income. I mean, we were just talking about Missoni for
Target and Lanvin for H&M before this interview; these
kinds of collaboration are kind of amazing.
DR. STONE: I love fashion and I love looking at it, although
honestly I can’t put anything together myself.
d r . j oa n n e S to n e
and cricket burns
BURNS: Really?!
DR. STONE: I’m like a fashion victim. I go to my person at
Intermix and she pulls clothes and she tells me, 'This goes
with this, and this goes with this.'
BURNS: So we don’t have to be envious that you are a
natural fashionista and an incredibly accomplished doctor.
You need help in fashion even though you love it?
DR. STONE: Yes, even though I love it, I don’t have the
artistic eye that my mother and sisters inherited.
FASHION
forward
Photographed by alexander thompson
at B e r g d o r f g o o d m a n ; H a i r f o r m s . b u r n s by
D i h r a n M i s t ry fo r J o h n B a r r e t t H a i r S a lo n ;
H a i r f o r D r . s to n e by j o h n B a r r e t t
SCENE’s own Creative Director, Cricket Burns,
interviews the First Lady of Fashion at Mount
Sinai—Dr. Joanne Stone—who just happens
to be a Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and
Reproductive Science all while working at the
Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine.
CRICKET BURNS: So, we heard about you first as being
an incredibly fashionable doctor who delivers babies in
six-inch heels!
DR JOANNE STONE: I’m the Director of Maternal
Fetal Medicine. I take care of women with high-risk
pregnancies. I don’t wear a white coat when I see
patients. Part of that is to instill confidence in my
patients by helping them relate to me. What I do is
mainly with women, and they’ll say “Oh I love those
shoes, where did you get them?” It’s a great icebreaker.
BURNS: Funny you say that. There were two doctors
I was particularly drawn to over the years. One was
a super fashionable surgeon, the other one had
on Chanel head to toe when I met her. I reacted so
positively toward both of
them and trusted them
completely. It’s a cool
combination, especially for a
women’s doctor.
Dr. STONE: Right, and it
D r . J oa n n e S to n e
doesn’t just appeal to Upper
East Side or cool, downtown
patients. I make rounds with patients who are in the
clinic, on Medicaid, and don’t have a lot of money. I walk
into their room and they’re like: “You are so cool!” It’s
not a matter of socio-economics; it’s something that
appeals to everyone.
BURNS: I think fashion does transcend geography and
weekend. I love cooking and am usually inside doing that.
BURNS: So your passions are medicine, fashion and
cooking?
DR. STONE: And writing. My partner and I have written
four books. We wrote Pregnancy for Dummies first. When
it first came out, Friends was still airing and Jennifer
Aniston was pregnant in one episode and held it up, so I got
all these phone calls saying, “Oh my God, your book is on
Friends right now!”
BURNS: You really do it all!
DR. STONE: My father is 95 [years old] and still works full
time. My mother is 91 and works like crazy. I love to be
busy. I can’t imagine sitting around. I am really lucky to love
what I do. My work at Mount Sinai is very rewarding and I
think I have the best field—I just feel blessed all around.
BURNS: Well, I have an eye for fashion but one sight of
blood and I faint. If you had both these qualities it would be
very unfair.
DR. STONE: Exactly, we all have our strengths and
weaknesses. Like decorating, I can’t do a thing with it.
I even have to ask my decorator if it’s okay for
me to buy the little utensil things that go in the
drawers.
BURNS: But you could probably use those utensils
to deliver a baby.
DR. STONE: Oh sure, just give me two spoons!
BURNS: So is it true, do you really deliver in
stilettos?
Dr. STONE: Yes, even with my
scrubs on.
"A doctor’s appearance is important. You
want the doctor to look great and confident
and successful. When you go to the doctor
it’s stressful. You almost want to be distracted from why you’re there and fashion can do
that. Dr. Stone’s interest in fashion is a great
accessory to her profession."
John Barrett, of John Barrett Hair Salon
BURNS: I find that I can wear any
high, high shoe as long as it’s a
platform or stacked heel. Otherwise
the pain just shoots right up through
your ankle and into your soul.
DR. STONE: Exactly! I sometimes
keep an extra pair of shoes at the
office but usually I just suffer.
BURNS: Speaking of fashion, who
are some of your favorite designers?
DR. STONE: Rag and Bone, Helmut
Lang, ALC for tops, JBrand—those
are my dailies. I’ll wear a nice jean
and a top to work. For an event, I
often choose Valentino and lately
Azzedine Alaia.
BURNS: What do you do on
weekends to relax?
DR. STONE: We have a house in
Connecticut. It’s four acres on the
Housatonic but my husband jokes
that I don’t go outside the whole
D r . j oa n n e s to n e
o f m t. si n a i w i t h
john barrett
For more information about Dr. Joanne Stone ,
visit www.mountsinai.org/OBGYN