Colorful in KULE with Stylist Shelley Young and her Daughter Penny

We asked Brooklyn-based wardrobe stylist Shelley Young (and her adorable two-year-old daughter Penny), who styles many of KULE’s photoshoots, to put together some stripe-filled outfits to inspire your summer dressing. Peep below for some fun looks courtesy of Shelley and little Penny 🙂☀️.

Shelley is a master at styling proportions. She pairs sweatpants with a crochet bra, or terry shorts with a striped tee and blazer. She also happens to have an adorable two-year-old daughter, Penny, whose style is enviable. 

Stylist Shelley Young and Penny styling KULE Summer 2022 Sale crochet bra and sweatpants
“So far, Penny lets me dress her and isn’t picky about any of it yet. I try to explain why we pair certain pieces together, why things work or don’t work, and I’ll give her choices to pick from. She likes clothing that she can talk about, so I try to call out all the details in order to win her over. All of this is purely a selfish effort to keep her happy while I continue to dress her in everything cute.” – Shelley

Shelley is wearing KULE Camille crochet top, Leif crochet hat, and sweatpants, and Chanel sandals; Penny is wearing KULE Kid’s Rugby, handmade yellow bloomers, and Salt Water sandals

I always love the way Shelley mixes vintage and contemporary clothing. Her KULE terry shorts look so cool with our spaghetti tank + her bright green vintage blazer and sandals.

“I am a vintage junkie. I get a major thrill when I find something special for dirt cheap. Of course, that is nearly impossible in NYC, so I get my treasure hunting kicks when I travel. I love supporting small businesses, both locally (like KULE!) and online (Etsy and The RealReal are my happy place), and I try to do my part to heal our planet by buying used. Penny also wears a lot of vintage (mostly mine from when I was little, but also from Parachute, a wonderful little shop in Brooklyn) mixed with her favorite NYC brands, like KULE.” – Shelley

Shelley is wearing KULE Spaghetti Tank and Terry Venus Shorts, vintage blazer, and vintage Valentino peep toe flats; Penny is wearing a vintage swimsuit
The Terry Venus - Lemon

The Terry Venus – Lemon

The Terry Venus - Poppy

The Terry Venus – Poppy

The Terry Venus - Blue

The Terry Venus – Blue

The Terry Venus - Pink

The Terry Venus – Pink

The Terry Venus - Cream

The Terry Venus – Cream

Shelley goes for cotton and silks for summer. She says she likes flowy, breezy, and slinky. Muumuus, or tiny tops with loose high-rise shorts, and a crisp oxford or oversized blazer as a layer on everything for daytime. 

“I am totally into the late 90’s early 00’s fashion that has come back around. Always lots of gold jewelry and tiny belts. And perfect sandals/slides and vintage baguettes à la SATC Season 2 + 3. Plus, most important of all, a summertime tan.” – Shelley

Shelley is wearing KULE Terry Venus shorts, red St. John knit blazer, vintage silk tee, and vintage Fendi ballet flats; Penny is wearing KULE Riley tee, Soor Ploom shorts, Parachute Brooklyn straw hat, and Salt Water sandals

With her two jobs – mom and stylist – her “to-go bag” looks very different day-to-day. As a mom, snacks are always in tow. “This child love to eat,” she told me. Also a portable plastic toilet and natural cream or salve (Penny likes to rub it on herself and her dolls). 

“I have to set boundaries for myself and outside of those boundaries I have to let go of control. Which isn’t easy to do. I feel guilty for choosing myself or Penny over work. Before having Penny, working was so easy – the hustle, the dedication, the focus. Now not so much. At the end of the day I want to be proud of the choices I made, and that looks a lot different as a mom.” – Shelley

Shelley is wearing KULE Terry Venus shorts, vintage Gianni Versace cropped tee, By Malene Birger tan blazer, and Chanel slides; Penny is wearing KULE Charley tee, vintage handmade brown pants (made by Shelley’s grandma when she was a toddler), Capezio ballet shoes, and vintage barrette

As a stylist, Shelley always has bras, double-sided tape, all sorts of scissors and snips, a billion safety pins, lint rollers… so many things that she says her main kit bag weighs 70 pounds. 

Shelley loves to cook and says it’s a meditation for her. She enjoys making tamales, her aunt’s red rice and tomatillo salsa, and her mom’s guacamole. She always makes southern black eyed peas and collards and cornbread for New Year’s Day (a tradition she carries with her from growing up in Texas). On days when she has less time to cook, she makes a lot of salads. Penny loves tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, charcuterie plates (chic!), peas, broccoli, fruit, and bread. She also adores smoothies.

On the days that I don’t work, we spend most of our time outdoors or on the go. Usually breakfast at home…and then we are off to Brooklyn Bridge Park or Governor’s Island (NYC’s best kept secret), the Rockaways, or a nearby playground. We will picnic or eat somewhere with an outdoor space. We try to get out of town as much as possible. We are going to do a little roadtrip in California this month to see all our friends (my husband Ross and I lived in San Francisco before moving to NYC).” – Shelley
The Camille

The Camille

The Leif

The Leif

The Moon

The Moon

The Organic Sweatpants

The Organic Sweatpants

The Kid's Rugby - Pink/Poppy

The Kid's Rugby – Pink/Poppy

Because Shelley handles clothes more than most and is a mom, I asked her what detergent she uses to keep her clothes long-lasting. She told me she has always used ECOS detergent and their OXO-Brite stain remover, but was recently introduced to Dreft Stage 2 for Active Babies and Miss Mouth’s stain treater by her friends who live in Upstate NY, and may have to switch over. 

“I believe it is very important to take care of your clothing, so our house is always soaking something (everything) to get Penny’s stains out.” – Shelley

Inspired by Shelley and Penny? Shop their outfits! And don’t forget to make a smoothie in honor of Penny this week 🙂.