Melanie Fascitelli grew up in many places: Manhattan, Palm Beach, Denver, the Caribbean and even a ranch in Georgia. A lifetime of traveling between several homes led Melanie to understand the need for the right clothes and to develop the know-how for finding them wherever she happened to be. As a hobby, she began to dress her mother, her brothers and whoever else would let her. In fact, her style-conscious father, a fellow shopaholic, was the lone hold-out.
In the Spring of 2002, she founded Clos-ette and is now considered the “closet organizer to the stars…the absolute guru in designing and building custom closets and dressing rooms.” As she herself says, she “founded Clos-ette as a fluke, but it combines all my passions: fashion, interior architecture, working with people and organization. I am truly a style enthusiast but my most important role is as a mom.” As a friend of Boticca and a style inspiration for us, we wanted to get some of her advice as summer approaches.
Where are your favorite warm escapes?
Palm Beach and the Bahamas!
Where haven’t you yet travelled to that’s next on your list?
South-East Asia. I was on my way for a wedding in Bali but my plans were derailed by WORK – I will get there some day. I am fascinated by Asian cultures and I’d love to see what lives in their oceans as I am an avid diver and boater.
How do you choose the places you visit?
I pick places I haven’t been to yet which have natural, cultural and social differences from the places I live in and visit often. I am a natural born explorer!
What are your wardrobe staples for warm weather escapes?
Great tanks, light-weight linen blazer and shorts, great leather sandals, hats, sunglasses and the perfect sundress!
What’s the nicest souvenir you’ve brought back with you from one of your trips?
A piece of expensive art. I am art obsessed, not necessarily by artists who’ve already been discovered but by ones I discover and simply fall in love with.
As the master of organizing closets and wardrobes, we have to ask for your packing tips please!
Sure! Use our trio of travel bags to keep your shoes separate from your silks. Use ziplocs to keep all your products from getting out into your clothing. I also pack one of my Clos-ette Too lavender sweater folding boards in a shirt or sweater to keeps things fresh and divided!
How do you take care of your jewelry and accessories while traveling?
I use my Clos-ette Too travel jewelry case. The interchangeable pages allow me to sort throw my jewelry and they fit into a safe or standard drawer. It also keeps my jewelry contained yet fully visible! Sometimes for overnight trips I just pack an insert page or two so I don’t need to take the entire case with me. That way nothing gets damaged, tangled or lost!
For those of you who like us cannot travel without all your jewelry and never know how to properly pack it we highly recommend Melanie’s travel jewelry case.
