Tarajia was scouted by DJ Louie XIV and then intern Matt Jacobs at a Charlotte Ronson event, way back in our first year. Unfortunately for Tarajia, one look at how chic she makes a breton and cut off jeans and I was determined to do this feature on her, despite her shyness. I discovered that Tarajia’s mother is her biggest role model for how effortless she is, “even when she is coming in from the garden with dirt on her knees she looks elegant,” Tarajia states. Walking into Tarajia’s world has that same type of polished, without trying, feel. Her home in Brooklyn looks like it is the chicest of barns in upstate New York (where she spent a lot of her childhood) and her dog sleeps on a fisherman knit cardigan. Tarajia’s black metallic cut off Geoffrey Beene 60′s dress, made out of something akin to astroturf, on her looks dignified with the help of some patent Louboutin pumps.

Transporting herself through the romance of tradition is what captivates Tarajia. She gets dressed up at her vanity to go out at night (even if just a date with her boyfriend) and warms plates in the oven for a dinner party, like her mother did. You can see the thread of classicism in everything Tarajia wears and does, from the quintessential Chanel blazer that she wears with the perfect vintage YSL satin shoes with bows, to her obsession with cooking, turbans, old china, fish from the fish market (not the grocery store) and her layers of heirloom rings. She doesn’t get rid of anything, because everything old becomes new again, she feels, so Tarajia remains relevant in a Giorgio di Sant’Angelo knit dress from the 70′s worn with Margiela boots. Like food, Tarajia believes that clothes are emotional and the common denominator between everyone.

Check out Tarajia’s blog, The Lovage.

If you love Tarajia, you may also like Tamara Lowe, Alexandria Hilfiger and Elisa Lempicka.