In the midst of Fashion Month, a vacation, a birthday and what’s starting to feel like a blog explosion, I ran out of time to finish posting the series of Life With’s I worked on in LA this summer.

Next up is Molly Stern.

I’m tempted to call Molly “make-up artist to the stars,” but that doesn’t really cover it. Yes, she’s pretty much the only one who touches Reese Witherspoon’s face, but she’s also landed a gig for Cover Girl. She used to have her own clothing line, which sold in Barneys etc, she’s a mother of three and for lack of a less cheesy word, she’s one of the most inspirational women I’ve met - especially in this industry.

She got her start at the Shu Uemura store in her local mall, made fast friends with the girl who replaced her, Jillian Dempsey, moved to New York to find herself, moved back to LA when her mom set her up with the guy behind the counter at her favorite deli and only recently came to terms with working in beauty.

Click through for our meandering talk.

We’ve interviewed stylists and editors and publicists and designers, but we’ve never entered the world of blogging, or even the internet for a Life With.

So welcome to the world of Who What Wear.

We know you love their site. We love their site. And I made it a priority to sit down with Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power while in LA at the end of July to learn how they left the world of print and moved onto the internet. And more importantly, how they ended up putting together one of the most successful fashion sites among the millions.

Inside, how they blew up, where they’re going and what the launch of their book means
to them.

Meet Blue Logan, if you haven’t already.

A couple of years ago a friend dragged the soft-spoken Brit to a show at London Fashion Week, Aquascutum he thinks, and he started to draw the models as they walked down the runway. Within a few shows he realized the people in the front row were just as, if not more, interesting.

Now his drawings pop up in Vogues, both UK and American, on Style.com and a bunch of other fashion-loving sites. He’s been in New York this summer preparing his sandwich shop, Cheeky’s, sketching the cool kids in the Hamptons or at the Jane and starting a project he might call, “I’m on the List” about the nature of waiting in lines in New York.

He was in Paris before this and counts India as his favorite place, but he’s in love with New York right now and we’re happy to have him. How he works, after the jump.

Denise Williamson’s been a part of New York’s fashion industry for almost twenty years.

She made it through FIT, worked in house at Calvin Klein, fooled around with showroom ideas, networked her way into one of the most successful PR and branding companies in the city and now runs the showroom, Williamson PR and Williamson Consulting.

Our discussion was meant to revolve around her day to day life, but instead it took a few philosophical turns into the state of the fashion industry and what she sees in the future. Of course, we also talk about her clients, including Trovata, Jen Kao, Kimberly Ovitz, Raf by Raf Simons and Madeleine Thompson, her kid and the fun parts of working so hard.

Last week, I spent a few days in LA soaking up the other side of the fashion industry, one that loves the art as much as we do, but revolves almost entirely around celebrities.

So I dove right in, starting with a celebrity stylist: Nicole Chavez. Never heard of her? Well, you probably love her work since she styles Rachel Bilson (who, let’s face it, is best known for her style), Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Bell. I’d spent time with my fair share of editorial stylists, but for a career that has the same name, it couldn’t be more different.

We spent the day pulling clothes for three events for Scarlett - Comic Con, the LA Shorts Film Festival and a Dolce & Gabbana in-store appearance - which means we ran from her loft to a designer’s house to Dolce’s showroom to Prada’s store stopping to pick up shoes on the way and unloading FedEx boxes at home. It was a never ending parade of pulling and editing and choosing and trying on and my peppering Nicole with a million questions.

So how’d she get started? What was it like working on The OC? Does she ever want to do editorial? Find out after the jump!

So now we know how Elizabeth ended up owning a store and designing clothes in Cambodia. Next we talk about how she fits into the local community and even more importantly whether or not we’ll be able to get our hands on Wanderlust goodies more readily here in the States.

Plus, we all know that no matter how blissful life can be far removed from the big city, there’s gotta be some things she misses. I, for one, would struggle for quite a while without my regular unhealthy dose of crappy television and require regular care packages of American candy.

Though the idea of managing a possible Maldives location of Wanderlust does not sound like a very bad thing at all.

Here goes part II of our e-chat with Eliz.

I knew exactly who I wanted to interview for my first Life With column as I soon as I got the job here at Fashionista, my old friend Elizabeth Kiester (pictured here with one of her besties, Loven.) I’ve been very blessed in my 11 (gasp!) year career in this business to be able to work with some amazingly talented and wickedly smart and funny people. Eliz pretty much tops that list. And I was lucky enough to get to work with her twice, at Jane and YM.

But it’s not because she’s my friend that I wanted you all to meet her. She truly has had one of the most interesting careers in fashion—going from magazines to trendspotter for A&F to creating collaborations with Stella at LeSportsac.

