Eric Buterbaugh: The King of Roses on Versace, Elizabeth Taylor, and Being Fucking Fabulous

8 Jul 2026 · 1 h 5 min · 32 chapters

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In short

Eric Buterbaugh, “the King of Roses,” discusses how he built a luxury Los Angeles flower business tied to fashion, celebrity, and personal relationships. He explains his start after leaving Oklahoma for Dallas, then moving to LA and working in Versace retail (a license boutique) and later Valentino as a society/PR-style “address book” florist.

Key claims

he credits creative success to knowing what he’s not good at and hiring operators (his long-term operator Woni, a Capricorn). He describes logistics for fashion-house gifting from Paris: urgent requests (e.g., 40 VIP gifts) handled by a small team, with vendor relationships and a downtown flower-market space to reduce shrinkage.

Notable examples

dressing Elizabeth Taylor for Oscar season (fried chicken at her home), living in Milan with Johnny Versace while launching a store, and creating his signature rose-petal “reflexing” technique—later used as Tom Ford’s signature gift. He also shares his grandfather’s oil-land title monopoly in Oklahoma and later plans to relaunch perfume.

Guests

Eric Buterbaugh (main guest); no other guest is interviewed in the provided transcript.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Meeting Eric Buterbaugh

0:15 to 1:23

Eric discusses his journey in floristry and his early career experiences.

“Eric, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.”

Building a Floristry Business

1:23 to 2:30

Eric shares insights on establishing his business and working with luxury clients.

“I feel just crazy saying that because it ages me so bad, but fuck it.”

Navigating Challenges in Business

2:30 to 4:22

Discussion on the evolving challenges in the floral business and Eric's team dynamics.

“I have four people that have worked for me for over 25 years of my core group.”

Creative vs. Business Mindset

4:22 to 5:50

Eric emphasizes the importance of recognizing personal strengths and weaknesses in business.

“I don't, I'm about to raise money for, I have an olive oil brand that we're turning into a homeowner's brand.”

Family Influence and Background

5:50 to 8:00

Eric reflects on his upbringing in Oklahoma and the influence of his grandfather.

“You grew up in Oklahoma, which I know, I don't think a lot of people in America know the level of taste and wealth that exists in Oklahoma.”

The Impact of a Grandfather's Love

8:00 to 10:12

Eric shares touching memories of his grandfather and their relationship.

“He, you know, he had kid skin gloves, cashmere coat, hats.”

The Impact of a Grandfather's Love

10:28 to 12:04

Eric shares touching memories of his grandfather and their relationship.

“And not only that, it relieves pressure.”

Working for Johnny Versace

12:04 to 14:00

Eric recounts his experiences working in fashion, particularly with Versace.

“A, as she is known, is a world-renowned OB-GYN.”

Early Days at Versace

14:00 to 14:50

Eric shares his initial experiences and rise at the Versace boutique.

“in a row and they each had a different entrance, but they were connected inside and it was Johnny Versace, Maude Frigion, Valentino, whatever.”

Dressing Celebrities

14:50 to 16:00

Eric discusses how he began dressing celebrities and his connection with them.

“And at that time, he was trying to get all the licenses back around the world.”
Show all 32 chapters

Nights with Elizabeth Taylor

16:00 to 16:40

Eric shares memorable nights spent with Elizabeth Taylor, including fun moments.

“And I said, well, I will do that, but as long as you don't pay me, because I do work for somebody else.”

Thank You from Johnny Versace

16:40 to 17:50

Eric recounts the gratitude from Johnny Versace leading to a special trip.

“I mean, Ivan, there were nights, she came to my little apartment in West Hollywood on La Cienega, Savoy Plaza.”

The Supermodel Era

17:50 to 20:50

Discussion on the dominance of Johnny Versace during the supermodel era.

“I'm happy to hear you say this because my husband being Italian, like when he talks about Johnny and like what he did for Italy in fashion, he'll be like, you don't understand.”

Life in London

20:50 to 22:10

Eric reflects on his life and experiences while living in London.

“Though Valentino chased me for a year and I went to work for him for a year after that.”

Culinary Experiences in Italy

22:10 to 23:30

The conversation shifts to Eric's culinary experiences and preferences in Italy.

“Because the food is just, you never get tired of.”

Culinary Experiences in Italy

24:25 to 25:56

The conversation shifts to Eric's culinary experiences and preferences in Italy.

“And BetterHelp's latest research confirms it.”

Culinary Experiences in Italy

26:02 to 27:30

The conversation shifts to Eric's culinary experiences and preferences in Italy.

“better for you, clean plant protein bars that are packed with fiber and brain boosting nutrients with zero added sugar.”

Working with Valentino

27:30 to 29:00

Eric discusses his experiences working for Valentino and his social connections.

