For her first clothing venture, model, muse and international style icon Olivia Palermo partnered with the design team behind Nordstrom's Chelsea28 label to create an exclusive capsule collection of chic, versatile pieces her 2.3 million Instagram followers (to name a few) will surely swoon over.

We sat with the globetrotting entrepreneur and sartorial It girl to talk about fashion, guilty pleasures, favorite eateries, her obsession with belts and more.

How did the collection come about?
Talk about your inspiration when you were collaborating on the collection. Behind the scenes at the Olivia Palermo + Chelsea28 photo shoot in NYC How much do trends play into the collection?

Nordstrom approached me in early 2015 and I absolutely love them as a retailer. I thought it was a perfect fit-it's my first collection for apparel, and it gives me a different dimension. I've worked in beauty and accessories, so this is a whole new role I really like.

Do you have a style uniform?

We were really feeling the '70s vibe from the runways-it's still really strong. Usually after two seasons you're onto the next thing, but there's been a consistency of colors, palettes-the idea of reinventing the '70s tone. I think that will continue into fall as well. We're seeing it in pre-fall and resort.

What's the biggest mistake you see with styling?

Other than the '70s inspiration, we have denim elements, which, you know, used to be extremely casual, but I think you can dress up denim in a certain way. That's really important to factor into getting dressed. We also have a great printed "pajama look" as we call it. It's just a nice little bright pop of color; it's light, and you can break it up. I prefer individual pieces more so than maybe a dress. I mean a dress is great if that's the main piece, but I prefer to kind of break things up, play with them and restyle things. It pushes the boundaries.

So, we've read you're a huge belt girl ...

During the day I love a great pair of leather pants and sweaters, and either motorcycle boots or a great shoe and a great statement overcoat. That's sort of my go-to look all year.

Growing up, who influenced your style the most?

Bad proportions. You need to get a great tailor, whether it's going to a local dry cleaner or whatever. It can be the smallest little hemming, but the right proportion goes a long way. A great tailor is always my number one tip!

How has your style changed over the years?

I LOVE a belt! They're great to layer; sometimes if you don't have a tailor and you're on the go, it's a great way to make a quick little tweak. Sometimes you can even double the belt and hide one to hold things in a bit more.

You say that confidence is key for true style-what makes you feel confident?

Both my mother and my aunt loved fashion. My aunt worked at the Doyle auction house for 25 years in couture and vintage jewelry, so I have quite a large collection of that. From a very young age, that's really where I built my understanding of vintage-going to antique roadshows, going to auction houses. But it wasn't until I was older that my eye evolved and I really understood a bit more and have had a true appreciation for vintage fashion.

Speaking of accessories, are you a chunky jewelry person or a delicate jewelry person, or a mix?

I think, like everyone, there are things I wouldn't necessarily wear now, at my age, that I wore when I was 19, 20. It's all about finding proportions, finding your body type. Your body is constantly changing. More than anything, I've always loved color and texture-it's really important to play off different patterns, textures and colors to feel confident.

What about shoes-what are your go-tos? Are you a bootie person?

I think for a woman, the worst thing you can see is someone teeter-tottering down the street in sky-high heels. That's really not an elegant look. You want to feel confident and find your comfort zone on a heel-you can still be slightly uncomfortable but you have to feel totally confident in what you're wearing and own it. I would say, go through your closet, play with different things in front of the mirror, see what you like. I prefer a great statement coat or a great blazer or vest and that's sort of my focus on my look. You have your armor-mine is always wearing a gold bracelet, every day.

So basically it all ties back to what you're comfortable in, which is a very subjective term. How do you define "comfortable" fashion?

I think it depends on the look, the feel, the tone of your outfit. I love great gold-link bangles, and basically all accessories in general-I think that puts my own stamp on the outfit. I can build an entire outfit around accessories. You can do so much with pins or brooches on a dress, on a blazer, on a sweater; and the same thing for cuffs-you can do one cuff on one hand and one on the other, and then throw a blazer on and you have a great black-tie look.

So for you, comfortable is more about confidence vs. feeling comfy.

I love a great flat, because, you know, as women, we're on the go all the time. But again, it's proportions that are really important. If it's a ballet flat for example, I would find one that elongates your foot a little bit, has a bit more toe cleavage, because if you wear it with a skirt, you want to elongate the leg. And the same thing with boots-motorcycle boots are great but everyone's proportions are different so you have to figure out what's flattering on you. But really, I love everything-I love a great heel, I love a great flat. It affects your confidence-you move differently in flats than you do in heels. I always carry a pair of smoking flats and a great pair of heels.

It seems the East Coast and West Coast are very different in terms of workwear.

I think you have to figure it out for yourself. You have to figure out which designers you like, what works for your body. I say the same thing about makeup-everyone is different.

What's the best style advice you've ever been given?

Yes. Comfortable doesn't mean being overly casual, because that is just awful. You don't want to show up for work too casual. You always want to be slightly overdressed because I think mentally it sets the tone for you and keeps you more organized. At least for me it does.

Ok, let's shift gears and do some just-for-fun questions. Favorite place on earth?

I haven't spent enough time living on the West Coast to give a real assessment of it, but between working in New York and London, we love getting dressed up.

If your collection had a soundtrack, what would it be?

If something's good, it's good. It doesn't necessarily matter how much it costs. I can find amazing things at Salvation Army for nothing, but they can look really expensive. I always say it's important to take the time to go through things whether they're vintage or not.

Any guilty pleasures?

Ooooh-that's a good question... I do love Palm Beach. I know it's so random-it's probably the last thing people would say, but it's like a second home. I also love Tokyo-I get lots of inspiration from that city. And I love London as well.

You can call them pomme frites so they sound more fashionable. Favorite restaurant?

"Alive" by Empire of the Sun, maybe? That's a good song for the collection because they're both a little bit lively.

Is that where your husband [model Johannes Huebl] is from?

I don't know if I have any... I do love a great Caesar salad. And french fries.

Your husband is also a model; what's his attitude about fashion?

In New York, it's Sushi Nakazawa. The chef is the protégé of Jiro Ono in Tokyo. And in London I love E&O; it's Asian fusion. And in Hamburg, ONO by Steffen Henssler. I spend a lot of time in Hamburg.

What's his favorite look for you?

He studied there. My company is based out of London and Hamburg.

He's very open about it. He knows what works for him. He has a very good eye; he appreciates and understands textures and colors and patterns and all of that.

He loves me in anything-flats, heels-he loves me in general!

Shop our exclusive Olivia Palermo + Chelsea28 collection.