Held

Throughout her 30-plus-years career as a fashion stylist to celebrities and a range of private clients, Elysze Held has simply focused on doing the work, and doing it well.

“I tell you where I learned that from,” says Held, whose black-centric wardrobe is an extension of her days dressing theater actors backstage between scenes. “British actors. They do not set out to become movie stars. They set out to play the character and get the job done. So, I come from a place where it’s not about me. But now, some stylists are more important than their clients. How does that happen?”

That, of course, is a rhetorical question, asked by a person who has remained true to herself and her own exacting standards as she has watched the industry she loves change. How does it happen that people will ask her to style stars on a reality TV show, but offer her a spot on that show instead of pay? How does it happen that she can try something on in a boutique and have a merchant tell her how fabulous she looks, when she knows she looks anything but? Held is a person who knows you can’t just dress a person in anything, nor should you. But you can find a client the right outfit for their circumstances by asking good questions along the way.

For Held, who values working with people she can trust, sometimes that means countering an overly enthusiastic boutique employee’s “Oh my God, you look amazing!” with an “Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of joke?”

Held knows great style is no laughing matter. Born in Boston and raised in San Francisco, she always knew she would work in fashion. After studying costuming and working as a dresser for the San Francisco Conservatory Theater, she was hired by the local fashion office of Macy’s. Held became known for being so laser-focused that even a romantic overture couldn’t distract her.

“One day I was dressing models, and a guy came in and started flirting with me,” she recalls, with mischievous glint in her eye. “I was young and cute, and he was talking and going on and on. And eventually I said to him, ‘Look, you’re very cute. And I’m sure you’re wonderful, but I’m busy. So, unless you want to iron, you need to leave.’ Then the girls told me he was the art director.”

Held, as you might figure, was undaunted by that revelation, which hasn’t seemed to hurt her career trajectory one bit. She moved to Miami more than 30 years ago to become fashion director for the Lillie Rubin stores, which are no longer in business.

“I met my husband when I was here only a few weeks,” she says. “I was on a shoot. I had booked Shaun Casey, the model who was the former Estée Lauder girl. Her husband came to pick me up and he looked at me and, swear to God, he goes, ‘Your turn to get a boyfriend.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?’ He said, ‘You got a boyfriend? You’re perfect for my brother.’ So here it is 30 years later, and I’m still married to his brother.”

After Lillie Rubin, Held’s clients have included the Tate Museum in London, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Brunello Cucinelli, among others; and she has masterminded editorial styling for Haute Living and Indulge.

As clients watched Held just buckle down and get the job done with aplomb, they began hiring her to help them curate their own private wardrobes. One client recently hired her to buy the wardrobe she’d need for a five-day Indian wedding that required three looks each day. Another turned to her for help assembling a summer’s worth of clothes for a multi-stop trip that included Africa.

“I told her, ‘Why don’t you just give me the name of your travel agent so I can get the reality of this,’” Held says. “Okay, so she was going to be on a prop plane. Well, she can’t use those heavy scarves and things like that. So, one of the things I did for her when I shopped was I looked at the weight of the fabric so I could be sure it would be appropriate for the weather. Everything had to be appropriate for the occasion. And everything had to be appropriate for her body.”

What works for a model on the catwalk won’t always work for a grande dame, socialite, or teacher in the 305, Held says. And as Miami’s own local fashion expert—she was featured in a billboard campaign for the Miami Design District—Held is well aware of what will and won’t work.

To her, it’s more important to think about the woman she’s shopping for than the label that lady may covet. Salespeople in a store don’t always see it that way, so Held is a client’s best and fiercest advocate.

“Is their intention to get the commission or is their intention to get a repeat client?” she asks with a hint of exasperation. “You know, I had a celebrity client who was going to the Kennedy Center Honors, and she asked me to come with her to this designer in Miami. So I went, and the designer showed me the fabric for my client’s dress, and I said, ‘Is there any way you can put a lightweight chiffon overlay on that?’ The designer looked at me and said, ‘Why’s that?’ And I said, ‘Because she’s going to the Kennedy Center and she’s going to be sitting for four hours and that’s a satin dress. She’s going to look like a wrinkled mess.’”

More than anything, Held says, she looks forward to clients telling her that she “nailed” the outfits she picked for them.

“I don’t have any clients who want to look the height of fashion, but they want to be at the height of themselves at their best,” Held says. “And that’s what I want to give them.”

Elysze on Closet Curation

Sure, it’s fun to go shopping. But if you’ve snapped up a lot of great pieces and still feel like you’ve got nothing at all to wear, Held says it’s time to walk into your closet and sift through what you have. The goal? To declutter and organize.

First, she says you need to purge what you do not love. Look at each piece and ask yourself if it’s in good condition, whether you still love it, when you wore it last—and whether you’ll ever wear it again. Try on each piece and see how it looks and feels.

“Be ruthless,” Held says. “I tell my clients, ‘When in doubt, leave it out.’”

Once you’ve identified your loves and cast aside your love-nots, Held says the next step is to organize your closet in a way that makes your life easier.

“Treat your closet like your own personal boutique,” she advises. “You would not go to the jeans section to buy a cocktail dress. Merchandise your items into a well-rounded wardrobe that suits and reflects your lifestyle. The idea is to create a closet environment that you can shop from every day with ease, organized in a way that gives your wardrobe a new sense of clarity.”

Creating sections for work apparel, everyday wear, date night, or “running around pieces” is a good way to accomplish a sense of cohesion in your closet. After that, organize by color, hanging items from light to dark. All your hangers should be the same. No wooden hangers mixed with basic dry-cleaner wire types.

“An organized closet saves you more than time,” she says. “It allows you to begin and end each day on a note of serenity.”

Elysze’s Wardrobe Staples:

When it comes to selecting wardrobe staples, Held advises choosing pieces that reflect your own personal style.

“If you gravitate more to a boho style, then stick with that look,” she says. “If you love the girl boss look, then go with that. Experiment with a different style until you know it works for you. A trend is not a trend if it does not work for you.”

Whatever your aesthetic, here are 10 wardrobe staples that Held says you’ll need in your curated closet:

1. A plain white t-shirt. “Think layering,” she says. This can even include plain white tank tops or camisoles.

2. A white shirt. “It’s very versatile,” she says. “You can wrap it, tuck it, and wear it over other pieces.”

3. A long skirt or mini skirt. “linen, cotton, florals, or plain col- ors all are a ‘yes’. Just make sure the shape works well with your body type.”

4. A long dress of any style.

5. A little black dress.

6. knitwear in neutral colors.

7. High-heeled sandals and flats. ”But no flip- flops,” She warns.

8. Lightweight jeans that work for your body shape.

9. Dress pants. “Leggings ARE NOT pants,” she says.

10. Bags. “a tote, cross- body bag, or clutch are all good options.”

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