“Okay, I want to talk about you working for Valentino, and then I want to know how you got into Flower.”

Becoming a Florist

29:00 to 31:30

Learn how Eric transitioned from fashion to floristry and his early experiences.

“Well, after Valentino, the year at Valentino, I lived in London, but I hadn't stayed at any job long enough to sort of get my green card thing.”

Building the Flower Business

31:30 to 33:50

Understand the growth of Eric's florist business and the challenges he faced.

“Also, as much as I'd worked in a creative world, I'd never done anything like with my hands.”

The Impact of Flower Arrangements

33:50 to 35:00

Eric shares a touching story about his flower arrangements impacting clients emotionally.

“So I sort of started letting go bits of it here and there and allowing people to do their job and teaching people.”

Creating Lasting Client Relationships

35:00 to 36:20

Explore how Eric fosters long-term relationships with his clients.

“So I got a cheap florist, but I copied it for my dad's funeral.”

The Influence of Personal Connections

36:20 to 38:00

Eric discusses the importance of personal connections in his life and career.

“So you unintentionally created something that it's like one of the most impactful things you could do in a business.”

Manifestation and Life Lessons

38:00 to 42:00

Learn about Eric's journey of self-discovery and his views on manifestation.

“And when like really successful people have that where there's just you are this like little gravitational pull.”

The Art of Stationery and Personal Touches

42:00 to 46:31

Explore the importance of handwritten notes and personal gifts in today's digital age.

“And when I lived in London, I had nice stationery, but I also collected naughty postcards.”

The Art of Stationery and Personal Touches

46:34 to 48:56

Explore the importance of handwritten notes and personal gifts in today's digital age.

“And I honestly, the older that I get, the more I realize that what you put on your body matters just as much as what you put in it.”

The Art of Stationery and Personal Touches

49:03 to 49:16

Explore the importance of handwritten notes and personal gifts in today's digital age.

Memorable Experiences with Elizabeth Taylor

49:16 to 56:00

Listen to personal anecdotes about working with Elizabeth Taylor and her charm.

“Talk to me about, by the way, when is the tuberose scent coming back?”

Memorable Weddings and Logistics

56:00 to 58:14

Learn about the challenges and joy of planning celebrity weddings.

“She gave me some silver frames with her stuff from her wedding because I'd help with that.”

Eric's Favorite Wedding and Home Decor

58:14 to 1:00:26

Discover Eric's favorite wedding experience and chic home essentials.

“And most of that was our little posse, that it was intimate.”

Entertaining with Style

1:00:26 to 1:03:01

Explore Eric's approach to hosting and entertaining friends at home.

“I have 36 place settings of Wallace Graham Baroque.”

Reflections on Fame and Fun

1:03:01 to 1:04:25

Hear insights on the challenges of fame and the importance of fun.

“People would come and say, I mean, famous people, I'm not going to give them up, but really famous.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00The following podcast is a Dear Media production.

0:15Eric, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. The most important florist ever. Thank you. An icon in Los Angeles. That's so nice to hear that. I'll tell you how I heard your name for the first time. How? I had like a bad little like minion job at Just One Eye, the original location. You were in there doing flowers. Yes. And I was like, this is the most beautiful thing ever. And Paola looked at me like I was an idiot for not like knowing. There's one game. Well, it's also, I've been doing it a very long time and it happened by accident. and it was a really a blessed accident because it's been a wonderful thing for me and it's been a creative thing.

1:04And I'm so lucky that I have the clients I have. It is just amazing because things like somebody like Paola, I get to, they'll let you go for it, which is, you know, there's nothing better. And it's weird now because what I've had it, it'll almost be 30 years. I feel just crazy saying that because it ages me so bad, but fuck it. I feel like I'm 20, so who cares? You're giving up. Thank you. But in the beginning, I was in the Four Seasons on Doheny for 20 years. Oh, wow. And we had the most amazing arrangement because they wanted a star. And so I didn't have rent. I mean, it was just an amazing situation for somebody just starting out.

1:48But I did everything. I did big events. I did weekly flowers in people's homes, stores, gifts, happy birthday, thank you for dinner, everything. And it takes a lot of people to do that. But it was kind of a different time. And in California, there were different rules with the business. It's gotten so much harder, which you have businesses, so I know you know. It's crazy. I don't know if they want us to be in business. It's weird. They act like they don't. It's weird. And so now I'm really, I'm lucky because, you know, I'm branded as the one for such a long time. So the clients come and stuff.

2:27But now I'm trying to do it with a much smaller team. I have four people that have worked for me for over 25 years of my core group. Wow. Which is crazy. But the biggest part and the best part of my business is doing stuff for the fashion houses in Paris. and they are really loyal to me. And it's like, it's luxury gifting and small events, which is what I love the most. So you'll get the oral call and say, you know, we need to do this. And they'll send - How does that work logistically when you're based here? 40 gifts, you know, it's all for people here. It's VIP smoothing or the perfume brands or little events.

