After catching up with another fashionable person, Melissa McElhatton Davis, the founder of Ruby Press PR agency, we realized that fashionable people have certain things in common. Fashionable people are never slaves to fashion. They never buy what’s trendy and new just because everyone is wearing it. They see fashion as a smaller particle of overall Style with a capital S, which is a whole lifestyle, encompassing how you decorate your home, entertain guests, wrap a present and everything in between. Above all, truly fashionable people are completely comfortable with who they are.

As a truly stylish person, Melissa is all of the above. Having started her career in the fashion industry in 1992 with Harper’s Bazaar, she later took on the role of Senior Fashion Market Editor for Mademoiselle and in May of 2000 moved to San Francisco. In 2001, she founded her own PR agency Ruby Press and has never looked back since. Check out her site – http://www.rubypr.com

“At what age did you become fashion conscious?”

“In the 4^th grade I realized I had a say in what I wore and didn’t have to always wear what my mom picked out. Up until that point, I was all about dresses then all of a sudden I decided to wear nothing but designer jeans and baseball shirts with my name in rainbow letters.”

“Was your mom upset?”

“I think I inherited my sense of style from my mom. She’s a great fashion icon and loves fashion and magazines as much as I do so she always supported my choices. When I decided to dress all in black my mom told me I looked great in black. I remember getting this great pair of studded boots in high school and when my mom saw them she said ‘those are great boots’ and I thought – how cool is my mom! I remember one day the principal sent me home for wearing a shirt that showed maybe a quarter inch of belly. When I got home my mom was totally supportive and told me ‘don’t listen to him, you look great in that shirt.’”

“What would you consider a fashion faux pas?”

“The biggest fashion faux pas is not being conscious of what looks good on you and wearing a trend or something that looks good on others, but not on you just because it’s a trend. You have to be able to dress for your body and your age. I loved leggings the first time around, but although I think they look cute on, I’m just not going to go there again. I’ve done it. At the same time I hate when women think they can’t have fun with fashion just because they’re getting older.  I know I’ll love fashion until I’m a very old lady.  It’s just part of who I am.”

“Define Fashion.”

“Fashion is more than just apparel you put on your body. It’s when you make a creative statement through the apparel that you wear. And the difference between fashion and style is more about lifestyle. Great style is all-encompassing. It’s when a person has an amazing home, they know how to entertain guests, they have a chic car, they know how to wrap a present – that’s all part of style, and having great personal style is much more important than fashion.”

“How often do you buy something new?”

“Do I have to publically answer that?” Melissa laughs and we tell her she doesn’t have to answer anything she doesn’t want to. “Right now I get my fix at H & M or Forever 21 or at a nice grocery store. But it’s really not about how often, if I see something beautiful I will buy it. I never shop just to shop.”

“Do you have a limit of how much you’re willing to spend on a single item?”

“No. If it’s beautiful and I’m not on a budget and it gives me pleasure and it’s worth the money, then I won’t put a limit on it.”

“What are some of your favorite designers?”

“I love Marni, but it’s hard to say because every season it’s different. There are not that many designers that I can say I like all the time. I’m fickle that way. On the runway I always like seeing Marni, Lanvin, Michael Kors, Luisa Beccaria, and Temperly. And I like to wear Antik Batik, Dosa, Vanessa Bruno, APC, JCrew, Kerry Cassill and Matta.”

“Name five wardrobe essentials for women.”

“Dark straight leg jeans that are not too tight, a hot pink cardigan to spice up any outfit, a great floral dress, bold jewelry, and a great fitted blazer.”

“What are some of your favorite stores?”

“Mercy – Vintage in Oakland/Piedmont – http://rubypr.com/blog/2009/06/21/mercy/, Atomic Garden in Oakland, Erica Tanov in Berkeley, Tail of the Yak in Berkeley (for antique jewelry), Trina Turk in Palm Springs, The Way We Wore in Los Angeles, Dish in SF, VerUnica- vintage in SF, Barney’s – NY (Sorry SF!), John Derian – NYC, ABC Carpet and Home – NYC,  and I love finding cheap little goodies at H&M and Forever 21 for a quick fashion fix.”

“What would you buy if you had 10 thousand dollars to spend on clothes?”

“Dresses, dresses and more dresses. Right now I’m pregnant, so it’s a different answer. Normally it would be shoes, but I hear that your feet grow when you become pregnant. For me that would be catastrophic. There are so many great pairs of shoes that I have collected over the years and if I didn’t fit into them I would be really upset. Normally I would spend half of that on shoes, but I would be hard pressed to spend it all at once because I come across the things I like gradually. It’s kind of like the way I decorate my home. I’m always adding pieces or taking things away. My wardrobe is the same way.”

“What would you wear to seduce someone?”

“I would wear a wisp of a dress; something so light that you don’t know it’s on. Comfort is very sexy and so is confidence. I’ve never been the type of person to dress for others. I always dress for me and I always want to be comfortable. I’d wear a light dress that shows glimpses of skin and a great pair of heels.”

“Okay, last question: since this is a food and fashion blog – nice dinner or a new piece?”

“Definitely a new piece! I love going out to dinner, but it’s over that night.”