DOUBLE
TAKE
Two stylish best friends put their spin on Polo icons and new warm-weather essentials
“We met at a party, I think. Maybe it was at a bar? Ohh, I think it was at The Beatrice Inn,” says Anna Gray, a vintage curator and cofounder of the company Object Limited, about meeting her best friend, Miranda Levitt.
“That’s not how we met—or at least how I remember it,” Levitt counters. “In my mind, I met Anna outside of The New School dorm rooms near Union Square. She was getting her picture taken and I went over to say, ‘What’s up?’”
We may never know who’s correct, but one thing’s certain: the New Yorkers have a friendship that spans almost 10 years, and each has a style that’s distinctly her own. (Although, we should add, the duo’s style got a bit more similar lately as they both went through breakups and simultaneously chopped off their long, tousled, locks.)
Here, each puts her own spin on women’s Polo, with Gray styling a few looks from Pre-Fall, and Levitt putting her stamp on our most iconic pieces. Each was kind enough to answer a few questions along the way.
Anna Gray
Tell me a little bit about what you do for work.
“I’m the cofounder and creative director of Object Limited, which is about all things vintage—furniture and clothes. We have an app and we put on experiential pop-up events. I’ve always been a vintage lover—originally out of budgetary constraints. I drove across the country with a friend of mine and there was such great vintage stuff out there, most of which was inaccessible unless you lived nearby. I wanted to bring these pieces to a bigger audience.”
Are there any pieces that you’ve reluctantly parted ways with?
“There are too many to count. It’s a bittersweet feeling, though. I’m sad because I want to keep it for myself, but happy that someone else is going to get enjoyment out of it. It’s a cycle.”
Where and how do you source the pieces on Object Limited?
“I travel a ton and go to really unexpected places. I like to dig through piles and go to places where you buy by the pound. I love getting people together who like vintage, and getting them in the same place for a different type of experience. There’s something cool about having a piece that’s pre-owned. Curation is the way of the future, especially when we have access to absolutely everything.”
What do you gravitate toward in your personal wardrobe?
“I don’t discriminate. Sometimes I’m girly and sometimes I like to dress like a boy. To be honest, it’s all about the weather. The temperature and the elements dictate what I put on. I love florals and colors. I don’t personally love the way I look in yellow, but my mother says I look good in bold colors.”
If I were to look inside your closet, what would I see?
“I’ve been living out of two suitcases for the past few months, so it’s not really a closet. If you were to open those up, you’d find lots of jeans, a few blouses, and one or two jackets.”
Do you have a favorite piece from today?
“I love what we did with the floral mixed printed look. It fit perfectly, made me feel comfortable, and it’s an outfit I would definitely wear outside this studio.”
Miranda Levitt
You’re a brand consultant. What exactly does that mean?
“It’s quite simple—I look for someone who has a good idea of what they’re doing, design-wise, and I love someone who has ideas, different things they have in their heads that they want to do with their brand. I like to be as involved as I can—defining who they are, working on their design aesthetic, getting them into the right stores, and helping to bring to life whatever crazy or wacky ideas they’ve imagined.”
When it comes to your personal style, what dictates it?
“As I get older, I’ve found myself dressing a little bit sexier. It’s about showing off the parts of my body that I feel good about—my collarbone, my legs, a slightly higher slit on a dress. When it comes to the day to day, my schedule indicates what I have to wear.”
How would you describe your style?
“I’d say it’s vintage mixed with hyper-modern. Taking classic brands that I love and mixing those with something like a Victorian blouse. It’s not high-low. It’s old-new.
What does the word “icon” mean to you?
“Forever. It’s something that lasts forever. When I think of iconic style, I think of Angelica Houston. It’s more about an iconic face—a forever face. As she gets older, she looks better and cooler. Nobody looks like her—except my mom. That nose and those high cheekbones—absolutely iconic.”
What about iconic fashion?
“The cable knit is timeless to me. Growing up, I always had one in cashmere and one in cotton, and I would wear them nonstop. I also love the blazer. It’s slightly masculine and it’s not super tailored. I love throwing it over my shoulders and just doing my thing.”
When you think of Ralph Lauren, what comes to mind?
“It makes me think of simplicity and the idea of dressing in a seasonless way. The clothes are meant to be thrown on and adaptable to wear in any and every situation.”
- Photographs by Jack O’Connor
