- Zoe Frishberg and her grandmother Ronna Siegal have been styling outfits together since Frishberg was a little girl.
- They share styling videos on TikTok and Instagram, where they frequently go viral.
- Their goal is to show the longevity of vintage clothing and the importance of curating personal style.
Would you let your grandmother pick out your clothes?
Zoe Frishberg and her grandmother Ronna Siegal, whom she refers to as “Nonna,” have been styling outfits together since Frishberg was a little girl. They have gone shopping together for years — both in-store and in Siegal’s closet, where Frishberg marveled at all the high-quality items that her grandmother kept for decades.
One day, Frishberg decided to set up a camera and film their interactions for TikTok, showing how they bounce ideas off each other until coming up with the perfect look. Other videos show Siegal making alterations to her granddaughter’s thrifted pieces and sharing styling tips and tricks she’s picked up over the years.
Frishberg and Siegal spoke exclusively with PEOPLE about their special bond and styling videos, noting that their goal is to show the longevity of vintage clothing and the importance of curating personal style.
“Zoe had a vision of doing this because I’ve always helped her style and alter her clothes. She came to me in June and said, ‘I need you to fix this, but I’m gonna film us.’ That’s how it started,” Siegal shares. “It started so organically and so just casually. I’m shocked every time I see how many people watch, but it’s been fun.”
Siegal shares that her background is in art. She took a course in tailoring and was trained as a jewelry metal worker, designing jewelry for many years. She utilizes that artistic eye whenever she and Frishberg are pulling together an outfit.
“I got my love of fashion from her. I see how her style has influenced me. That’s really something we’ve been doing, which is adding things on, and we both style each other,” Frishberg shares. “Whenever I visit her, one of us gets dressed and asks for the other’s feedback.”
Frishberg says she knows the basics when it comes to sewing, but doesn’t have the same seamstress expertise as her grandmother. However, they both have a knack for “looking at clothes in terms of what they could be.”
“We both share in this ability to look at clothes for how we could change them,” Frishberg says. “That is pretty crucial to our videos. We’ve changed a bunch of clothes together, and I think that she’s instilled that in me.”
“Zoe has a great eye. When she goes vintage shopping, she has an eye for a fabric or a style, or when she buys it, she has an idea of what she wants to do with it, how she wants to redo it, and she brings it to me, tells me her vision,” Siegal adds. “I give her my vision, and we meet in the middle and shape it to how she wants to wear it. I’ve learned from her as well.”
Siegal describes her “personal style” as “somewhat classic” and timeless.
“As I always say to Zoe, if you buy something good and you keep it, it always comes back in some form or another,” says Siegal. “It always comes back. If I want something classic, I buy something good.”
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Frishberg shares that all of the clothes and accessories she gets from Siegal end up being her most complimented pieces, noting that “Nonna’s eye has been guiding” her for years.
“We started doing this when I was little, and we’ve been able to carry it through to when I’m an adult. The trends change around us, but the eye kind of always stays the same,” shares Frishberg.
Siegal says social media has brought the two even closer, noting that she “relishes the idea” that her granddaughter “likes doing it with me.”
“We have a very special relationship. She’s come down to Florida four times this year just to get together and do this. If we didn’t have this, I’m not so sure that the impetus would be so great to make a trip four times in winter,” Siegal shares.
“I think it’s exciting. It’s unusual because of our relationship, and I cherish it,” she continues. “I think it’s amazing. Zoe calls me all the time. It’s every grandma’s dream.”
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