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Ever Carradine

We’re so lucky that our paths collided with the lovely and effervescent Ever Carradine. She was our seatmate at a dinner party not too long ago and we came away from the encounter thinking that we’d just met the most genuine, warm woman whom we figured had a few Particulars up her colorful sleeves. Ever is a California native, accomplished actress (she’s on the mega hit, Handmaid’s Tale), and all-around genuine person—she makes everyone around her feel at ease which naturally translates into her enviable, eclectic style.

Ever Carradine - The Particulars
Ever Carradine - The Particulars

EVER: The site looks beautiful.
MELISSA: Thanks. We just relaunched it!
MELISSA: So, growing up in Los Angeles, do you feel like LA influenced your style? You’re very earthy, kind of boho, but then you also wear so much bright color, which I’m a huge fan of. Do you think your surroundings inspire what you’d like to wear?
EVER: I do. I mean, I grew up in Laurel Canyon, which I think is its own little identity. I think obviously… my name’s Ever Dawn. I think that had to influence me some how. I also think another thing that is a very California thing for me is a denim jacket, that’s my particular accessory. Do you know what I mean? I really rely on that to dress up or dress down whatever I want. I think that the beauty of growing up in California is that anything goes. It’s all really okay. My husband’s from Boston and it’s not all okay. There are places where you’re not allowed to walk in the door in denim. And when I first heard that, I was like, “Wait, what? Why?”. I didn’t even know. I couldn’t compute. This is 14 years ago but still.
So yeah, I think anything goes, sort of, gives you luxury to just put on whatever you want!

Ever Carradine - The Particulars

MELISSA: Can you tell us what it’s like to be part of 2 shows (Handmaid’s and Runaways) that are such cultural touchstones?
EVER: It’s so interesting, because all you ever want is to get a great job that you’re proud of, and then I somehow ended up on two of these really wonderful shows that are so different and, like you said, really check different boxes. But important boxes.
EVER: You know, I love being a mother. I love being on Runaways just because, when it was pitched to me, their basic pitch is: every child thinks that their parents are evil, what if you found out that yours actually were? And I was like, “That’s such an interesting way in, and it doesn’t matter how old your kids are to really be able to relate with that.”
So I loved that. And then with Handmaid’s, I just think to be on a hit show is such a rare thing. To be on a hit show that people are talking about women’s issues, and autonomy over your body, and all these things that the government is trying to strip away from us right now. Just feels like a pinch myself moment on a level I didn’t totally expect.
EVER: Years ago I was on this series called Commander in Chief, and Geena Davis played the President, and it was the first time I was like, “Oh, this is important, and people do need to see things to be able to understand. People need to see them to dream them.” And now I’m on the show where you need to see them to keep your eyes open, and to wake up”.

Ever Carradine - The Particulars

MELISSA: Your character on Handmaid’s Tale is very austere, minimal to no accessories at all. Does stripping all of that away help you channel your character better? And tell us about your hair!
EVER: Well, my hair is my accessory. First of all, I got there and Anne Crabtree, for the first two seasons was our wardrobe designer. And I said, I didn’t really know what I was getting into. When I had to get there really early, I mean days early, and they’re like, “Well, we’re making you a dress.” I was like, “You’re making me a dress? What am I doing?” Then I get there and Anne has these fabrics from all over the world, and different feeling teals, and she’s holding them, and photographing them. So she fit me and made me this dress and that was the jumping off point for me. Then you understand that these characters are making their own clothes, or their seamstresses are, and it helped you get into it. But my accessories… If you look, Naomi does have a huge rock. A very blingy rock, which I love.
And the necklines…Season 3 we play with necklines a lot. But one dress Anne put me in—there was all these sort of very cool, not darts but kind of, but they didn’t seem like they were really helping with structure. They were just seams.
MELISSA: That’s interesting.
EVER: And I was like,” Anne, what? What’s going on? Why do I have all these seams around my neck?”. She was like that’s you baby, that’s your sunshine, that’s your California. But she just sort of threw that in. It’s amazing.

Ever Carradine - The Particulars
Ever Carradine - The Particulars

MELISSA: Because you shoot in Toronto what are some things that are your staples that get you through the cold?
EVER: Right. I am always in floods. Like my jeans are always short. So I bring in nubby tall socks to wear with my boots. And a few years ago J.Crew made these really cute, they look like a traditional hiking boot…they’re lined in shearling and so I bring those, cause now I’ve learned that you can’t make it through.
EVER: I bought a very nice Canada Goose jacket, so that gets me through that. And then I’ve learned that if I wear the jacket I don’t need anything underneath. I’ve got gloves, and then there’s a hat shop there called Brimz that I love so much. They call them toques but really they’re beanies. I brought one and that’s my favorite.
MELISSA: That’s your thing.
EVER: I go in there every time I go there, I buy a hat every time I go. And I love those guys. 
EVER: But I do it all in a one carry on. I’ve learned, I know I can do it. I don’t need a lot. The jacket rolls well or I’ll wear it. I’ll wear it on the plane and then when I get off I put it back on. Cause I’m also a little bit of a germaphobe. So it’s a little bit of a hard… Yeah, it’s a delicate balance, but I figured it out. Cause the Goose also has an interior backpack so you don’t have to wear it. It has two little straps so you can wear it through the airport. I’m just letting you know how crazy I am…and they have a lifetime guarantee so…