As of late last year, she is a full-fledged designer, selling her wares at her incredibly colorful store, Wanderlust, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Yep, Cambodia.

Unfortunately, a trip to Cambodia isn’t exactly in the Fashionista budget, so I talked to Elizabeth via email about how she ended up where she is today and how a life in fashion in Siem Reap is so very different from the one she used to live in New York.

Monday, we’ll chat more about what’s selling out in her store, what she misses most about New York, where Wanderlust is going next, and how to rock 5 inch Marni pumps in a Cambodian village.

One of my oldest fashion friends (and favorite people, period), Elizabeth Kiester, has topped even herself as having quite possibly the coolest job ever.

She designs the clothing for and owns a store, aptly called Wanderlust, in the Siem Riep region of Cambodia.

Stay tuned for a “Life With” Elizabeth in the next couple weeks!

And while I (sadly) did not get to fly to the other side of the world to do the interviews, I can promise there’s a ton of interesting stuff about her path from magazine editor in NYC to creative director of Le Sportsac to designer in Cambodia.

In the meantime, you can check out these new posters she’s designed and become a fan on Facebook, where you can also get a peek at some of her wares.

So once I got over my line of Olsen questioning I finally got down to business.

If there’s a common thread among the people I’ve interviewed, it’s their nostalgia for a time when talent was enough, when you worked hard and made your way up the chain to the ridiculously successful place in which they all sit now instead of these days when everyone wants a piece of the industry and who you know becomes more important than what you know.

In Part II, we talk about how Rolando ended up at Bumble & bumble, Fashion Week work versus editorial work, being on a plane with Charlie’s Angels and his Madonna moment - because really, everyone has one.

Sorry for the minor Life With gap - we’ve been busy!

We’re getting back in the swing of things, so meet Rolando Beauchamp.

He’s a Bumble & bumble super stylist who does both editorial and runway work. And oh yeah, he styles Mary-Kate Olsen’s hair for most major events in New York.

I fell for him backstage at Vivienne Westwood’s AW09 Gold Label show in Paris this past March while we both kind of passed out from the joy of being in a basement with Dame Viv, Pam Anderson and a bunch of models for a few hours. He’s vivacious, friendly and so fun to talk to. So when I wanted a Life With a stylist, he was my first choice.

We sat down to talk hair (obviously), growing up on the Lower East Side in the 60’s, Olsens, divas and his dream gig (are you there Carine?).

You know the drill. Part II tomorrow!

Before and after I quizzed Jenna on her life, trying to grasp just how she does so much in so few hours, we wandered through J.Crew’s massive offices.

Between men’s, women’s, kids, Madewell, the catalog, the website and CEO Mickey Drexler’s daily bike ride through the office - there’s a lot going on.

The design studio has its own separate floor on which there’s a color library and separate sections for every team which means the walls are filled with inspiration in the form of editorials, fabric swatches, vintage clothes and jewels, favorite models, favorite seasons, pictures of kids, of parties, of houses.

Her office, a brightly lit corner full of magazines - including some Vogues from the 70s that I’m pretty sure I saw in the Met earlier in the week - samples, suitcases and furry pillows, is the center of the design action with people coming and going to discuss all things J.Crew.

After the jump, pictures, history and her favorites.

I spent Monday afternoon with Jenna Lyons, the Creative Director of J.Crew and pretty much the most dynamic person I have ever met.

First of all, J.Crew is huge. Their office takes up two floors, each the size of a city block and includes everything from photo studios to mock-up stores to color libraries to faux store windows to design to merchandising to catalog to Crewcuts to Madewell - seriously, overwhelmingly big.

In two hours, we toured the building and met the head designer’s various department teams: denim, kids, shoes, bags, jewelry, graphic tees, etc. I tried to grill Jenna on her day to day life but there’s just too damn much.

I naively assumed that when one lands in a top position at a major company, one signs off on other people’s creative decisions and orchestrates everything from above instead of minutely contributing to every single facet of the business. But no, whether it’s deciding what color to paint the staircase in the East Hampton store, which chairs to put in the renovated Prince Street location, sourcing wooden hands on which to display gloves come fall, casting catalog models, deciding how to sell colored pencils at Crewcuts, how one collaborates with a man who makes shirts out of sugar cane, or recruiting artists to work with, Jenna Lyons is deeply, deeply, deeply involved.

Here, we talk collaborations, models and vintage jewels. Monday we’ll talk personal history, architectural meetings and Mickey Drexler’s bike.

It’s been a lonely month here at Fashionista and we’re so excited to have Abby Gardner on board! I might be shy, but she’s a totally open book - so if you want to know where she’s been and what she’s done up until now, read on for a mini-Life With in which she answers questions I thought you might ask.

