Celebrating life through fashion with Pat Caverly
"Clothing is kind of like our shell, the outer layer of how we walk out into the world — and I want mine to be healthy and joyful and vibrant and welcoming."
Pat is a loyal customer of Jake and Jones, which is where I first met her. She has always caught my eye with her playful and detail-oriented approach to getting dressed. To me, she exemplifies thoughtful, intuitive styling — when she visits the shop, she takes her time going through each clothing rack to give each piece its due. We recently caught up to chat about her approach to personal style, her passion for Waldorf education, and how fashion is an act of celebrating life.
Read more Picnic features of local style icons below:
First inspiration
I grew up in New England, about 40 miles west of Boston, with three brothers and a sister. I think to the extent my style was influenced by my childhood, it was probably more from my brothers. I was a real tomboy growing up. I loved the casualness and ease of dressing in pants and sweatshirts. Gender-neutral dressing in general is just very cool. I appreciate the courage people have today to just be themselves. To me, that's really important.
But my style was also influenced by my mother — she had a really good eye for clothing. As a kid, I’d often watch her sewing outfits, and she’d always head out the door wearing something really cool. She was very traditional, but she always looked sharp, and always had this kind of crisp, finished look.
Once I got out of school uniforms, I had to figure out who I was in terms of presentation. When I went to college and started working, I began to think more about how I looked. Over time, fashion just became really interesting to me. I love prints and thin but hefty cottons. Natural fibers are really important to me, too. I don't care for polyester, but I'll make an exception for something with a little nylon or a little polyester if it’s beautiful.
I just really love fashion and streetwear. I think that's my biggest influence today: What are the trends and how can I individualize them and not go down the path that everyone else goes down? How can I make them my own?
So I've started mixing things up and I’m having fun with it. Even though sometimes I overthink it and I just have to say, “That's it — just throw something on,” and walk out the door.
The journey to Waldorf
I have a daughter and a son. When they were growing up, I wanted an education for them that was vastly different from my own, which was very dry and informational and kind of uninspiring. I wanted my kids to be inspired with their life and not feel humdrum about their schooling.
Years ago, I was living in Hawaii with my family. I had just had my daughter, and my son was about six years old. We lived there for about five years, and in that time we tried different schools and even homeschooling, but I wasn’t very good at that. I started looking for an education that would work for my kids. Some friends from California came to visit and invited a Waldorf teacher from Holland to give a talk to people in Kona who were feeling the same way I was. I was convinced that Waldorf was what we were looking for, and so from there I took a Waldorf training in Sacramento, started teaching, and never looked back.
Now, I’m Pedagogical Chair at the Waldorf School of Santa Barbara. I mentor the teachers and go into the classrooms and support them and the children.
When I went through the Waldorf training, I felt like I was healing my own education journey.
I didn’t have a bad education — I had good teachers and was a good student — but it just didn’t fire me up like the Waldorf education. When I found Waldorf, I wanted to give it to other people, to pay it forward.
Ideally, a Waldorf teacher takes a class from 1st through 8th grade together. But there are variations on this theme, especially in today’s world. The curriculum is rich in the arts, rigorous in the academics, and the children at the end of it are so poised for the next step in their education. They can talk to anybody, they have confidence, and they aren’t afraid to ask questions or to respectfully question authority. When we teach them, we really have to teach them the truth, but it has to be in such a way that they don't become cynical. Giving children all the bad news of the world at once is typically not a good idea. We try to make education a really beautiful experience for them, but we don’t sugarcoat things either.
There were moments in my career (now 40 years long) when I thought I wanted to do something different and I started assessing what I would do, but I always come back to wanting to be with children, because they are the future and I feel like I have something to contribute.
Getting dressed
I’m an artist in my soul. I wanted to be an interior designer when I was younger, but it never worked out, so my art has been my work in the classroom. To be a really effective teacher, it's a good idea to be artistic in your approach. My personal style is another form of art for me.
With street fashion, if I can brighten somebody’s day for a minute, then that's a win. I was getting out of my car the other day and, I don't remember what I had on, but there were five women walking on the other side of the street, and I heard ‘Excuse me!’ I turned around and one woman said, ‘You look fabulous! You look incredible!’ So in those moments I'm like, okay! I sometimes get that at work, too, especially from my students.