3:11Oh, it's all this. So they'll say, we're sending our VIP something. We play with what's what. They let you do your thing. And then they send 50 of them at$800. And you time it. And four people. No, you have other people that are doing this. Yeah, I have others. Those are just like long term. Yeah, I was like, do you have like a warehouse? No. Like a refrigerated warehouse? How are you doing this? It's weird just how it played out. And I ended up, I rent a space in the flower market downtown. Do you where? I go there a lot. Upstairs, come by and say hi. I'm not there much, but I wish I was there from day one.

3:49That's so smart. You know, before you guess what to buy and sometimes you guess wrong. So there's a lot of, they call it shrinkage stuff you throw away. So now you call the last minute and say, I need to send somebody a thousand peonies. And you're like, okay, we run downstairs, get them done. This is so smart. And I just, the whole time I'm like. And you must have incredible relationships with all those vendors. Yeah. What a seamless, beautiful thing that you're doing. Well, I'm also very lucky. I have some, I'm truly that person that's a creative and less business mindedy. I don't, I'm about to raise money for, I have an olive oil brand that we're turning into a homeowner's brand.

4:35And the first thing I told everybody, I said, I do not want to be a hero. I'm not calling myself the CEO. I'm hiring an operator. They are my boss. I'm just a creative. Do not let me make one business fucking decision. I finally have that person. I have that person. She's called Wani, W-O-N-I-E. I literally love her with all my heart. I've never had somebody running it so beautifully. And it's just all the stuff that one, I'm not good at. Two, I hate. I think the most important thing for anybody in life is just knowing what you're not good at and not trying to be a hero and do it. Why? And the thing is, I don't want to learn how to do that kind of stuff.

5:11I don't like it. I don't care. I don't want to learn either. I don't give a shit. I do like the money. Of course. Of course. You're like, just let it come into my day. She's good at it. I'm Pisces and I'm very Pisces. Oh, I'm a Scorpio. We're a perfect mix. Yes. I have more Scorpio girlfriends than anything. Do you? Yeah. Yeah. Is Demi a Scorpio? Demi is a Scorpio. Maria Shriver is a Scorpio. Half my besties are Scorpio. But for business, I'm supposed to be with a Capricorn. And that's what Wani is. Because they're in the great. If you want somebody like that, find a Capricorn. Shit. I know you're not supposed to ask that.

5:45I'll ask anything. I don't care. It's my fucking life. I know. My fucking business. My fucking life. I'll ask if it's the gluten. I don't care. Okay. You grew up in Oklahoma, which I know, I don't think a lot of people in America know the level of taste and wealth that exists in Oklahoma. And I only know this because my husband used to work for Brunello Cuccinelli. Yes. And he was their secret weapon for all their highest clients in America. And he would go to Oklahoma and sell like millions of dollars of Brunello in like 10 hours. It's a perfect place for that. And then have drinks with everybody and have the best time ever.

6:23Well, I think part of the money thing in Oklahoma, which I can, I'll backtrack a little on, is people think about the part of America that's Texas rich, oil rich, and they think Texas. But Oklahoma had plenty of that oil money too, and it sort of stuck around. Is that what your grandfather did? His business was related to that. He owned land title companies. So if you drilled an oil well or bought land, you had to come to him to get a clear title for either one of them. And he was the only one there. So he kind of had a monopoly on that and in that area. And I was spoiled by him. Well, I want to get into that because I love the way you talk about him.

7:04And I mean, it's fair to say that he really is who harnessed you as an individual, as a creative, right? Right, because you were his only grandson and you were just were top dog for a long time there. It was amazing. One, being in a place like Oklahoma, which it's not completely easy to be gay. Yeah. But to have someone love you that much and have some status in the area was amazing. But it's literally when I was born, I was literally baby Jesus to him. It was like nobody else in our family mattered ever again. Because you were the only, he had daughters, right? Yeah. He had two daughters and they each had a daughter.

7:50So I was the boy. You were the Messiah. Yeah. Which is incredible. Yeah. And he just spoiled the shit out of you. Yeah. Yeah. And were they, like, did they have good taste? My grandfather, oddly. He was like fabulous. He was like a dandy. He dressed every day. He, you know, he had kid skin gloves, cashmere coat, hats. you know he wore suit and tie every day so he was a gentleman like that they didn't have that much taste I was sort of and people like my grandparents they let me completely redo their house when I was 20 years old I mean completely just go for it and I had a ball so they did and the other thing was we would go to Dallas to get clothes and stuff and um I liked clothes I remember there's there's certain things big things it was like there was a time when I was sort of 18 19 I was still in high school and Versace was just barely starting Armani was barely starting Gautier was around and I remember I got a black silk Gautier blouse and you're just wearing this in Oklahoma high school.