Hello!! So I’m the new girl here at Fashionista and I couldn’t be more excited to be here. And to finally lend Britt a hand. She’s been doing an awesome job, basically solo for weeks now. So, we were trying to think of how best to introduce me to you and decided to go with a modified “Life With” column. It’s one of my favorite new things on the site. Feel free to leave questions in the comments section.

Welcome to Part II of Life With Steven Alan (here’s Part I) wherein we discuss:

- How to land a coveted space in the Steven Alan showroom.

- How to land an arguably more coveted space in the Steven Alan store.

- Why girls should dress like boys.

- Whether or not he’ll ever stage a proper show.

- How you can thank his high school for your favorite wrinkled button down.

Steven Alan might be the trickiest Life With subject yet.

He doesn’t just design men’s, women’s and children’s collections; he doesn’t just run a showroom representing over twenty of New York’s hippest designers; and he doesn’t just operate ten of his own stores - he also hangs out with his seven-year-old son.They like to eat things like seaweed with rice and salami and tuna and rank their favorite chefs.

But when he’s working, Alan works hard, scouting the best new designers to fill both his showroom and his store while maintaining one of the most cohesive design visions around.

After the jump, I try to understand just how he wears so many hats, so well.

(And since the Life Withs get longer and longer as I get more curious, check back tomorrow for Part II.)

Mickey Boardman, aka Mr. Mickey, is the Editorial Director, and basically the face of Paper Magazine.

The man’s one of the busiest people I’ve ever met - and yet he positively bubbles over with enthusiasm for his job and the people he works with. The first time I met him, in an elevator at Milk Studios at one of the first fashion events I ever went to, he told me I was funny. In Paris last month, he gave me his ticket to John Galliano and introduced me to Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Needless to say, I love him.

So our Life With session turned into more than just a what-do-you-do-all-day interview. We dove into topics like his love for India, his devotion to various charities and the highlights of his sixteen-year career at Paper - the Olsens are involved, so is DVF.

His goal? To host Mr. Gay Bombay, but for now there are photo shoots to plan, web meetings to conduct and a snack run to the local deli wherein lives a fat cat lovingly christened Candy Cats Price.

Meet Keegan.

He’s a super stylist - you’ve seen his work whether you’re a Teen Vogue kind of girl or a Purple kind of boy because he’s all over the place.

He’s also one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in this crazy mixed up industry and since I’ve wanted to know just what a stylist does all day since the moment I learned styling was a career, I asked if I could follow him around.

We started out listening to Hole at his office/apartment in Chelsea before heading uptown to pull jewelry from Eddie Borgo for a shoot. Then we skipped downtown to KCD’s press preview and were about to go to Dossier’s party at the Tribeca Grand when we realized, wait, that’s tomorrow - because when you’ve got this much going on and your assistant’s on spring break, it’s kind of hard to keep up.

Unfortunately no matter how hard you study, no matter which school you go to, no matter how many sports you play in high school, you’re kind of either a model or you’re not.

And if you’re not, you’ll probably never know what it’s like to be one. Unless of course you pepper a super successful one with a million questions. So just in case you never get the chance to do that, we’ve done it for you.

Welcome to Life With Behati in which we grab lunch, go vintage shopping and hang out at her new apartment - so new Ikea boxes are stacked in the corner and clocks sit on the floor.

She’ll tell you what she does all day, why American Vogue’s so blah and why she spent the last week hanging out with a crocodile wrangler.

My very first internship was in the Beauty Department at Teen Vogue. Accordingly, my very first boss in this industry was Eva Chen, the teen glossy’s Beauty Director.

Eva is super smart, incredible at her job, kindhearted, and one of the reasons why I even have a job in this itty-bitty world we call fashion.

But the best part about Eva is that she is one of the most thorough people on Earth. You ask her a question, you get the Wikipedia-style answer complete with every detail you may or may not want to know. So, I knew she would be perfect for our Life With series.

So meet Eva, because I’m betting you’ve always wondered what a beauty editor does. And lucky for you, Eva leaves nothing out…

We introduce a new segment on Fashionista in which we talk to people in the fashion world about their jobs, and what exactly it is that they do all day. Editors, publicists, agents, photographers, you name it - because don’t you want to know what it means to “scout”? Or “do market work”?

Yeah, we knew you would. So here’s the first installment - we spent an afternoon with Thomas Onorato (former nightlife impresario, far left) and Max Wixom (former theatre man and technical wiz, left) of OW! Public Relations, to find out exactly how they end up doing all the best parties, and representing some of the coolest designers.

So we stopped by their Garment District loft, where we found them discussing hair and prints with designer Michael Angel, and got down to it -

So first, I want to start with the basics, like how did OW! happen? Where did you two even meet?: Well…

—ABOVE PHOTO BY KIRSTEN MAJOR