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Living a Beautiful Life
In search of those who live with style
By Holly Gregor
Not long ago Joy Yodofsky was walking down
Pare Avenue in New York City when a black Cadillac
Escalade pulled up beside her. The passenger in the back
seat rolled down her window and said, “You look stunning.” It
was Oprah Winfrey. “It gave me such a lift,” says Joy,
remembering it was her birthday and she was feeling one
year older. What was she wearing? Chanel knit cashmere
suit, black high heel Chanel shoes, with a Hermes black Kelly
bag, and a black hat. The piece de resistance was a long, burgundy mink knitted scarf
trimmed in mink tails tied around her neck and thrown over one shoulder. (She wore
the same suit for our photo shoot.)
Joy’s father, along with his two brothers, started Yudofsky Furriers 80 years ago. Now
as owner, Joy’s favorite part of the business is to work with the designers creating
beautiful coats. She is a walking advertisement for beautiful things. She loves
beautiful clothes, shoes, hats, handbags, furs, and jewelry. “Anything I can fit on my
body,” Joy says with a laugh. She spends time in New York on buying trips, staying at
her 5th Avenue apartment, and for one month in the winter, Joy goes to Florida to
recharge her batteries after a busy Christmas shopping season.
Joy has been married for 25 years to Claus Behr, has two grown children and two
grandchildren. And let’s not forget her ocherese dogs, Holly and Molly, who go to work
with her everyday. Architecture
Before the store moved from the Oxmoor Center to Holiday Manor after 30 years, Joy
traveled to New York to look at stores on both sides of 5th Avenue. “I studied the
lighting, floor plans, and the racks to see how they hung the clothes.” She hired local
designer, Colleen Crum, to help with the space planning: the factory, the vault, and
showroom. “I kept my father’s nailing table. It is 75 years old and we still use it.”Fashion
For her 60th birthday, Joy bought herself a full-length Russian sable coat.
“I selected the skins myself. I went to the skin dealer at the fur auction in New York and
chose from the bundles of skins with the silver hairs in them. Making a sable coat is an
intricate art. Not everyone can do it. I found someone who had retired but he made it
for me.” You would expect this fur dealer to have more than one: “I have a full-length
mink coat that I have owned for 20 years. It still looks great. I store it in the summer
and have it cleaned three times a year. I wear that one every day in the winter.”
Accessories
Joy loves jewelry because it’s beautiful. “But, it’s more than
that, it has memories.” Especially the engagement ring from her husband. She also
had her mother’s ring made into a slide to wear around her neck. Her ankle sported a
gold and diamond bracelet.
Entertainment
The opera combines theater, dance, and acting. Joy’s favorite opera is Verdi’s La
Traviata. “It’s about living life and having fun and not having any commitments.”
Furniture
Twenty-five years ago she bought a black lacquer Louis XVI writing table with ormolu
trim from Steve Tipton. “I use it every day at my store.” Joy’s apartment in New York
City is filled with her mother’s antiques. “My mother spent her life collecting antique
furniture and porcelain.” Holly Gregor can be reached at
hollygregor@iamtodayswoman.com.As beautiful women we deserve to have beautiful
lives. Lives filled with items of intrinsic beauty and filled with items that are beautiful for
the fond memories they evoke.
Living a beautiful life doesn’t mean having extravagant baubles and bangles (although
there is no harm there). A beautiful life is an attitude. It may entail buying a shiny
white Jeep just because you want to or buying a shiny golden pothos with its heart-
shaped leaves for your office. (Anybody can keep one alive and they thrive on
artificial light.)
Or a beautiful life may mean using your grandmother’s monogrammed, silver hand-
mirror at your dressing table. Or making sure all the dishes are washed, dried, and put
away every evening so you can have your morning coffee in a peaceful, clean space.
A beautiful life means being pampered with a haircut every six weeks instead of
‘whenever.’ Or Sunday afternoon trips to the main library — to get lost in the stacks of
home décor books or mysteries. A beautiful life means clearing off your work space
every night; smoothing your weary body with divine-smelling lotion after a warm
shower; and having personalized stationery for handwritten notes to friends.
One can live a beautiful life surrounded by lovely material things or by creating lovely
life-sustaining rituals. Try this: stop what you are doing at 11 a.m. to settle in with a
cup of hot tea served in a thin china cup accompanied by a crisp gingersnap cookie.
(The British call this ‘elevenses.’)
Maybe your idea of luxury is having heavenly dreams under a plump, feather-filled
comforter for your bed. Buy it. Or, maybe you run to the more practical idea of having
a pair of scissors in every room in the house so you don’t have to go searching every
time you want to clip a coupon or a loose thread. Buy as many as you need.
You don’t have to be To The Manor Born to have a beautiful life. You just have to pay
attention. This year, my dears, it really is all about YOU.
