Photo courtesy of New York Family Magazine.

By Heather Chaet

My name is Heather and I have a confession.

I wear mom jeans.

I’m not quite channeling Tina Fey in that “Saturday Night Live” sketch. And my denim isn’t as scary as those Pajama Jeans advertised on TV. Yet, in my jeans, I’m sloppy, dowdy, and frowzy… Yes, rejected Smurf names could describe how I look. I know I have a problem, but I have no clue how to fix it. Paralyzed by so many choices when shopping, I get stuck. Stuck while wearing mom jeans. Not good, people. Not. Good. At. All.

Enter Beckie Klein and Martina Gordon, a.k.a. my Fairy Godmodels. When I met New York Family’s resident style mavens for drinks, it ohsoquickly turned into a jean-tervention. “Jeans are part of your closet’s foundation, just like the
little black dress or the white shirt,” they told me. “Once you have the right foundation, everything else falls into place.”

My days of wearing mom jeans had to stop. With Beckie and Martina as my guides, I now have that elusive perfect pair of jeans (actually three of them). Sure, it took nine stores and five hours, but you can do it too—by following Beckie and Martina’s five laws for finding the best pair of jeans for your bod.

Law #1: Meet Slim, everyone’s BFF.
“The only jean you really need is a slim, fitted jean in the dark wash,” Martina says. Also called skinny or straight, “all of our clients—sizes 0 to 14—rock in this style of jeans. It follows the simple rule that if it fits and is body-hugging, it’s more flattering than when you try to hide your figure,” Beckie adds. Other must-haves: a white pair and a grey pair or a pair in a dark, but more casual wash.

Law #2: It’s going to take time.
“Think of jeans shopping as a mission,” Beckie reminds me. “Go to stores where you can try many different brands at one time,” Martina says. And forget the number on the tag – try on your regular size, as well as a size up and a size down. The process may be frustrating, but it is one worth doing. “You are investing this time to save time later – after you find the perfect jeans, your daily dressing will be so much easier,” Martina adds.

Law #3: Price doesn’t matter.
Beckie and Martina swear by a pair of jeans that costs $40. So, why should I buy one that costs $189? “You don’t need to – if you find the perfect jean for $59, buy a couple of pairs and call it a day,” Beckie says. If you find a pair that screams “I will change your life!” and costs a bit more than you usually spend, Martina says to think about how many times you will wear them. If you live in jeans like I do, the “cost per wear” is pennies, even for a $150 pair.

To read the full article at New York Family Magazine click here.

At What Address Would You Like to Live?
Maybe right on Gramercy Park, with a key to the park so I could stand inside and look at passersby through the fence and say “Mwah ha haaa! You can’t come in here!”

When Did You First Feel Like a New Yorker? What Happened?
I guess when I figured out the subway system—so after about eight years.

What Is Your Favorite Watering Hole for Lunch? For Dinner?
I like Good in the West Village for brunch. (Does this mean I get free lemon ricotta pancakes next time I go in there?)
For dinner, I always love going to Supper in the East Village. Love the vibe in that place, as well as the food.

What Part of the New York Lifestyle Can’t You Live Without?
That it’s open all night and that you know if you wanted to order food at two in the morning, you could.

What Is Your Most Memorable New York Moment?
Walking out of my apartment door and seeing a completely naked homeless man getting ready for his day in the driveway next door. Oh, is this is supposed to be a good memorable moment? Umm—my debut on SNL?

What Is Your Favorite New York Sound?
When the Jets and the Sharks get into a street fight and they sing it out.

What Was Your Worst-Dressed New York Moment?
Recently, I wore a red T-shirt and red hooded sweatshirt into the Duane Reade, and a woman in the aisle immediately asked if I worked there. That was probably a fashion low.

What Is Your Favorite Way to Get Around New York, and Why?
Walking, because you don’t have to deal with traffic jams and subway delays and you can strut down the street and sing “Stayin’ Alive” to yourself in your head as your own soundtrack. “Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk….”

What’s Your Favorite Transportation Moment in the City?
That time I got to that place in a cab without having an anxiety attack.

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
Honestly, I’d want to be a therapist, and I think New York City is probably the therapy capital of the world…

This article originally appeared in the April 2012 edition of Avenue, avenueinsider.com.

“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice in the classic children’s story by Lewis Carroll. The well-known phrase became an adage for 9-year-old Jeryl Brunner when she wandered into Central Park and discovered the sculpture of Alice atop a bronze mushroom reaching for the White Rabbit’s pocketwatch.

“I remember looking at the statue and thinking of all the possibilities and all of the magic in the city,” Brunner, 46, author of My City, My New York: Famous New Yorkers Share Their Favorite Places released in October, said. A seasoned celebrity journalist, she asked over 300 famous New Yorkers to share their favorite New York fix.

I met Brunner in the garden at St. Luke in the Fields in the West Village beneath a crabapple tree. It’s a scene straight out of a Carroll fantasy.

“Can you believe you’re in Manhattan?” she said.

The quaint garden is also from the first sequence of her book, this site being actor and director John Cameron Mitchell’s favored oasis, where he rehearsed for his role in the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The gamut of New Yorkers who share their ”fixes” in the book ranges from Tina Fey to Hugh Jackman to New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz.

Growing up in Hastings-on-Hudson, Brunner wanted to be an actress. She attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and majored in drama and politics.

“I really wanted to be an actress,“ Brunner said.

However, the inconsistent paychecks eventually changed her mind.

“I got scared of starving, I was scared of the struggle,” Brunner said. “I thought, well if I can’t be an actor, why not talk to other actors about their craft?”

After attending law school, which Brunner quickly found wasn’t for her, she found a job as a one of the first staff members at InStyle magazine. After a nine-year stint there, Brunner needed a change of pace.

“I hit a limit. Nine years at a magazine is measured like it’s in dog years,” Brunner laughed.

As a freelancer she wrote for publications such as O, the Oprah magazine and National Geographic Traveler. In 2002, she wrote an article for the latter about what notable New Yorkers would do if they had one hour to spend in the city, which became the seed for her book.

After a decade of tiresome rounds with publishers, Globe Pequot finally accepted her proposal. By March the following year, she had a finished manuscript, but continued to contribute celebrity quotes up until this August.

Brunner’s book captures nostalgic New York and reminds us why we continue to put up with aggravating subway delays, hour-long lines to buy groceries and outrageous rent. Her book offers readers glimpses into the places where celebrities let loose and find calm, like Saturday Night Live’s  Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis’ late-night karaoke sessions at Sing Sing and Matthew Broderick’s favorite bike route up the Hudson River pathway.

When I ask Brunner about her own New York fix, she said she’s on the same page as Broderick. Twice a week, if her busy schedules permits, she takes bike rides along the Hudson River to Fort Tyron, bringing along a basket of health food purchased from Fairway market.

“It feels like Oz up there—it’s so pristine and special.” Brunner said.

Photo: Jeryl Brunner in St. Luke in the Fields. Photo by Andrew Schwartz