Talk Shop: Sarah Bray // Sarah Bray Bermuda
ABOUT SARAH
For the past decade, Sarah Bray has been a writer and editor in New York City – penning for legendary design magazines such as House Beautiful, ELLE Decor, Veranda, Town & Country, Hamptons, Beach, and more. Sarah and Ariel became friends through the New York design world, and it was a match made in magazine heaven ever since.
When Sarah left NYC to live in Bermuda full time, she grew disenchanted with promoting the over-consumption of luxury goods for a living. “I was conflicted,” she says, “I love beautiful things and art history, decorative and fashion history included, but glamorizing wasteful, non-essential products started to hugely conflict with my ethics and love of our planet.”
With Sarah’s move came some time off to realign her career values and brainstorm how she could make a living around inspirational, but not wasteful, shopping. In an effort to stop adding non-essential waste to our beautiful world, Sarah launched Sarah Bray Bermuda – a collection made from antique, vintage, recycled, and biodegradable materials. Anything requiring additional stitching and assembly is done by local artisans within Sarah’s home state of Texas and new home in Bermuda.
We chatted with the uber chic shopkeeper and got the low down on her favorite entertaining tricks, interior design mottos, and more.
Describe your style in three words or less:
Vintage, feminine, thematic.
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
Internships for some supremely chic at Vogue, The New York Times and PaperCity Magazine; growing up with every fashion decor magazine subscription and devouring every page of them; working for style icons at Neiman Marcus, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Veranda and Town & Country and getting the opportunity to interview and shoot designers and creatives who are true visionaries and amazingly eccentric!
How did you start your company, and what is your favorite thing about what you do:
After working as a writer and editor at magazines for a decade, I moved to Bermuda in the fall for a completely new life! Since moving to Bermuda, I have been running Instagram accounts for some small fashion and furniture brands and got to get really immersed into how to run e-commerce start-ups. I always knew I wanted to start a brand, but was honestly scared!!! I love what Gen Sohr says in her “Daily Reminders” poster: “Dare to begin, especially if it scares you AND don’t wait for perfect because it never arrives.” Sometimes you just have to start and learn along the way!
Do you have a mentor in your career, and if so, how have they helped to shape your trajectory:
OMG so many mentors!!!! I’m in touch with so many of the amazing people I worked with at my first job as a writer and content creator at Neiman Marcus corporate like Sandy Marple, Ken Downing, Chuck Steelman, and Gabrielle de Papp. I know I could always count on them to share career advice and connections. I feel the same about my editors and coworkers at Hearst Magazines like former Veranda editor-in-chiefs Dara Caponigro and Clint Smith. Everyone at Town & Country was supremely talented. My former editors Jay Fielden, Danielle Stein, Norman Vanamee and Will Kahn were incredible to work for and I know I could always reach out to them for any career advice.
What does your home say about you:
My West Village apartment and my new Bermuda home could not be more different and really speak to the environment I was in at the time. Bermuda is like 90% humidity all the time, so I have had to learn a completely new way of decorating (bye bye fancy fabrics and hello Sunbrella everything!). Everything rusts and molds in Bermuda (even inside the house) so you just have to embrace this World of Interiors-y, very weathered and aged look here (which luckily I love!). So I think my new island home says “Okay, clearly this girl is new to living full time on an isolated island!!”
Where do you find inspiration:
I love colorful, antique-filled interiors that are super layered. If I could afford Miles Redd, Jeffrey Bilhuber or Kate Brodsky Rheinstein to decorate my house, I would! I also adore Amanda Lindroth and I need all of her island interiors tricks and tips these days!
Who are your style icons:
I am a major maximalist! For fashion: Lynn Wyatt, Linda Fargo, Carolina Herrera, Diana Vreeland, Lauren Santo Domingo, Rebecca de Ravenel, Grace Kelly.
For business: Ralph Lauren, Whitney Wolfe Herd and Amber Venz Box.
For entertaining style: Rebecca Gardner, Alex Papachristidis, Allison Speer and Danielle Rollins. For art, Peggy Guggenheim, Bunny Mellon, Cindy Rachofsky, and JJ Martin.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
Beautiful tables and fun people! I’m lucky I have a husband who is an amazing cook and cocktail maker, because I care more about the tables than the food.
Do you collect anything:
Too many things! I’m a massive thrifter and love the Goodwill and Housing Works. I always joked in New York, that I was Housing Work’s top customer. I collect vintage caftans, basket bags, Victorian heart lockets and heart jewelry, silver picture frame, 19th century china, wooden bangles, brass candlesticks, pre 1970 coral, kilim rugs, coffee table books, still life paintings of flowers, silver serving dishes, vintage upholstery fabric.
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
@eyeofcuriosity, @amandacbrooks, @petercopping, @palmbeachthrifters, @markdsikes.
What design “rule” do you always follow, and which is made to be broken:
I try not to follow any rules, I really try not to copy anyone and I really try to avoid trends in home decor. One rule that goes for fashion and decor is to always buy quality… for me that often means antiques because they really don't make things like they used to and I try to not add additional waste into this world.
Sarah in one of her sun hats and caftans.
What are you working on right now:
More hats, caftans and bags! All made with recycled and biodegradable materials!
Wardrobe staples:
Vintage floral dresses and caftans that I make from vintage fabric that I collect.
Best interior advice you ever received:
Invest in quality and for me that often means thrift shopping for amazing antiques and treasures. Don’t ever shop at Ikea and the likes!!
Best career advice you ever received:
Be nice! Be grateful! Help others. When you’re young, work around the clock, work for free for lots of people and businesses you admire, and don’t complain!
Types of home purchases you invest in, and save on:
Invest in sofas and bed linens. Buy everything like tables, desks, chairs, headboards etc antique and vintage for mother earth.
Your greatest extravagance:
Beautiful dresses and fancy shoes!
Favorite places to shop for home:
Goodwill, Facebook Marketplace, Housing Works, Habitat for Humanity Restore, Estate Sales, Local Charity Shops
Most prized possession and why:
That’s a tough one! I love all of my belongings but I’m not too sentimental about them. Probably some of the antique china I inherited from my grandmother.
Your interiors motto:
Be you! Have fun! A home is an expression of those who live there… tell that story.
Your life motto:
Elsie de Wolfe: "Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you."
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food: Chips and Salsa
Drink: Margarita
Film: Anderson Cooper’s doc on his mom Gloria Vanderbilt: “Nothing Left Unsaid”
Hotel: Hotel Santa Catarina, Le Bristol, Il San Pietro, Hotel du Cap
City: Venice, Italy…Round Top, Texas
Bedding: Leontine Linens, Biscuit Home, Matouk, Charmajesty
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it): Iced Coffee! My favorite is Toby’s in the West Village
Playlist: I let my husband choose the music, he has great musical taste! On my own, I listen to NPR
Weekend Activity: Boating around Bermuda
Design Book: Lately, I’m so into Bunny Williams book “A House by the Sea” but so pumped about all the new design books coming out this fall!
