My Grandmother, The Style Icon

Notice the chic leather trim. Leather-trim field bag, $165, Filson.com Text to Buy: FILSON at 58259 Even while she was standing in the middle of a meteor crater in the Painted Desert, my grandmother, Martha Whitley (I was actually named after her), knew how to put an outfit together. The photo was taken during a cross-country trip she took with my great-grandmother in 1943, and I just love the Old Hollywood glamour of it all: the coiffed hair, the perfectly done lips and the way she made a pair of trousers look as elegant as Katharine Hepburn did. She lived in the small town of Rocky Mount, North Caroline, and her life revolved around fashion: She was a buyer for the local department store and constantly flew to New York City for work, so she was always on beat with the latest looks. But beyond trendiness, the biggest lesson she taught me was to dress like every day was a special occasion. And for her, every day was. – Whitley Adkins Hamlin, 34, business owner