Meet The Muse | Lucy Rosenberg

No-one ever said it was easy being a style icon, but Lucy Rosenberg is giving it a damn good shot. The full-time muse has been living her best life on social media for the last few years, turning her professional styling talents into a delectable mix of food meets fashion inspiration that's truly worth following. 

The ultimate slashie, Lucy is a woman of many talents. From owning her own catering company, developing recipes, consulting with brands and creating mouth-watering content across food and fashion, we caught up with Lucy to find out exactly how she keeps it INTACT and of course, get all the recs for her go-to Autumn recipes.

You're a woman of many talents, a trained shoe designer, have amazing style and you're a chef! Tell us, how do you find yourself where you are today? 

Why thank you! I've always been someone who must be doing multiple creative
things at once and always love getting my hands dirty. I always used to watch my
mum multitask thinking she somehow had 25 hours in a day with how much she did.

Well, I can say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! For the last two years I
was juggling numerous jobs, full time as a footwear designer, owning my own catering company, being a content creator in food and fashion, recipe developer, brand consultant and food stylist.

But this year I quit my job as a footwear designer and I decided to focus just on my food as I realised that’s truly what makes my heart sing and I’m so happy I made the transition, not to mention there’s nothing better than being your own boss!

You live in iconic Bondi Beach - what does a regular day look like for you?

I recently just moved to Bellevue Hill to an apartment on my own, but when I moved to Sydney 2 and a half years ago from Melbourne I lived in North Bondi as I knew I had to move as closest possible to the beach.

Someone once told me a quote, “live a life you don’t need a holiday from” and ever since hearing that I knew I had to curate that life.

I realised what mattered to me, that made me feel grounded, calm and centred and it was things like sunrises by the coast or being amongst nature, so I try to see the beach at least once everyday. But a regular day for me these days involves spending a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and creating content.

The other hours of the day I’m either at a pilates class, at the beach with friends or at some event. I also love to try the newest or must-have restaurants, so at least once a week you’ll find me out and about at one of the hottest restaurants in Sydney.

We love your style, it oozes confidence and has this eclectic sense of individuality, what are some of the rules you live by when it comes to getting dressed?

My number one style rule has always been and will always be, confidence. Fashion is an expression of individualism, so wear whatever you want. Clothes should not be gender specific, nor are there rules. Of course, there are trends but even if someone isn’t “on trend” but they have confidence, trust me, you'll notice them.

You want to feel good and if you don’t feel that way in an outfit, people can read that. That’s then when the clothes wear you and you don’t wear the clothes.

What are some of the go-to pieces you'll be wearing this Autumn and how will you be wearing them?

I've sort of become accustomed to wearing season-less clothes and investing into
pieces that have longevity, so rather than having an Autumn specific item, I buy and wear pieces that will go with many things.

I recently just invested in a pair of Bottega Veneta boots and I'm obsessed with how many ways I can wear them. I’m also obsessing over the black tie. It can be worn in so many ways and just completely transforms an outfit from street cool to chic. I’m also loving bold primary colours.

Your account @foodby_lucy has the most divine (and can confirm tastiest) recipes, where did your love of food come from and what made you decide to pursue this path?

Why thank you, food is my love language. I would go to sleep watching the food channel then wake up feeling excited and creative and spend 8 hours in the kitchen just creating dishes. I wouldn’t even care to eat them as the process of cooking is what I love most. It’s my therapy. It’s my form of meditation. It’s truly what makes me the happiest.

Some people eat to live, I live to eat. Growing up in a Jewish household definitely shaped my food journey. Every event, family gathering, Shabbat on Friday night or birthday revolved around food. If you’re sick, you bring them chicken soup. If there’s a death or birthday, you bring them food. Food is my social currency.

Cooking is my form of meditation, it’s my ‘me’ time. I believe there are two types of people in this world. Ones who order Uber Eats when they're hungover and then there is me, who spends hours in a supermarket and kitchen cooking up a feast. I love it so much that I go into a different state of mind, I am in my own world, not thinking about anything else. I don’t generally read novels or books, but the ones I do are cookbooks.

What I love most is that food brings people together. But when I realised that food was the path I wanted to take, was when I was about 18 years old; I was cooking dinner for a friend, and I watched his face light up after putting that first mouthful in. I realised, then, that if feeding people my food made them this happy, then this is what I want to do. But I always thought my life’s trajectory was to be in fashion, it was my purpose, as that’s what I knew I was so good at. But my LOVE for food never left me. My collection as well as my thesis in my final year at uni, which was showcased at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week was all about the concept of ‘Food and Fashion ". I wrote my thesis on how society has fetishized food and translated this into fashion. Anyway I could incorporate food into my world, I would.

The moment I realised I have what it takes to make this dream of
being in the food world a reality, was only two months ago when I quit my job.

Do you have a favourite recipe? What's your go-to Autumn dinner dish?

My favourite recipe I would say would be my go-to dish, laksa. I have been making it for 14 years now and perfecting it every time. I am obsessed with the depth, balance and complexity it has with every mouthful.

It incorporates my favourite things of one my favourite Jewish dishes I grew up on, chicken soup with noodles, yet with so much more. It’s full-bodied, intense, wholesome and can be so adaptable to what you have in the fridge. I have been playing with the flavour of this for years.

Learning how galangal is different from ginger, utilising the coriander roots and how imperative the basic rules of the 5 senses of taste are in this dish. Sour, salty, sweet, bitter and umami. Making every mouthful satisfying. I only cook with seasonal produce as that is key to a great dish. Autumn is always a great time to make lots of green dishes, with peas, asparagus, snow peas, and broccoli but my favourite produce of all time is the artichoke. So I will be making a lot of recipes with this! And peas. I love peas.

Between juggling your passions and career, how do you like to keep it INTACT?

I want to say keeping organised is key, which it is if you are juggling multiple things at once, but truthfully how I keep it intact is something my mum has always taught me which was, was fake it until you make it.

On the days when my imposter syndrome kicks in, I like to give myself a pep talk and remind myself of all the things I never thought were possible or the things I thought I could never do, yet I did them. Every time proving myself to myself and knowing that I am SO capable of whatever I put my mind to. I think that’s important, to believe in yourself enough to even try because if you don’t try you will never know.

I'm a firm believer that what doesn’t work out wasn’t meant for you and you have to trust the process that something greater is coming your way and that right there keeps me mentally intact.

Finally, what are some words you live by? 

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. I live by this.

Lucy wears the INTACT merino wool Uniform Tee.

Follow: @styledbylucy_ / @food_bylucy