9:08But the back had a slit in it so you could see my whole back. And I just was.

9:16I loved it. And I didn't care what anybody thought. So that's. What a gift. It was a gift. Think about how many men did not, were not able to have access to being able to express themselves in that way at that age and that time. Yeah. In that state. Yeah. It was incredible. It was crazy. So I felt very blessed for that. But also it was, my grandparents were very old and they died. My grandmother died before I moved to Milan. And my grandfather, I went to say goodbye to him in Oklahoma. And he had been in, had nurses at home and stuff for quite a while. But the thing was, in his mind, he understood that a company, Johnny Versace, was moving me to Europe.

10:02So in his mind, somehow I was going to be able to take care of myself finally, because I think he had worried if I was going to do that. And he died two days after I left. Oh, God. Isn't that funny how people know?

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12:45so let's get in to you working for a johnny because it's a fabulous story it is so you started working at which location my when i ran away from oklahoma the first step for any gay is dallas and so i can love dallas i know i love dallas i love i love so fucking fabulous houston is too. It's amazing. She's from Houston. I love Houston. We were just talking about this. And they're very, very different. Very different. I feel like Houston's more international, like Len Wyatt kind of thing. And Dallas is a little more like country club, you know, girls, they all have known each other all their lives.

13:24It's a little, it's less, but I'd love it. So I moved there. I cut myself off my grandfather's money because I felt like I was taking advantage of him and I had been. Oh, wow. So I cut myself off and said I didn't want to work at his companies and I wanted to try on my own. So I moved to Dallas and I still needed the clothes. Of course, you work in retail. Yeah. So I went to work at a place called Tori Still Boutique, which was in Highland Park Village. And Tori Still was this amazing woman who was married to a tech billionaire called Sam Wiley. And she had these sort of seven stores in a row and they each had a different entrance, but they were connected inside and it was Johnny Versace, Maude Frigion, Valentino, whatever.

14:09But she had the same thing on Rodeo Drive. Oh, cool. Where Pretty Woman was shot. Oh, yes. Those were her stores inside. Oh, wow. So I go there and that's when Versace was starting to explode. And I loved it. I loved it. And I immediately became their top salesperson and I bought the men's collections and blah, blah, blah. And then the oil crashed and Tori was closing the store there. And I'm the only one. She moved to LA. Oh, wow. But, and I loved that and I loved her. But she didn't own Versace here. So I worked for her for a while and I just couldn't resist it. And I ended up moving across the street to work for the Versace Boutique, which he did not own.

14:54That was a license deal? Yes. And at that time, he was trying to get all the licenses back around the world. and he had gotten London back. I wonder who told him that early in his business to license. I don't know. Bad advice. I don't know. At least he got him back. Yeah. And he never got to LA. Well, he did eventually, but not then. And they would not give it back. So he didn't really love the people I worked for because they were contrary. Yeah, of course. So I, when I got to LA with that, people now think I know so many famous people or important people because of the flowers. But I met them back then.

15:30So what I did at that store was I dressed all the celebrities. I bought the men's collection. It was crazy stuff. So I was at a party and met Johnny out of the blue. He's like, oh my God, you're the famous Eric. I've never been in Milan when you were there buying. And he's amazing. And so was Donatella. And he said, you know, the people you work for are driving me crazy. for Oscar season, if I send the clothes to you, can you just dress people at home? Because he knew I knew everybody. Of course. And I said, well, I will do that, but as long as you don't pay me, because I do work for somebody else.

16:13And so, you know, so I did it for one Oscar season. So I'd get 10 boxes of clothes for Elizabeth Taylor. I'd take them to the house. Oh my God, you met Elizabeth Taylor. We were besties. And, you know, I'd spend the night sometime. We knew it was all crazy stuff. Can we just really quick, what's a night like at Elizabeth Taylor's house? Are you like trying on diamonds and drinking? Yeah. Fried chicken, sitting on the floor eating fried chicken. No. Yeah. I mean, Ivan, there were nights, she came to my little apartment in West Hollywood on La Cienega, Savoy Plaza. Yeah, yeah. We were sitting around the coffee table eating fried chicken, I was sitting on the floor.

16:51She was amazing. She loved fried chicken? Yeah. Yeah. She was amazing. And I knew her. She... Did she smoke? Sometimes, yes. She was chic. She was chic. When I... Well, then I'll go back to her because there's some amazing stuff with her. But I did this for an Oscar season after Johnny called and said, oh my God, thank you. That was so wonderful. And Donatella, will you come and stay with Donatella and I and Santa Fe for a week as a thank you? And I said, of course. And then I said, oh, can I bring Elton John? with me and they were like uh yes because they were such starfleckers anyway i go and when i get there they had gotten the franchise back in london and they asked me to come to england i knew everybody because i dressed them the thing is what no one really kind of realizes anymore is there was this period when supermodels happened yeah that no one wanted any other designer except Johnny Versace.

