The root of Bridget's childhood was filled with a consuming passion for animals: "My whole life has revolved around animals and expressing myself." She had a monkey delivered to her father's automobile business COD, a lamb that she took door to door to sell Girl Scout cookies, two alligators (after one broke its neck when Bridget brought it to school and the kids petted it with too much excitement) and, as a teenager she rode a horse to parties. One passion has led to another, and Bridget became known in her adult career as the one with the "surface fetish" for being able to put a serious spin on the exterior of a product while responsible for the look of Paper Magazine for fifteen years. However, the grounded, earthy and equestrian side of her was never lost while working for the publication that Bridget refers to as the periscope of art and fashion. Rather, she continued to merge the many sides of herself, maybe best expressed in the visual of her wearing one of her two hundred and fifty pairs of Alain Mikli glasses, one for every day, while riding her horse to a photo shoot with Lisa Marie for Paper down Eleventh Avenue.

Today, Bridget wears only one pair of the iconic designer's classically edgy glasses in deference to her belief that holding onto a lot of stuff is tantamount to carrying your baggage with you in life. All about spending more and having it forever as opposed to fast fashion, Bridget says she has a fixation with the "fabulously monotonous and anything that is at least twenty years old." Most of her lasting collectibles are from Hermes, which she is obsessed with for the brand's dedication to designing in accordance with the function of something as it was intended to be without compromising high style - for example, Bridget's indestructible five-piece suit that is comprised of a coaching coat, pant, skirt, vest and jacket that can be worn separately for the city or together and layered endlessly for life in the harsh weather of the rural bush. And that's not to mention her jodhpurs, which are bulletproof, the jeans that are lined in silk and the layers of chunky, silver sport bracelets. She straddles her country to urban life sartorially with the confidence of someone who knows who she is. From the car to the saddle to the office and then back to the field, Bridget simply unbuckles or buckles her chaps or spats as needed.

Bridget's MO is, "Everything we invest in is part of our style." It has become important to her to start focusing on "an enviornmental expression... how everything is connected... rather than this principal transportable mobile version of me." The Victorian gentleman in Bridget remains, with her infinite pairs of riding boots and worn Hermes scarves that have turned into the lining of her fencing vests, but Bridget's career has gone from seminology (the study of signs and symbols) in advertising and a mastery over the outer appearance of things to what is on the inside. With the fervor of everything that Bridget does, she is now making animal food that is all about the care and sustenance of animals. Her new company, PoochClub, is in reverence to the animals she has loved and lost. Loss has taught Bridget that life is about "what's inside, not what's outside and that death is such an important last moment." Being comfortable in your clothes, she says, is about being comfortable in your skin. Bridget knows that "fashion should not be a weapon of security or a bullet for insecurity."

If you love Bridget, you may also like Elizabeth Burns, Erika von Petrin and Freddie Leiba.