MELISSA: So when you are in LA, what do you find yourself always wearing? What do you never take off jewelry-wise or shoe-wise?
EVER: Well, I have these little earrings. One is a C and one is an S for Chaplin and Sam, my kids. But then my son, my fake son, on Runaways is Chase Stein. So I sort of like that too. And they were a gift from my friend Kathleen Stern.
So they really get all the seasons, but those never come off. This I threw on because I was like, I should probably put an accessory on for my Particulars interview. And then this is just my wedding band and that and that’s it. Now I am a jeans person, I used to always wear dresses and now I think I’m always in jeans. Some variation of a vintage Levi, Jesse Kamm pants, I really like APC. Also, Rachel Comey’s really got my number. I’ve got all the different Rachel Comey’s to get me through what I need to get through. So, it’s really denim or jumpsuits. I’ve been liking jumpsuits a lot, which I almost wore today.  I pee so much so the Rachel Comey jumpsuits work because they have a zipper!  I’ll bring that to Toronto but the only problem is my Comey jumpsuit is the same color as my Canada Goose. I look like I’m in the military, so I have to really accessorize, do a blue scarf or something.

Ever Carradine - The Particulars

MELISSA: Oh, and then you’re a fan of Salt Straps?
EVER: Yes!
MELISSA: What bags do you like to put them on?
EVER: I’ve just been putting it on my Clare V. mini petite Henri. She doesn’t make this bag anymore and she should. It’s just a drawstring it’s so easy because I can get all of my stuff in and out. It also works with the Salt Strap, it hits at the right spot because if the bag is too big, those get too long. I have probably four or five of them now and it’s like the perfect accessory. It’s so great!  For me, fashion and clothes, all of this is like, we can spend our money on anything and I like to support people who I admire, think are interesting or kind. And I think those girls are doing a really good job. They are so, so sweet.

MELISSA: Now that it is  awards season, do you find yourself doing a lot of events and parties and how do you get through that or how do you find yourself dressing for those things? 
EVER: You know, I don’t even know because it’s never the same year after year. I mean Handmaid’s this season aired too late to be eligible. So I did the party that I love, which is the night before the Emmy party  and then I sort of checked out of the rest of them. So that felt really easy. But I don’t know. You know, I’m really lucky that a lot of the stuff will fit. And so that whole process is pretty easy and I’m decisive about what I like and don’t like.
My friend Nola Singer, she’s not styling anymore, but she does help me. And then Alice Temperley has been so generous with me everything is beautiful and happy and a little bit rock and roll. Her clothes make you feel incredible when you zip into them. So again, instead of sort of running around trying to lots of designers, I stick with the people that I love and I know the stuff fits me well and that I feel great in. That’s really the most important part.

Ever Carradine - The Particulars
Ever Carradine - The Particulars

MELISSA: Do you have any sentimental accessories that are like, Oh, when I wear this I think of this. Besides your denim jacket?
EVER: I do. I brought it. I have gold and diamond horseshoe ring that I love. My mother-in-law got it for me. They used to live in Boston and she had a jeweler who did a lot of work with Cartier. Like he had a lot of vintage Cartier but he also had just a lot of incredible vintage stuff. And I remember seeing this ring, you could tell it was like this giant mobster ring. You know, it’s Boston. There’s some shady stuff that goes down. It was no joke like this big…so he took out two centimeters of gold and now it fits me. But when I put that on and I’m a horse person… that’s a fun one. I love to wear that. And it’s, you know, a little luck, the horseshoe is facing the right way. So that’s probably my biggest go-to fun stuff.
EVER: And then I have a lot of Chanel costume jewelry that I’ve collected over the years that I love too. And I remember sometimes I would book a job and buy myself a gift. A lot of the Chanel stuff was just a little marker for that. 
MELISSA: If we were to raid your closet, what is one accessory that like defines you?
EVER: I feel like it’s clutches. That was the one thing I was like, Oh, there’s a lot of clutches in here and not a lot of them get to come to the party, but they’re there just in case I need them. The one I brought today, the Clare V, just the leopard that we all have. That was the little Clare V. that started it all. For me, I said, “oh, I need 50 of these in every color.” But you can always come back to that one. I love it.
EVER: Love the denim jacket.
EVER: Here’s some Chanel. Now, what are these? Oh, these I love. These are little Chanel reindeers. I know. So, my husband and I were in Chanel in Boston and it was Christmas and I saw them and I was like, are those reindeer, what’s happening? And the salesman said, “Coco loved reindeers” and I was shocked, Oh my goodness. Who knew? Well, now we all know, Coco loved reindeers. I only ever pull them out at Christmas because I forget about them. But I love them so much!
EVER: This was my first little Chanel costume ring. My husband got me this, we were dating. I mean, you can see, the enamel’s coming off it, but this is, you know, over 15 years old. He got me this for my birthday one year and then I thought, “Oh, this is what I will collect.” So there’s that. And then this bracelet is so good too. This is just a vintage Chanel fanny. We go to Sun Valley, Idaho and there was a woman there who owned a little consignment store, it’s actually more of a vintage store. I think this is from, remember that Bazaar party and all the girls were on motorcycles and wore big tulle dresses? I think this is when this is from, so it could be 90s.
These are my Chanel biker boots that are the best thing I ever bought in my whole life. I have had them easily over 15 years. I was not on a show when I bought them. I was like, I don’t even care. 15 years later that’s a pretty good purchase! That’s the other beauty of living in Los Angeles is you don’t ruin your shoes.
Finally, my rainbow Gucci sneakers. I texted a picture to my mother-in-law and I said, “Am I crazy?” And she was like, every time you put them on, you’ll be happy.
Oh and finally my LL Bean!