I am not usually an art person.
Gallery visits tend to make me self-conscious — I pick at my hem, I question my outfit, I wonder if I’m taking up space. It’s the same feeling I used to have in fitting rooms when nothing flattered me, except now you can’t just change something that is a room-sized bead pit.
So when Cj Hendry’s Pastel at Salon 94 Design came to New York — a roughly one-million-strong pit of pastel beads, small enough in scale for your whole body — I went more out of curiosity than faith. Then I stood in it for twenty minutes, and I understood something about confidence I’ve been trying to teach my clients for years.
What actually happened week after week
The installation opened August 6 and closed August 16, so it was a short one. If you saw it, I hope you remember how it felt. If you missed it, read on — because what I took away I can use for real.
I walked into an entire first floor of pastel. Tiny unicorns, rocking horses, shrimp, skulls, lips, sneakers — the objects you can build out of beads, all of them at once. And the pit itself: roughly 20 by 30 feet, more than two feet deep. I’m telling you, the colour alone hit my shoulders first.
I did what I tell clients to do when they walk into my studio. I didn’t plan. I just started interacting — sinking my hands in, pulling out beads, letting my eyes wander. People around me were doing the same. The artist herself has said her work is always childlike in a playful sense, and here it was true. No one had a script.
What it taught me about style
There’s a moment, early when I started doing image consultancy, where I realised most style advice I’d been given was really about permission, not about products. The bead pit gave me that exact feeling back in a place with very few rules.
I haven’t worn the same silhouette in a while, and the colour palette of this gallery made me instantly rethink my capsule. Here’s what I took away, honestly:
- Colour is the easiest energy shift. I’ve always told my clients that if nothing feels right, start with colour. A pastel pink or a soft blue goes on your shoulders or your belt, and suddenly the whole outfit looks brighter. Paste’s colour story made that lesson visible.
- The ‘wow’ moment is often the one that’s almost too simple. A single bead bracelet is not a big ask. That’s why it works.
- Playfulness is a confidence marker, not a weakness. I tell my clients to walk into a room and be a little strange, and people still wink at me like I don’t mean it. But that pit proved that being a little strange, in the right room, reads as confidence, not as a mistake.
Practical details, if you’re planning a visit
If you want to see Pastel while it’s still up at Salon 94 Design, the address is 3 East 89th Street, Upper East Side. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Beads cost $1 each, or $50 for a canister of 75. There are also Cj Hendry-branded socks on the floor.
If you missed the live run, collectible editions of the 24 hyper-realistic drawings went to sale on Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. ET, at cjhendrystudio.com.
How to wear the pastel moment
You don’t have to paint your bedroom pink to bring this home. Here’s what I’d do if you’re taking this lesson into your own wardrobe:
Step 1 — Pick one shade to anchor you. I’d start with one taupe or butter yellow that lives in your closet already. If you don’t, try a muted rose or a soft grey-green. The point is to avoid neon pastel, which reads young rather than flattering.
Step 2 — Keep the rest of your outfit neutral. Beige, grey, chocolate brown, cream. You’re wearing the colour like you’d wear a perfume — lightly, not as a costume.
Step 3 — Add one more playful item. A single chunky necklace, a pair of pastel socks, a hat with a ribbon. One item is plenty. Three is a costume.
The Confidence Formula: one restrained + two playful + your own energy = not the same outfit twice in a row.
A note from Isabelle
Here’s what I’ll tell my clients after this: style isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about letting yourself have a moment that feels a little strange, a little playful, and a little like you. The room will remember what you did with it. You will remember it too.
If you want more on finding your own colour formula, I’d suggest starting with Cj Hendry’s work for the research behind the piece, or heading to my capsule wardrobe guide when you’re ready to make your own palette work for you.