Growing up in Cambridge, Mass., a 14-year-old-Harvard-graduate-tutored Lisa Best asked her father if she could be a hippie when she grew up. His response? “No — because when those hippies grow up, their fathers will give them a job, and I can’t give you one.” Adhering to her father’s advice to go to school, learn lots, and create her own job, Best followed a self-carved path to success. Now the founder and designer of Pippi Hepburn, Best has translated her admiration for the “glamorous hippie” lifestyle into a beautifully unique collection of faux suede, faux leather and vegan handbags with a bohemian edge.
Name or Alias, City or Location: Lisa Best, alias Pippi Hepburn from Jersey City, NJ, USA
Identify all items in your bag:
1. Sunglasses bought in Mexico. Complimented a girl in Prada glasses. She felt so honored I noticed them. Went right on the strip and bought these wannabees, for $16.
2. My wallet is always FAT. It’s just receipts, alas.
3. Without my cellphone/agenda, I can hardly move.
4. Why is print getting smaller on food packages and vitamin bottles?
5. If I do not read great, classic writers, I become very sad and uninspired. These writers truly support my life, like air.
6. INC. is the best business magazine and have been reading it before I started a business. It was started by a guy who just wanted to live on his boat, that says a lot.
7. I find a need to measure something often. I always carry a tape measure to get the details.
8. I read other trade periodicals, but I subscribe to and read the Women’s Wear Daily. Up to date fashion related information, including culture stories (writers, scientists, artists). It is all connected.
9. At least 2 pens because people share great information all the time. I may have to sketch something interesting I see too.
10. I lived in Paris for 3 years studying French, doing odd jobs, including sewing for people. I keep this French franc (pre-euro). Also have a Dutch euro (LOVE Amsterdam, or The Dam, as the very cool say, and a British penny. Lucky coins I call them. They also remind me to move back to Europe. We will one day, I promise.
11. Just returned from Cambridge, MA, my childhood home, and found this wonderful café, Mariposa Bakery. Lovely to sit in, filled with interesting and friendly people, delicious, healthy, fresh food. The black card I got from a woman I met in a bathroom line at Pt. Pleasant Beach. We began complaining about why women take so long in a public toilet and ended stating how women are smart, beautiful and can run the world, if we just would stop fighting. She said, you have to contact me. I love people. Women and men can be truly wonderful, if you just keep talking, ha,ha!
12. The postcard I hand to people when they ask, “what do you do?”
13. If you talk a lot, you need breath mints.
14. I am out touching supplies all the time. Hand washing is essential, as is great hand cream. This is Epically Epic Soap Co., solid margarita hand lotion. Vegan and lasts long.
15. Swatches of fabric for present and future projects.
16. Solid perfume makes me feel fresh when I cannot return home until late. 16B? Rubberband, one is always in my bag, somehow?
17. I’m a lipstick girl, but always have lipgloss in my bag. It’s easier to dab on a finger and apply if you are out to dinner.
18. Kleenex is carried, not only for me, but for anyone who needs a tissue. We do become our mothers, even a little.
Why do you have these items in your bag? What do they mean to you?: These items convince me that I am prepared to be away from home all day and do anything I need to do.
Which are your absolute must-haves? What can’t you live without on a daily basis?: Must have glasses, sunglasses, cellphone/agenda and colored lipgloss. My doctor will thank you for teaching me this.
What do you think these contents say about you?: I like being self-sufficient and I expect the unexpected.
