Name: Betty Halbreich
Job: Uber-personal shopper.
Halbreich has been a staple at Bergdorf Goodman since 1976, when personal shopping was a new concept. Over her nearly four-decade career at the legendary department store, the petite, silver-haired 85-year-old has helped celebrities (Joan Rivers, Mia Farrow and Meryl Streep among them), soap opera stars, fashion-conscious ladies-who-lunch and career women channel their inner glamour queens. She also serves as the go-to gal for top Gotham stylists such as Patricia Field. (Field routinely turned to Halbreich to outfit the cast for “Sex and the City” episodes.)
Now, as Bergdorf’s celebrates its 111th anniversary — which kicked off in September and is continuing throughout 2013 with a slew of celebrations, including the spring release of the documentary “Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s,” in which Halbreich makes a cameo — the dapper doyenne is once again in the spotlight. Unlike the majority of her maturing peers, she’s refreshingly unashamed of her age and shows no signs of slowing down: Aside from her full-time job, she’s currently at work on a memoir, due out in June. “You wouldn’t be interested in me if I wasn’t 85,” she exclaims proudly.
The pro shopper’s impeccable makeup, trim physique and beautiful blue-green eyes create an appealing package, and, of course, her outfit plays perfectly to her strengths. A six-strand Meredith Frederick necklace with orange, teal and brown accents complements her eyes, and her fitted Issey Miyake jacket worn over a black cotton J. Crew shirt highlights her compact build. Her shoes are pretty — burgundy with ribbons — but practical (flats). They’re good for trekking around the store, which is what she does every morning — walking from one side of the giant emporium to the other collecting armfuls of the latest fashions.
Amazingly, Halbreich has been ensconced in the same bright, Central Park-facing corner office on 58th Street and Fifth Avenue since the start of her nearly 40-year run at the luxury retailer. In fact, she likes to point out, her office got two feet bigger when she took over part of a dressing room.
Décor: Halbreich’s office aesthetic is lush and feminine without being frilly. There’s a lot of beige and white, including light-colored grasscloth wallpaper and white “slide off” chairs (which is what Halbreich calls them, presumably since she’s seen a client or two slide right off). The place is self-contained with several giant closets to hide all her fashion selections, two desks, a couch, comfortable chairs and a hidden fridge.
Desk(s): There’s ample room for the two sizable desks that occupy the space. The one Halbreich sits at is more of a white marble slab table than a traditional desk.
She keeps a selection of framed photos there, including one of Isaac Mizrahi and her daughter, a picture of her twin granddaughters and an image of her long-gone schnauzer.
A woven basket of goods houses cards she can’t part with and a postcard with a headline and image from The Onion (“Nation’s grandmothers swept up in textile messaging craze”), among other ephemera.
Detritus: On the wall near the office’s entrance is a collage of photos of clients. “Many have been coming 30 years or more,” she notes. Books — written both by clients and friends — sit by her windowsill, including a Victor Skrebneski photography book and “From Both Sides of the Couch,” by Fern Cohen.
A side table has an odd sculpture — five gold fingers with bright red nails. “Someone sent me one a day for five days from Italy,” she says. The disembodied hand is simultaneously unsettling and attractive.
Routine: In by 8:30 a.m., the personal shopper does her rounds before most of her colleagues show up.
She walks the whole store purposefully, gathering her day’s fashions. “The doctor said I have strong arms,” she notes proudly. “I know every stock person by name and like to get an early start. I don’t like sitting — I’m not a sitter,” she adds. (A point she’s proven by standing for the entire interview.)
She typically wraps her day up around 5:30 p.m. then heads home to cook, a hobby of hers. She dines out “only when I’m invited.”
Food/drink: Halbreich swears off both coffee and tea. She’s generally a healthy eater, listing quinoa, chickpeas, celery root salad, cucumbers and hearty soups as her primary lunch items — though she does confess to indulging in a stress-reducing glass of vodka post-work.
Commute: Halbreich has rented the same Park Avenue apartment for the last 60 years. To get to work she takes a cab, and she just learned how to take the bus home. “I’m home in 12 minutes,” she says.
Work style: Fashions — including a sparkly purple number and a wool jacket — vie for attention in her closet. She ties up each client’s clothes with a ribbon, so things don’t float away and get mixed up. “I’m a super neatnik. Everything has to be in its place,” she says.
And she’s a champion of high-low style.
“I sold a woman a $180 skirt with a $3,000 jacket. I don’t only dress deep pockets and I don’t favor designers.”