— Lucy Pritchett
In search of those who live with style
By Holly Gregor
Not long ago Joy Yodofsky was walking down
Pare Avenue in New York City when a black Cadillac
Escalade pulled up beside her. The passenger in the back
seat rolled down her window and said, “You look stunning.” It
was Oprah Winfrey. “It gave me such a lift,” says Joy,
remembering it was her birthday and she was feeling one
year older. What was she wearing? Chanel knit cashmere
suit, black high heel Chanel shoes, with a Hermes black Kelly
bag, and a black hat. The piece de resistance was a long, burgundy mink knitted scarf
trimmed in mink tails tied around her neck and thrown over one shoulder. (She wore
the same suit for our photo shoot.)
Joy’s father, along with his two brothers, started Yudofsky Furriers 80 years ago. Now
as owner, Joy’s favorite part of the business is to work with the designers creating
beautiful coats. She is a walking advertisement for beautiful things. She loves
beautiful clothes, shoes, hats, handbags, furs, and jewelry. “Anything I can fit on my
body,” Joy says with a laugh. She spends time in New York on buying trips, staying at
her 5th Avenue apartment, and for one month in the winter, Joy goes to Florida to
recharge her batteries after a busy Christmas shopping season.
Joy has been married for 25 years to Claus Behr, has two grown children and two
grandchildren. And let’s not forget her ocherese dogs, Holly and Molly, who go to work
with her everyday. Architecture
Before the store moved from the Oxmoor Center to Holiday Manor after 30 years, Joy
traveled to New York to look at stores on both sides of 5th Avenue. “I studied the
lighting, floor plans, and the racks to see how they hung the clothes.” She hired local
designer, Colleen Crum, to help with the space planning: the factory, the vault, and
showroom. “I kept my father’s nailing table. It is 75 years old and we still use it.”Fashion
For her 60th birthday, Joy bought herself a full-length Russian sable coat.
“I selected the skins myself. I went to the skin dealer at the fur auction in New York and
chose from the bundles of skins with the silver hairs in them. Making a sable coat is an
intricate art. Not everyone can do it. I found someone who had retired but he made it
for me.” You would expect this fur dealer to have more than one: “I have a full-length
mink coat that I have owned for 20 years. It still looks great. I store it in the summer
and have it cleaned three times a year. I wear that one every day in the winter.”
Accessories
Joy loves jewelry because it’s beautiful. “But, it’s more than
that, it has memories.” Especially the engagement ring from her husband. She also
had her mother’s ring made into a slide to wear around her neck. Her ankle sported a
gold and diamond bracelet.
Entertainment
The opera combines theater, dance, and acting. Joy’s favorite opera is Verdi’s La
Traviata. “It’s about living life and having fun and not having any commitments.”
Furniture
Twenty-five years ago she bought a black lacquer Louis XVI writing table with ormolu
trim from Steve Tipton. “I use it every day at my store.” Joy’s apartment in New York
City is filled with her mother’s antiques. “My mother spent her life collecting antique
furniture and porcelain.” Holly Gregor can be reached at
hollygregor@iamtodayswoman.com.As beautiful women we deserve to have beautiful
lives. Lives filled with items of intrinsic beauty and filled with items that are beautiful for
the fond memories they evoke.
Living a beautiful life doesn’t mean having extravagant baubles and bangles (although
there is no harm there). A beautiful life is an attitude. It may entail buying a shiny
white Jeep just because you want to or buying a shiny golden pothos with its heart-
shaped leaves for your office. (Anybody can keep one alive and they thrive on
artificial light.)
Or a beautiful life may mean using your grandmother’s monogrammed, silver hand-
mirror at your dressing table. Or making sure all the dishes are washed, dried, and put
away every evening so you can have your morning coffee in a peaceful, clean space.
A beautiful life means being pampered with a haircut every six weeks instead of
‘whenever.’ Or Sunday afternoon trips to the main library — to get lost in the stacks of
home décor books or mysteries. A beautiful life means clearing off your work space
every night; smoothing your weary body with divine-smelling lotion after a warm
shower; and having personalized stationery for handwritten notes to friends.
One can live a beautiful life surrounded by lovely material things or by creating lovely
life-sustaining rituals. Try this: stop what you are doing at 11 a.m. to settle in with a
cup of hot tea served in a thin china cup accompanied by a crisp gingersnap cookie.
(The British call this ‘elevenses.’)
Maybe your idea of luxury is having heavenly dreams under a plump, feather-filled
comforter for your bed. Buy it. Or, maybe you run to the more practical idea of having
a pair of scissors in every room in the house so you don’t have to go searching every
time you want to clip a coupon or a loose thread. Buy as many as you need.
You don’t have to be To The Manor Born to have a beautiful life. You just have to pay
attention. This year, my dears, it really is all about YOU.
— Lucy Pritchett