17:51Like now I can. I'm happy to hear you say this because my husband being Italian, like when he talks about Johnny and like what he did for Italy in fashion, he'll be like, you don't understand. Like there was nobody else. And like now you ask me, I love Luay Vey, I love San LeBron, I love all these. Then it was one thing. And the way he turned it upside down with the supermodels and all that, you know, it was crazy. and I would, one, the job he gave me was way beyond where my next step should be. I was in my 20s. I was the boss of a whole country. I mean, three stores. But I think also this says a lot about your personality.

18:33Like, people want to work with people who they love and who other people like. You clearly are such a lovable, wonderful man. Well, thank you. That they trusted you. There were some really great things. And they knew that not only were you going to dress people, but you had trust and you're fun and people want to be around you. It speaks a lot to your personality. One of the best things that I did, and it was nothing, I just did it out of my gut instinct was when I got there, I went and lived in Milan with Johnny for like six months while they were finishing the store. Well, around the corner, I had lunch at his house every day, which was beautiful the way they did everything.

19:16I didn't even know what a peach was until there. Just, no, a pear. One day I went there and they had these sliced pears with something, a little creme fraiche. I'd never had a pear before. No way. A pear, they just taste like plastic. There, that's just. Yeah, I know. So good. Just so different. Your husband will attest. When I got the store up and running, I hired all the staff and I bought the collections. And I somehow decided, I invited somebody to lunch every single day. and so the paparazzi was outside they would arrive like 12 o 'clock to see who I was lunching with because they could always get a photo whether it was Eric Clapton whether it was the Supergirls whether it was Princess Diana whether it was Elizabeth you know where was every day it was on Bond Street it's where the Gucci is now oh wow and and so that was and I became this thing in London.

20:09Incredible. That's so smart. It was a really wonderful gift. You're just a people person. I like people. I mean, really, that's like you're creative and the through line is people. I like people. Wow. So then what happened? How long were you there for? I lived in London seven years. I didn't work for them that long. What was interesting was, one, I had never worked for really, I hadn't had that much work experience for somebody else particularly. And the fashion, that level of fashion, when the glamour of the whole thing wore off, it's kind of backstabby and bitchy. You know, this person's in and out.

20:49And I didn't really like that so much. And I didn't want to be in that deal. So I didn't. Though Valentino chased me for a year and I went to work for him for a year after that. I resisted for a year because I knew kind of what he wanted from me and I by the way you're going from one top Italian to the other is drama it was amazing being in Rome as well because gosh as much as I didn't like Milan so much I did I loved Rome oh my god Milan I love Milan but Milan's not beautiful no Rome is unfathomable I know I love it yeah I could live there I think what would I have friends who have an apartment there and they just love it.

21:33For my husband, he's always like, this is crazy and I don't like it here on the driving. But then when we find a moment, he'll be like, oh my God. What part did he grow up in? He's from Sicily. Amazing. He's from the dirty South. Well, I know that as well. What business was his family in? The business of having no money and he had no hot water growing. Maybe they had a restaurant or something amazing. His brother did for a little bit, But no, his dad was an elevator mechanic. The thing is, it's like, I hope some point I live in Italy again for a long time, for a few years or something. Because the food is just, you never get tired of.

22:15Like in Paris, even though you can get different food everywhere now, it's still, it's Frenchy. Yeah. And you get sort of sick of it after a couple of weeks. I get a little, like we go to Italy for like three weeks at a time. And at the end, I'm like, I need like a roasted chicken and some salad. Like I can't. he just went to Greece and he was actually like, which just feels so sacrilegious to say, but he was like I, like being in Greece for like 10 days, he was like, it's such a it's clean. It's clean. He's like, they don't eat carbs the way that we do. So he's eating like lamb that was killed that day.

22:49It's a full on the Mediterranean thing that everybody says is unhealthy. I mean, he came back, I can't believe how much weight he lost. Weight is a rice horse. Yeah, he looked to die for it. I was like, okay. Yes, please. Yeah, because he was eating like handfuls of walnuts and cucumbers and like, you know, Greek yogurt for breakfast. When I get to Greece, I do that for the first bit. I think, gosh, this is so, you do feel amazing. You feel amazing. I know in Italy, I get a little bit like, especially in Sicily, I'm like, I can't eat caponata again. Like, I can't eat another version of tomato and fucking eggplant in a car.

