Sasha Benz has long been in the world of fashion. The mom of three worked as a freelance stylist for years, contributing to magazines like Vanity Fair and Vogue Australia, before launching the lifestyle blog, "All My Friends Are Models." The Sydney native-turned-New Yorker went on to become the creative director of The Surf Lodge in Montauk and then opened the luxury lifestyle boutique, Wyld Blue, which has locations in Montauk, Aspen, and Manhattan (coming soon). Her Instagram page (@sasha.benz) shows off her beachy, neutral aesthetic perfectly, and you can’t miss her adorable kids, who make for the ultimate models of the soft, muted-tone baby and childrens clothing she stocks at Wyld Blue. Ahead, Benz talks with Coveteur about her favorite stylish childrens brands and how she approaches dressing her own kids, plus she shares her summer edit for children.
Photo: Courtesy of Sasha Benz
Tell me a little bit about dressing your kids. Do they like to style and dress themselves these days?
"It was definitely a lot easier to dress them in exactly what I wanted until they hit a certain age. I have a six-year-old, four-year-old, and another who is almost two. With my son I had everything meticulously organized and he always looked so cool. There were always accessories…I was very grateful that I had a girl next because I probably overdid styling for him. There was a hat, a boy necklace, and lots of neutrals, which is indicative of how the store panned out because I just really love neutral tones.
As they started turning three and four, that's when they started having a real voice of their own. With my daughter, I don't know if it's because I've suppressed color so much because she's just so girly, but she loves everything bright and glittery and sparkly and she'll have like 17 outfit changes on any given moment. My son loves sporty clothes, but when we go out to a nice place, he will really piece his own outfit together and he likes to match. Over the years, we have said that if you want to come out to a nice restaurant with mom and dad, you have to put on your nicer clothes, so I think they have just adapted. My third daughter has only hand-me-downs. I haven’t had a moment to buy her anything new. She has a mix of boy and girl clothes, but they are still cute."
How do you balance function and style when it comes to the clothes you dress your kids in? A lot of times, some of the cutest clothes have the most snaps or they are made of a fabric that is dry clean-only, which is kind of crazy for kids.
"When I say we dress the kids nice, they’re not going in any designer clothes. We've found some really beautiful, sustainable, and amazing clothes. We go with linens and soft cottons. You learn very quickly what is a necessary item and what works for you. Anything that has lots of buttons...you don't want that. You need zippers. I've never put my kids in things that are uncomfortable, like hard fabrics or jeans. I always find it funny when I see kids in jeans. We work with a lot of great Korean brands for the store—I think they do it so well. And then we have a few brands, like The Simple Folk and Little Creative Factory. I think their stuff is so beautiful."
You have this very beautiful family aesthetic—the store is a perfect representation of it. Is it something you consciously do? Or does it happen more organically?
"My style has always been a little bit softer and more neutral with the occasional pop of color here and there. I always wear chunky gold jewelry...you know, statement pieces. From being a stylist years ago, I figured out very quickly how to scan a room and grab what I like. I know what I like and know what I don't, even when we do our showroom appointments for the store everyone always says we are so quick. I think that vision also translates to the store and to the kids as well."
Photo: Courtesy of Sasha Benz
How has motherhood changed your personal style, if at all?
"You start to think about comfort and practicality more. I will definitely be ambitious and wear a beautiful white outfit and then suddenly walk past the kids on my way out the door and one of them will grab me and then I will have food all over me. Through three pregnancies, you start knowing your body a little bit better. I would always buy for style and now I buy for my body. You figure out what works for you and it’s important to make sure that it makes you feel good. That’s the priority as a mom. You have so many things going on and you are carrying so much weight—both physically and mentally. I think I became a lot kinder on myself as I got older."
Clothes can have such an impact on your self-esteem, both positively and negatively. How do you want to impart those lessons on your daughters?
"They're still so young at this point. I always try to tell them how great they are, not how beautiful or how perfect they are. I will say, 'I love your freckles' or something that will make them feel confident. Even more important is teaching them to say kind things to other people. My daughter is always complimenting people and I taught that whenever you see someone, make sure that they feel good. That’s going to make them always understand that kindness will prevail over being beautiful or whatever it is."
I just love the gender neutrality of everything that you pick out for your kids and the store. It's interesting that in this day and age, most of the clothing for babies and kids is still very gender stereotypical. Why do you think that is? Are you frustrated by that?
"I was having a conversation with someone yesterday about this. I really struggled when I was trying to set up a nursery and couldn’t find a lot of nice things that I loved. I ended up going on Etsy and customizing a lot of stuff. I get this a lot with my daughter because she's just got this odd haircut and she really does look like my son a lot. I'll put her in a necklace with a tutu and people will be like, 'How old is your son?' That is probably why people have been accustomed to pick a color and then people will know it's a boy or a girl and maybe kind of avoid that. I don't know if that's necessarily justifiable, but maybe that's where it's all stemmed from. I'm sure every retailer has their reason, but I do wish that people would take a little bit of a note from the Aussie and European brands."
What are some of your favorite spots to shop for your kids (other than Wyld Blue, of course)?
"When I'm traveling, I explore kids' clothes a lot more. When I'm in Australia, there's an amazing store called Ashley and Dana and there’s Mama Papa—those are my two favorites. And I love Lenni Rae kids. Those are the three I always go back to."