I had an 8th grader a couple years ago say to me, “Ms. Caverly, you look fire!” and I thought, ‘I think he means that as a compliment!’ So, if I can get a little energy from the outfit, then great. And if not, then I'm just enjoying my own artistic sense of life. Because we have to be able to look in the mirror and say, ‘Okay, I'm happy with how you look.’ It helps to dress intentionally.
Getting dressed is pretty spontaneous for me — it’s a lot of mixing and matching. Generally, I try to keep the frame of mind of ‘What would I want to wear today?’ whether I’m going to the farmers market or to school or wherever. Ultimately I want an outfit to be interesting-looking for me. If it is, then I'll feel good.
I typically want to wear something that is cheerful or dramatic or interesting. And I really believe in positivity. I think it’s an important quality to practice and to have, so I want to bring it into everything I do.
Positivity helps me when I'm working with teachers and students and parents, and remembering everyone is trying as hard as they can. That way, I'm not ending up being critical or judgmental, but instead seeing the best in everyone. I always try to do that with what I wear. And spontaneity! It leaves you open so that you can learn or try something new or actually have a conversation with a stranger, and I think that's important.
When shopping for clothes, I try to go for something I really like or something I can't live without. I don’t know if I even have a strategy, really, other than liking color. I have this whole color palette I'm working with [in my closet], it must always be in the back of my mind.
As far as style influences, I do like occasionally seeing what’s going on with the women in Hollywood and in New York. They are bold and not afraid to take risks, and they have the best designers, stylists, and consultants. I get ideas about trends from there and then I create my own approach.
For example, I like monochrome, but to the extent that you can wear all different shades of that color. Like red – I have a carmine top and this beautiful red-violet Lafaurie jacket, then these vermillion and beige check pants I got at the [Jake and Jones] warehouse sale. I put that all together with a scarf and shoes and that’s my version of color blocking. Or I take one color, like the pale green Casey Casey skirt, and I pair it with a brown linen top and then a red bag and red shoes. They’re all solids of different colors that don’t clash, but instead work in harmony together.
Making Santa Barbara a home
I moved to Santa Barbara about 5 years ago. It’s a beautiful little town. I love going for long walks around the neighborhood or digging my bare feet in the sand at the beach. I haven’t been hiking much lately, but I do like that. Generally, I'd rather be around the birds and the dogs and the beetles that live in nature…
I appreciate how much culture and art there is here — film, theater, lectures, all of that. The Arlington and Granada and Campbell Hall all work together to make a beautiful season of programming each year. Oh, and the Summer Solstice parade! I go every year and take a lot of pictures. I love it. People come from all over to come and see it. That whole weekend feels like we are all here, celebrating life together.
As far as shopping, when I moved here I said, ‘I really don’t want to buy new [clothes] unless I find a place I really love.’ I like Renaissance Fine Consignment, and Jessica Consignment...I don’t know how I came across Jake and Jones, but the first time I went in there I thought ‘This is it.’ I like going through all the racks and seeing all the brands and beautiful pieces. I often want to see if there’s something I haven't thought about that's hanging up on the racks. Jake and Jones introduced me to Mijeong Park, Casey Casey, Alex Mill, Ichi Antiquités, and on and on.
Celebrating life through fashion
I dress to be myself. Other than that, I try to be presentable and clean. Dressing supports my overall feeling of wellbeing. It has to do with my own self identification, what pleases me or what makes me happy. It's part of being my best self. We all have that inner self that we have to nurture and preserve.
I am living a really full and rich life with all its ups and downs. And you realize this is all part of life, you’re gonna figure out the best way to manage it. It may be that, at some point, clothing became a solace for me, a place where I can have a refuge and just have a moment in my day, whether I’m shopping or deciding what I’m gonna wear tomorrow.
To me, it’s a form of art and it’s probably going to always be that way for me.
I think how we clothe ourselves…it's kind of like our shell, the outer layer of how we walk out into the world — and I want mine to be healthy and joyful and vibrant and welcoming.
Living well is about being inspired, and that’s what life’s all about! Especially in today’s world when everything is a little bit too crazy. We have to get back to our best selves and go forward, and be undaunted, and be courageous, and love life, and love one another, and celebrate life.
In fact, that’s what my personal style is — it’s me, celebrating life.
As told to Cami Garcia in Sept. 2024.
LOVE! Relate to so much of this - dressing to be myself, that's it! Such great play on pattern and texture, a total canvas of creativity. Very inspiring!