23:18Well, the funny thing is different areas. They're all totally different. Because like Milan to me is a little pure. It's less peasant Italian. It's a little cleaner. It's a little... Northern, it's very... Yeah, yeah. It's a different... I mean, they're all such different places in the cuisine. One side of Sicily, it's a different cuisine than the other. They're like with pesto differently. It's crazy, yeah. Okay, so what was working at Valentino like? I love your top, by the way. I made this. You did not. Do you want to see something you're going to freak out over? Oh, my gosh. It's almost like a man's year.

23:49I know. You fucking die, isn't it? I do die. I know. I do. It's amazing. Keep it on. and I put it on and then I made this and then we like I was like who's but I saw a bunch of cute girls in Italy this summer already and they got the like content in their top but the cuts and everything in the front it's amazing it's you don't suspect that I know it's a fun little surprise it's cool this episode is sponsored by better help we talk about mental health more openly now but asking for help can still feel hard. And BetterHelp's latest research confirms it. BetterHelp's 2026 state of stigma report surveyed 2 ,000 Americans and reveals that 85 % of Americans believe getting support is wise, yet 74 % say society discourages people from doing so.

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27:37Okay, I want to talk about you working for Valentino, and then I want to know how you got into Flower. Valentino was, it was interesting because they wanted sort of my address book because it was like a whole thing that my address book, and Valentino said this when I did finally succumb to do it. You know, you can hire a PR that's really good with society people, another one that's really good in the music world, another one that's whatever. You had them all. I had them all. And, but he, at that time when I did it, Valentino's clothes were more ladies at lunch. It was more Betsy Bloomingdale and Nancy Reagan, which I knew all of them as well.

28:15But they were sort of covered in that and they didn't have the stuff for the younger, cooler crowd at that time. But I loved working with them. It was also, I got along really well with the people closest to Valentino, like Giancarlo, Carlos Sousa, Bruce, the sort of one. I was close with them. But beyond that level, people were really nervous. Maybe you were going to take their deal. And they weren't exactly, it wasn't the most welcoming it had ever been. And I was really a social PR for them. That's what it was. It was much different than what I did at Versace. Yeah, cool. But I'm still friends with all of them and love it.

28:57And when did you become a florist? Well, after Valentino, the year at Valentino, I lived in London, but I hadn't stayed at any job long enough to sort of get my green card thing. And I loved it so much, so I stayed there until I was literally skint. Getting kicked out, yeah. And I came back here semi with my tail between my legs, trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up, and I didn't really have any idea. and a girlfriend of mine from London moved here, a really funny one that's love, piss-taking kind of. And her husband was the editor, West Coast editor of The Economist magazine.

29:40So he was very smarty growing up. And he had written a book and they were having a party for it. And I said, oh, I'll do the flowers. And they're like, what? And I said, well, the girl that did them for me in my house in London, I watched her do it. I can do it. and I did it just for fun. So, because, hold on. I wasn't doing anything. But you had a girl in London that was doing your flowers in your home. Yeah. Okay, so this... Because I entertained a lot. So, on a weekly basis? Yeah. I mean, that's a particular... Not everybody like things to do that. How many arrangements was she making? Well, just throughout.

30:16But then I'd have parties and she'd go more and I'd have parties with Versace as well. So, she did a lot and she was really talented. So, I always watched her. I was going to say, because not a lot of people, you know, have the drive to be like, I'd be concept fresh. That's really fabulous of you. Of course, you're a host. And then I really dug in to do this stuff and I did it. And every woman that was there called her and said, oh my God, who did the flowers? They're so chic. It feels like something you'd see in Paris or Milan or something. What were they? What did you do? I wrapped all the vases in fabric, like three colors taffeta and twisted around and did all this.

30:57It was really, it was more than a flower arrangement. It just seemed like this little piece of art somehow. And they were cool. And so she knew I had never considered doing that. And I hadn't. And I wasn't trying to do that. I just was like bored and said, I'll do this. So she started giving them my phone number. And these women started calling me. And I kept saying, no, I don't do that. I just, it was one off. No, no, no. And a few of them kept calling. And so I sort of caved and did the odd little thing here and there. And then somewhere I said, well, I guess this is what I'm supposed to do.

31:33Because it just kept going. Also, as much as I'd worked in a creative world, I'd never done anything like with my hands. So it's a different deal. So Herb Ritz was my best friend. And I called him and said, Herb, I'm going to be a florist. And he's like, what? I said, we have to do a little photo shoot. I'm going to mail a card. That was your first photo shoot as a girlfriend. Because you mail, then you mailed cards. Yeah. But also I was broke then. So after, I would get up, when I started doing it, I was living with a friend. I would not go out to dinner with anybody, maybe one night a week, maybe on Saturday night.

