From high-waisted denim minis and over the knee boots paired with grunge-inspired overcoats to neon green all-Versace-everything ensembles and (dare we say it) bucket hats, if there’s one person we’ll always look to to go wear no trend has gone before, it’s Rihanna. Because, well, she hasn’t wronged us yet (save for her early days riding a jet ski in “If it’s Lovin’ That You Want", but we love it anyway for nostalgia’s sake). So you better believe that when BadGalRiRi walks into a store, we pay attention. Especially when it leads to one very notable ensemble she wore while performing our current anthem, “Bitch Better Have My Money” on SNL. And especially when said store is an appointment-only vintage emporium. Yeah, we got on that ish immediately.
Which lead us not only to making our own appointment at EraLuxe (death by the Alaïa dresses of our dreams and the kind of rare CHANEL you’d never ever see outside the closet of a truly devoted collector), but also to the (surprisingly modern) door of Julie Heller’s apartment—she who sources such vintage treasures for a living (#goals) and owns said store.
We’ll put it this way: anyone who’s ever advised Rihanna on a styling choice deserves our (and your) utmost attention when it comes to their own sartorial decisions. And Heller, well, she has her closet game down. As in, skintight Balmain dresses (her version of black tie), fire engine-red footwear by Valentino and Chloé, vintage Dolce & Gabbana slip dresses we might very well kill for, and one very special bag that came out of Takashi Murakami’s collaboration with Louis Vuitton. Our spidey senses were tingling the entire time. Something tells us that, beyond hitting her up on her home turf at EraLuxe, the store owner would make a stellar shopping companion. Look out for a text next time we’re in town, Heller.
