Look Great, Feel Great, Do Great Things

© Lauren Doyle / MFb

Abigail Pollak is a woman with many facets. She is a lawyer, a mother, and, as the Florida Finance Chair for Barack Obama in the 2008 election, and now a member of the NFC, is deeply involved in politics. She's also always looks good, and sees fashion, and in particular accessories, as works of art. Pollak puts it like this: "You have to get up every day and go somewhere and see people, so why do it in a disheveled way?"

When we met in her Miami Beach home one rainy afternoon last week, Pollak was anything but disheveled. In her red Julian Chang jumpsuit with bejeweled collar, she looked like a lady ready for lunch at the Mondrian; instead, she was spending the afternoon at home with her three kids, keeping up with her busy schedule on her iPhone, which never left her side.

This Miami Style Award winner was kind enough to sit down with us to talk her fashion favorites, her personal style, and the one piece she can’t live without.

Can you talk about the kinds of things that have influenced your personal style?

For nighttime events, the events influence my style, the people influence my style. I really would not like to wear the same thing that someone else is wearing. So that influences what I buy. If the patterns are too out there or too seen, or too easy to recognize, I shy away from them. When I fall in love with a dress that I know other people might wear, I change something about it so in that sense, I get stuff that is different. Just because I tend to think of myself as doing different things, I tend to buy things that are not really seen. A little bit on the cutting edge. Life's too short. We're only young once, so why not wear the mini shirt when you're forty? When my kids start telling me, 'no mom, not that one,' that influences me too.

Who are some of your favorite designers?

Hands down, Valentino. I Absolutely love him. There is something about him, I don't know why I like him so much. The bows, the lace, the red that he uses, the purses from Valentino just drive me crazy, they're like a work of art. For funky stuff I like Dolce Gabbana, I think it's very playful. And I like Julian Chang for everyday wear. I love him. It's very mellow, very every day. You can glam it up at night; it's very easy to wear.

So you have to go to a lot of formal events. How do you decide what you're going to wear?

To be honest with you, five minutes before. When I decide what I buy, like way before the event, is when I fall in love with the piece. It's in my closet waiting to be worn, and so that's when I decide what I'm going to wear. Five minutes before the event - I'm so lucky that I go into my closet and every piece is beautiful - so whatever I choose is going to be a beautiful thing to wear.

So it’s more your mood?

It's more the mood of the event, and the mood that I am in at that time, and the people who are going to be there. When I go to the Department of State, I don't wear sexy stuff, because it's more formal. I have a Chanel suit that I love that I wore the last time I was there.

Do you have some go-to pieces that you find yourself choosing again and again?

It’s funny that you say that because I do. And I look at the pictures and I go, oh my god, I love that black Chanel suit that my husband got for me the first time we were having Hillary [Clinton] at the house. At that time I had two little children, I didn’t have time to go shopping. He was so wonderful, he knew this was going to happen and he went and got it for me. And that piece I’ve used many times. It’s just so...perfect for everything.

It’s funny that he knew your taste so well.

He is the best! He buys the dresses for me better than I do myself. Every dress that he gets me, I just, I adore it. He has amazing taste.

When you go out and shop here in Miami - I don’t know if you do because it doesn’t sound like you have time...

No, I shop when we go away. I shop in Vegas, when I travel there with my husband. Milan is another favorite place to shop for clothes. I may buy one thing here and there, but when I shop here it’s really mostly Pottery Barn and stuff for the kids. It’s not about me.

I was going to ask you if you have any favorite local boutiques...

Julian Chang is my favorite boutique locally. He is my friend, a fellow Peruvian and more importantly, a creative and sophisticated designer who gets my style. When he delivers something, he delivers accessories along with it, and always asks me what shoes I'll wear. Once, I asked him to make me a dress and discussed the details over the phone. It was for a dinner with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony at my home the following day. By 11 the next morning, he had not only finished, it was at my door. Jennifer saw it and loved it. Julian was a topic of the night!