32:10And because I would get up at three in the morning, go to the flower market and I'd buy the flowers and I'd come home and clean them in the garage. I'd make the arrangements. I would load them up and I'd deliver them. And I would come home and I'd fax the bill because I needed the money. Wow. And it just kept. Getting bigger and bigger. Bigger and bigger and quick. And the thing was, I knew everyone in town. I knew the head of every studio. I knew every movie star. I knew every music star. I knew the Betsy and all those, you know, when I lived in London, Betsy Bloomingdale would come there and I'd be her walker.

32:42You know, it was just like, I knew everybody. So I mailed this card to everybody. And it just went quick. I would be so excited if I knew you from around or from you dressing me. And then you said, I make flower arrangements. And I would be like, I get to buy it from Eric. Like, not only are they beautiful, but I get to support someone that I love. I mean, it speaks to your network. That was the thing. They kind of, everybody, because you know them, they are going to give you a go. And it's, but that was my thing. That's why I didn't do anything but work for now. I can barely make a flower arrangement.

33:16I'm like the art director. But then I made every, and if anybody did, when I started having to hire people, your thing of control that nobody can do it right. And then I don't ever want to hurt anybody's feelings. So I said, oh, that's really pretty. And then he'd go home and I'd redo it. That's the hardest part about having a business. Yeah. Letting go of some of it. And then along the way, I started letting go some, And then I realized that was the only way for it actually to get bigger. And that was the only way for me to be able to do some other things that I wanted. Because you're never going to have too big a financial life in the flower deal.

33:53You're just not. So I sort of started letting go bits of it here and there and allowing people to do their job and teaching people. And that's why I have all these employees that have worked there for a long time. When did you start? Oh, my gosh. What's it called when you flip the? Reflexing. Oh yeah, the reflexing. So for anybody who doesn't know, Eric, one of your most famous moments is that he takes rose petals and basically like pops them, called reflexing. Yes. And I have a secret for you. I'm like so ashamed. But my dad died seven years ago. And someone sent me a bouquet of yours. I was in a Glossier campaign.

34:35Yes. A really big one. I was naked on a billboard for Glossier. Amazing. And Emily Weiss sent me the reflux flowers. She's amazing. And my mom and I lost our fucking minds. I mean, it was just, I'd seen them, but I never like had them in my home. And I was like, oh my God, I have them. And they were the white roses and they were, it was such an elegant. And when my dad died, we couldn't, he like left us with nothing. It was awful. We had no money. So I got a cheap florist, but I copied it for my dad's funeral. Sweet. So we did like the round, we just did a round, you know, the round thing of white roses.

35:10And I had to teach this sweet woman who didn't speak English to flip the petals back. It's funny because not everyone can do it. Not everyone can do it. It's definitely a technique. A lot of people have started doing it now. Some can do it better than others, but you sort of have to take your time. You have to stack it on top of each other. Only the way that you do it, does it give even, the impact is not there unless it's one of your arrangements. It's funny when, I've had that for a long time but along it you think I remember somebody sent one to Tom Ford and literally 30 minutes later the deal came it was his signature gift for years and then when Tom sends it and he like it looks it's what an unbelievable chain right it's almost like now when you start a business now people are like you need to have like a membership or a subscription like when you buy something from Flamingo estate.

36:05It's like you buy multiple and then you just, you can have it be a subscription, right? And you know, everyone will tell you if you have a subscription, you're, if you have any business with a membership or subscription that you're fucking locked in forever. And you basically have that with all of your clients. Cause once they say, this is my flower person, they're going to be with you forever. So you unintentionally created something that it's like one of the most impactful things you could do in a business. And you know, there were things that were also related to that. It was because not, I'm such close friends with so many of my clients that are like family.

36:42I ended up, I didn't have much family. I was close with my grandpa, but not everyone else. So I have the, I'm the chosen family kind of thing. But because of that kind of relationship, the amount of personal stationery I have in my shop of the most famous people in the world is unbelievable. And they trust me to have it because we would never, you know. The only other person I've met who has Rolodex like yours, which is really random and niche. You've been to Kimo Sabe in Aspen? No. It's that famous store in Aspen where they make the hats and sell the cowboy boots. They have every client in the world because the richest people in the world go to Aspen.

37:22And that's like the one, It's the one thing that everybody does when they're there. They go to this cowboy store. So this fabulous and she's fun like you. The owner of Kimo Sambi is this amazing woman named Wendy who will like drink you under the table. I haven't been to Aspen that much. I've only been twice and I like it. But Demi has this ranch in Sun Valley, which is polar opposite. You guys are a Sun Valley family. We're Sun Valley. And Jalula's getting married this summer. So we're up there a lot. Are you obviously doing the flowers? I mean, but it's an interesting through line when you see these people who just everybody wants to be around you.

