Welcome! I'm Holly Chayes.

This online space has been around in one form or another since 2010, it focuses on making, creativity and living a curious life, plus a lot of clothing.

Some of the projects I've worked on in the past 10+ years include...

Talking About Clothes with Holly Chayes

An interview podcast that's all about clothing (and also, not *really* about clothing at all). Find all the details and listen to conversations about comfort, style, change and shopping here. Or search for Talking About Clothes with Holly Chayes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Who Wears Who?

A personal style coaching and content practice devoted to helping you own and wear your clothes intentionally, instead of being worn by them. Discover your own style guidance, and learn more about the practice of intentional style at WhoWearsWho.com

The Self-Made Wardrobe Project

Predecessor to Who Wears Who, a year-long challenge in 2014/2015 where I only wore clothes I made. That year would have been a lot easier if the clothes had magically made themselves. Learn more about The Self-Made Wardrobe Project and explore the archives here.

The Shawl Geometry Book Series

Enough shawl shapes to keep you knitting for a lifetime. A multi-year exploration of math, shape and space in knitting, where I documented traditional shawl shaping, and iterated on those traditions to create new recipes of shawl shaping. Ultimately this lead to 75+ shapes, and 400+ pages of common and uncommon shawl shaping instructions. This project was inspired by a dozen individual shawl designs, each encapsulating a love of geometric lace design. You can find The Shawl Geometry Series here.

 

Thank you for being here with me. –Holly

 
 
 

The power of having a container (for creative chaos and other things)

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11 Apr 2025
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I have a tiny tray by my desk that I pile dirty dishes on. The tray is small and green with a painted filigree pattern and matching handles from the Halloween section of a big box store one year. The dishes are mostly mugs and tea strainers, a bowl of pistachio shells, an empty toast plate, sometimes a teapot. As the day goes on, I add dishes to the tray. When the tray is full, I bring the dishes to the kitchen. (Though never on the tray, I just realized. Just a few handfuls at a time until the tray is cleared. The tray does not leave its spot by my desk. Possibly for fear of desk debris encroaching.) There are a couple things I love about this dirty dishes set up: But perhaps most of all, I love how simple it is. I talk a lot with clients about...
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Forming Habits: 3 Things I’ve Found Most Impactful

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07 Apr 2025
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Habits call for a form of refinement and editing their process. Obviously there are many people who have written extremely in-depth about habits and productivity and how to establish new habits or change old habits. However I have found 3 things are most impactful when it comes to whether or not I’ll successfully establish a new habit. There are more but this is my personal go-to list. Thing 1: Make the new habit easy This is obvious. If something is difficult, and you make it easier, it is easier to do. We all know that. A convenient water bottle makes drinking water first thing in the morning easier. Journal front and center with a pen next to it makes daily journaling easier. Supportive hiking boots make taking a walk in the woods easier. A default workout outfit makes working out easier. Concrete and achievable subject, time limit and/or word count...
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Don’t ditch the revision process!

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30 Mar 2025
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TL;DR Don’t give up when edits get hard. You might save a friend on a deadline. Once upon a time I did a lot of sewing – professionally and personally. And because I did a fair number of weird projects, there wasn’t always a store bought pattern I could turn to. So I did a lot of pattern drafting too. Unfortunately pattern paper is one of the few things you cannot get late at night in NYC. If you know nothing about sewing, all you need to know for this story is: 1) pattern pieces on paper are the same size as the final piece. For example, if you’re sewing a pair of pants you need pattern pieces the length of a leg. 2) Pattern pieces can get large and cumbersome. You typically buy pattern paper as a wide roll of paper. But you don’t have to use traditional pattern...
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About – Holly Chayes

I’m Holly, a style and wardrobe consultant.
In short, I fix broken wardrobes.

In long(er), I work with you to bring your clothing into alignment with who you are, and who you feel you are meant to be.

More about me...

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