It’s a Saturday afternoon on a crisp cool fall day in Georgetown during one of the biggest shopping days of the year. The Taste of Georgetown is slowly winding down in the lower part of Wisconsin and M Street and shops on upper Wisconsin are putting away their wares. Two eight year old girls are standing on the sidewalk beckoning my friend Sasha and I to stop by their cider and baked goods stand for a little snack break after a long day of shopping. After a quick cider and cookie indulgence, we feel revived and ready to make our trek up Wisconsin Avenue to a friend’s house for college football, but not after we make a quick detour into Sassanova, a shoe store with a personality of its own.
We walk in to the store and are welcomed with a bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne and assorted candies. “What a nice treat,” I say to Sasha. The smell of candy, champagne and brand new shoes is so intoxicating that I don’t even know where to begin. I turn to ask the sales lady for help and am hit with a happy feeling. Could it be the champagne or seeing a familiar face? “Hey Sophie,” I exclaim. My friend Sophie Pyle, a fashionista, design guru, and soon-to-be reality star, comes over to help Sasha and I shop.
After a few minutes of looking around, Sophie, Sasha and I switch gears and chat about our lives and events coming up for the fall. It’s so easy to see why so many people love Sophie so much. The sometimes reserved 21 year-old is the definition of “the girl next door.” She feels comfortable watching football with the boys in her favorite striped Aviator Nation sweat suit. Sophie always looks her best, whether she’s hanging out in her house, hanging out at City Tavern Club or out on the town filming upcoming scenes for the “Blond Charity Mafia,” a new reality show about three Washington socialites. Taking into account how “The Hills” has transformed Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag’s lives, Sophie is calm and ready for the attention, both positive and negative.
“I don’t feel any different, and certainly not like a television star, probably because it hasn’t aired yet,” she says. “The loss of privacy is the biggest change I’ve had. I got frustrated at Uncork the Cure and thought I was crying privately in a restroom, but it ended up in the Washington Post! I hope to channel the attention toward positive things, like maybe a fun job or other unique experiences. I have no idea what is in store for me in the next year,” she adds, explaining a rumor published in the Washington Post about her storming off the set of the show.
Sophie knows what she wants and goes after it. She is creative and knows the ins and outs of the Washington social scene. The University of North Carolina student has interned at the National Press Club, worked at a lobbying firm, sold shoes at Sassanova and filmed a reality show on her semester off. With such an impressive resume and a glamorous lifestyle, you might say Sophie is a socialite. Not so fast! She is quick to squash any references to her being a “socialite,” and jokes about how she is the brunette in a sea of blondes on Blonde Charity Mafia. “I am not in ‘the mafia.’ I will attend a philanthropic event, bar night, or political fundraiser here and there, but that is about it,” she said.
Name: Sophie Pyle
Age: 21
Job: Sassanova, Pyle & Associates, Lifetime
Neighborhood: Georgetown
How would you describe your look?
Preppy with an edge
What should every woman have in her wardrobe?
A raincoat
Do you have a fashion mentor?
I love everything Blair Waldorf wears on Gossip Girl
Who are your favorite designers?
I like Gwen Stefani’s LAMB line, Betsey Johnson, Loeffler Randall, Diane Von Furstenberg
What designers or labels do you actually wear the most?
Betsey Johnson, Seven, Joe’s Jeans, Rebecca Taylor, BCBG, H&M, Banana Republic, Zara
First designer item ever bought?
In high school I saved my money to buy my first pair of seven jeans.
Where do you shop?
My favorite stores are H&M, Banana Republic, Betsey Johnson, We One You Two, Anthropologie, and of course Sassanova!
What are you lusting after right now?
I hate staring at this beautiful pair of snake-embossed Loeffler Randall boots all day at work.
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
A hairband. I put my hair up and down probably 20 times a day.
To Latenight or Not to Latenight?
Latenight.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I sell and learn about shoes and accessories at Sassanova, or I scoot around town for the reality show. I also work at my dad’s lobbying firm Pyle & Associates, which is mostly PR, press releases, and after-hours political fundraisers.
What’s your favorite bar?
I like to start off at Rugby, because my friends work AND play there, then end up somewhere with a dance floor like Smith Point, Gin & Tonic or Third Edition.
What is your favorite restaurant?
The City Tavern Club. It is a great place to have a cocktails, go on a date, or throw a 21st birthday party. My mom met my dad’s parents for the first time at CTC when they were in their twenties, and it’s the first place I saw Santa Claus when I was a baby!
What’s in your DVD player right now?
Mean Girls
How much is too much to spend on a pedicure?
$41; I got an amazing $40 pedicure in San Diego that I still dream about.
When is bedtime?
1 or 2 am, I am a night owl.
Brunch: pro or con?
Pro
Favorite thing in your closet?
My favorite piece is a black, knee-length cashmere coat from Brooks Brothers. My parents bought it for me en route to a January Saturday Night Live taping in New York City.
What do you hate most about living in DC?
The brick sidewalks, especially when I’m trying to walk home from bars in heels!
Metro, Cab it or Drive?
Walk.
Style icon who represents your style the most?
I love Anne Hathaway and Blair Waldorf
Vogue, Elle or Bazaar?
Vogue
Ravens or Redskins?
Redskins
If you could be anything what would it be?
Probably something that everyone loves, like a wheel of French cheese
Would you rather be a superhero or a villain?
What powers would you have? I would want to be a superhero with superhuman strength, then it would be much easier to haul a keg into my house when I want to have a party.
What is the one thing you do often when no one is looking?
Play solitaire on my iPhone
