My ultimate style crush
Eliana Schiffer talks vintage shopping, making her own jewelry, and signaling she's queer through fashion
“A sister is not a friend. Who can explain the urge to take a relationship as primal and complex as a sibling and reduce it to something as replicable, as banal as a friend? […] True sisterhood, the kind where you grew fingernails in the same womb, were pushed screaming through identical birth canals, is not the same as friendship. You don’t choose each other, and there’s no furtive period of getting to know the other. You’re part if each other, right from the start.” - The Blue Sisters, by Coco Mellors
Incidentally, my sister is my best friend, but I get what Mellors is saying here. There is a certainty, a permanence, a ride-or-die quality to the sibling dynamic that is difficult to recreate in friendship. In addition to being my more-than-best friend, my sister Eliana — a nurse-midwife in Portland — is also my no. 1 style crush. Over the years, our aesthetics have converged (which was somewhat inevitable — when we were in college, she was living in a co-op wearing pine cones as jewelry and I was cos-playing as a sorority sister, so they couldn’t have diverged any further). Now, we share similar aesthetics, except hers is more colorful, more risky, more gay — and thus a source of constant inspiration for me (and now you). Let’s get into it.
The Daily Routine
“I wake up usually at 7am, with or without an alarm. These days I make an AeroPress because my espresso maker is broken. While the AeroPress is soaking, I rinse off in the shower and get my hair wet because my curls look bad if I don’t, and then I go to the gym. [Laughs] I know that is ludicrous, but I just feel better that way.”
“My routine is weird right now because I’ve been in graduate school for the past four years. I graduated in June and I don’t start work until December, so the summer and fall have been a fun grace period where I’ve just been able to dive deep into my community.
After the gym, I’ll go to the store or the farmers market, since I usually have a food project I’m working on for dinner, as well as a fermenting project, like kimchi.”
“In the afternoon, I’ll go to the river or meet up with friends for a bike ride. Once a month, I host an event called pasta and poetry, where I make pasta for all my friends and we (duh) read poetry. I’m really into stamp making, so I make all my own invitations.”
On Style
“I’m definitely in my tomboy-femme era. I like most of what I’m wearing to be oversized with one piece that’s more fitted and femme, like a pointy shoe or a statement necklace.
I think it’s difficult for people to know I’m queer just based on my style, because I don’t have a carabiner on my belt, I don’t wear Carhartt, and I’m not overtly masc or femme. But my pinky ring feels like a queer flag for me.”
“This necklace I made myself for my birthday this year. I was in my tinned fish era. It’s inspired by jewelry my great aunt Florence used to make.”
Shopping
“I buy mostly vintage or consignment, which is easy in Portland. My favorites are Deep Lake, Vein of Gold, Cascade Union, and Kissing Booth. When I’m in Santa Barbara, I’ll stop by Favorites and Jake and Jones (not vintage, but great).
My sister and I keep a shared notes doc of wishlist items. If something is on there for long enough, I’ll get it. These red flats from Freda Salvador were a recent wishlist purchase.”
What’s Next
“This winter, in addition to working at a hospital, I’m going to help my ex-girlfriend with harvest (she’s a wine maker) and our family friend Graham at his tasting room, L’apartamento.”
Our Current Wish List
Copy and pasting from our notes app.
Ellie
Onitsuka Tiger Mexico sneakers in yellow
Hey Gang overalls in red
LYN TYFA coat
Nikki Chasin sweater in red
Zoë
Style crush is on and that apartment - dreamy! I love this beginning about divergent styles and then as siblings having similar aesthetics - I love that. I think so much of the masc/femme is at constant play in getting dressed for me as well. Loved this!
Now I have a style crush on Eliana, too!!! Bright, beautiful style with ingenuity shining through every look. And who doesn't love a sister connection? <3