first off, if you’re not signed up for gilt city yet, you need to join. like now. it’s essentially a localized lifestyle site from gilt groupe, so that you can experience the best that your city has to offer. from restaurants to spas to exclusive events — gilt city’s curators sift through everything to bring you the créme de la créme at insider prices. and today, you will meet one of their curators: dana wichard, sales lead at gilt city LA. as someone who has to have her finger on the pulse of all things fabulous, we were delighted to sit down & talk shop.

annacroswell: we’re accessory obsessed, so have to ask, what’s your favorite piece of jewelry/accessory & why?

dana: my very favorite accessory is my beautiful vintage engagement ring that was passed down to me from my grandmother. i’ve never been a big ring girl until my husband proposed with this piece of jewelry, and surprisingly now my hand feels naked without it. it’s classic, sparkly and every time I look down at it, it reminds me of my grandmother and makes me smile. the runner up in this category, however would have to be the classic vintage oxblood quilted chanel bag I received from her as well…that woman knew how to pick her accessories and now I’m reaping the benefits!

annacroswell: what’s your go-to karaoke song?

dana: “stay” by lisa loeb

annacroswell: who inspires you?

dana: my mom inspires me, not only style-wise, but as a female role model as well. not only does she have fabulous style now, but when i look back at photos from her from the 70s and 80s, I get such great ideas for outfits…her style spans the decades and because she never wore anything too outlandish or trendy, her style translates as well today as it did back then. that was one of the biggest fashion lessons I’ve learned: buy classic, quality pieces as opposed to buying as a result of whatever trend happened to be in style at the moment and you’ll build a timeless, amazing wardrobe.

annacroswell: in a few words what is the coolest thing about gilt city & specifically your job?

dana: the coolest thing about gilt city is that as “curators,” we get to feature our favorite places in our local cities and share them with our member base. we like to think of our site as a guide to the city, and as someone whose friends have always asked about what restaurant to go to, I can now use my obsession with the local LA restaurant scene for the greater good, and hand pick my favorite spots to feature on the site. I also love working with the chefs & GMs of these restaurants to come up with special, creative tasting menus that are available only to our members. It allows our members access to those special, curated experiences that gilt city is known for and I love hearing from our restaurant partners how much they love the customers that come in as a result of their gilt city feature. it is really fun & gratifying connecting the dots between an amazing business and our fabulous members who become some of their best, long-term clientele.

annacroswell: most importantly, what in your opinion makes a girl fierce?

dana: marching to the beat of your own drummer and not worrying about what others think makes a girl fierce. having the confidence to do your own thing and feeling good about it is what makes a woman stand out and look good no matter what they are wearing. I’ve always noticed that it doesn’t matter what label you are rocking or if you spent $50 or $500 on a particular dress or bag…as long as you are confident and know how to style yourself…you are always going to look fiercer than the next gal.

couldn’t have said it better ourselves, dana.

get facebook friendly with gilt city & follow their tweets to find out how you can love your city more.

& with that, we hope you have a great weekend & keep on marching, mamas!

Tags: 70s style, 80s style, accessories, chanel purse, classic style, confidence, curator, dana wichard, dana wichard gilt, experiences, gilt city, gilt city LA, gilt groupe, jewelry, lisa loeb, love your city more, oxblood chanel, quilted chanel, restaurants, ring, sales lead, spas, timeless wardrobe, vintage chanel, vintage engagement ring

This entry was posted on Friday, March 15th, 2013 at 7:00 am and is filed under tgif {this girl is fierce}.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.