Stellene Volandes is the style editor of Town & Country, a premier lifestyle magazine for the affluent that is focused on shaping a discerning taste in fashion, travel, design, beauty, and art. She was previously the style editor at Departures and the editor-in-chief of Black Ink, the biannual title for American Express Centurion cardholders.

Name: Stellene Volandes 
Expertise: Style editor, Departures magazine
Location: New York City

Interests: Theater, literature, food, jewelry.

Background: I have a graduate degree in English literature and after working in the features department at Vogue I decided I wanted to use my degree to teach high school in New York, which was a fantastic and transformative experience. But after a few years, I came back to publishing and have been at Departures covering fashion, jewelry and interiors ever since.

Why did you curate the Quintessence home scents and what do you love about them?
I think it’s difficult to take something that has become ordinary and mundane and make it extraordinary again. I think Quintessence does that. The first time I saw and experienced their candles at Zeze in New York I knew they were special. And these scented tubes that fit so neatly over your hangers? They are so chicly designed and the scent is strong but not overpowering. 

Favorite meal: Sunday dinner at Avra on 48th Street with my family: marouli salad, feta mussels and some Greek red. 

Recent purchase: A Janis Provisor necklace of pearls and a blue topaz drop. I am a huge fan of Janis's jewelry, particularly her beads (lavender jade, striped agate, chocolate moonstone). She brings the same sense of color and originality to her jewelry as she does to her art. 

Hidden talent: Well, there is a pair of tap shoes in my closet. 

Book/film recommendation: I just finished Just Kids by Patti Smith and loved it.

Restaurant recommendation: Depends on time of day: breakfast of “green eggs and ham” at Huckleberry in Santa Monica, lunch of pistachio kebabs at Hamdi in Istanbul, and for dinner I’d start with the focaccia at Amaranth in New York, then have the burger at Ferdi in Paris. Dessert would be a tough choice between the baba au rhum at Bistro de Paris or the deconstructed Smores at Recette in New York. 

If I had $20, I’d… : Order a glass of Pomerol. 

Transformative travel experience: Going back to Venice and spending time there with Venetians.

Favorite neighborhood: I live on the Upper East Side and love it—I can hear the moans now. It might not be hip or cool but it’s home and there’s a real sense of neighborhood there. Walk into Terramare or Sant Ambreous in the morning and watch how many people greet each other. Plus, there's Central Park winter/spring/summer/fall. 

Dream holiday: A week in the private villa at Perivolas on Santorini. 

If I could solve one problem, it would be: The disaster that is my closet. 

I wish people cared more about: Public education. It receives a lot of lip service but after teaching in a public school and seeing the difference between public and private there is much more to be done. 

Recent big aha!: I just started running in the park and I never thought I’d say this but I finally understand the idea of a "runners high"

The world would be a better place if: Everyone believed in “live and let live.”