Just before the frenzy of Fashion’s Night Out, I headed to the Hautelook Lounge, where style mom, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, of Bravo’s Real Housewives NYC, previewed her new “Kelly” Jewelry Line. Many people came out to the preview, including Kelly’s gal-pal and fellow glamazon beauty, Beth Ostrosky-Stern. Accompanied by the nanny, were Kelly’s daughters (Sea, 11 and Teddy, 8 ) who stopped by to see their mommy after school, still in their uniforms and both very tall girls for their age.
As I hovered over the table of freshly laid out appetizers and grabbed some food, Kelly’s daughter Teddy walked up to the table. I instantly had the “mom” reaction and asked her if she wanted something to eat and explained what the various foods were. She politely declined, looked at the food again and walked away. Now, the first thing my kids do when they get home from school is get a snack or a sandwich, and it was basically dinner time, so I knew she was hungry and I knew she’d be back. Sure enough, she came back about 90 seconds later with her sister, snagged some food, and we briefly gushed over how yummy the teriyaki portabella mushrooms were – moms know best ;).
After Kelly’s daughter’s left, after I fed my growling stomach, and after the media heavyweights finished their swarm, I was finally introduced to Kelly. We chatted about hungry kids after school, why I started STYLEMOM™, and why she decided to start a jewelry line. “You don’t have to worry about size or fit to look fabulous in jewelry”, Kelly said. “I wanted to make something that all women could wear and feel good in, regardless of size.” The “Kelly” line, created with jewelry designer Pascal Mouawad, was an interpretation of modern Pocahontas’ styled bling, with an abundance of colorful crystals…but of course, did not feature any “owls”.
Contrary to perception, I found her personable and actually quite the “chatty cathy” in our brief interaction.
I’m sure there will be more critics of Kelly and the RHONY crew, and fodder for the already churning gossip mills with next season’s show currently in production. Things should get especially spicy with the recent news that Kelly will be in the December issue of Playboy Magazine. Reality tv has to get it’s rating from somewhere right? We’ll all be watching, that’s for sure.