38:01You know what I mean? And when like really successful people have that where there's just you are this like little gravitational pull. You know, what's weird is. Life is hills and valleys. The last year and a half has been hard for me. I had my breakup. I had a few things, but it was my favorite year and a half. But all of my life, I've sort of realized that people were drawn to me. And I didn't, you know, there were points of it. You didn't really understand why or whatever. But it just, there was a point that I sort of took it for granted. And then it stopped working a little bit. And I think some of it was, I was a Pisces daydreamer.

38:48But it really, when you're daydreaming, you're sort of manifesting. I was going to say, you are a master manifester. And it's like, so then you get back to that purity and you start seeing what you want everything to be around you. I'm really, I'm kind of yaw yaw or woo woo. Woo woo, I am too. I tell my husband every day, like if he has a tough work day and now he does it to me and I'm being negative, I'm like, the quicker we snap out of this, the more all the good stuff is going to keep coming. Well, before I went, moved to Europe, which I was there sort of seven years, someone gave me a reading with, I guess she was like more like a psychic or whatever.

39:28And she said, you're getting ready to go on a journey that is even beyond what you would sort of. You could imagine. imagine and she said the one thing is you will literally meet and friend everybody you ever dreamed about meeting and it and it was and i just you know it sounded like oh yeah so sweet whatever and it sort of happened yeah you know it was kind of crazy but it's in so many areas you know like there was three or four years ago i was at a dinner party 80th dinner party for king Constantine of Greece at MC and Pavlos' house in London. And it was 40 people for dinner there. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were there.

40:15Oh, wow. There were the whole joke of the evening was that there were five sitting queens, six with Eric. It's what the joke was. But there was just, you know, there's stuff like that. Think about your life. That is unbelievable that that was the joke of the dinner. Yeah. But it was like, and the other thing was when I moved to England, I had in my mind that sort of the establishment and stuff didn't really like America. And so I knew I had a fun job and a glitzy job and I liked all that. So I would be set. But I ended up making my closest friends of my entire life through the English establishment.

40:57It was the opposite of what I thought because I like piss taking. Yeah. Giving and receiving. Of course. Which is all they care about. That's all they care about. It is. It's totally all they care about. It is a language within itself. And I think people probably approach that in a really wrong way where they feel like they need to be really proper and really stuffy. And you're probably just like, not only warm and lovely, but you're a relief for people. And I'm naughty. Love that. And the other thing was in England, because of the Southern thing, I never arrived anywhere without something in my head.

41:31hand, which is such a Southern thing. And I wrote notes. Well, let's let everybody know that I recorded a podcast before this and I went out to grab my delivered matcha. And on the table was a giant flower arrangement from you with a note that says, can't wait to meet you. And I, I walked out and the sweet girl, the French said, these flowers are for you. And I said, I literally said to the I said, this motherfucker. I was like, what a classy, fabulous man. Oh, thank you. But it's a dying people don't do that anymore and it really really bums me out my friend steph shep does that and she does it with when i just had to put my one of my dogs down and she sent me your a flower arrangement from you the yellow roses which is good i was like chic chic chic chic chic yes it's so meaningful getting flowers from somebody especially a handwritten note it takes a lot of effort now.

42:27We're so digital. And so it just, it's really special. I've always been that. And I always have nice stationery. And when I lived in London, I had nice stationery, but I also collected naughty postcards. And every single morning when I got up, I would write notes for the day before. And sometimes they'd be filthy, naughty cards I found in Paris, sometimes whatever, but it would, it was a thing. Yeah. And like it for going to dinner parties, there was a company called Check and Speak that had these hat boxes, two sizes, small and big, that were tiny baby rose heads and they were rose purple and they smelled amazing.

43:10And I, you know, would buy them 24 and 24 and that's what I would take to dinner. And it was a fucking nice gift, but it's like goes a lot. And so much of that kind of manner things in the notes. It's not what it used to be, which really makes me sad. Who makes your stationery? I get it now at Jonathan Wright on Beverly, which is old school. And everything is letterpress. Do you have a crust for yourself or it just says your name? It just says my name. What color? Brighton. Well, I have more than one. Okay. And one, there's one I have that's amazing. It has an emboss, everything is by hand here.

43:47It's that last one left like that in LA. and he's amazing and it has an embossed rooster because i like cock and it says eric fucking buterball as the thing in pink and whatever but and then also i have you know that cool color blue that like it reminds you in england i've always had a blue stationary that's sort of anyway i love stationary the one that it's the one that you yes yes beautiful i know what like pantone is that What color blue is that? It's beautiful. That's a very, that in England is, what is the name of the stationery that's such a big deal in England? Smithson. Meissen. Meissen.

44:27And that's a signature color of theirs. They just sent me a journal. Their stuff is beautiful and amazing. Very. And I love that brand.

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46:46And we're not going to get it perfect every time, but we're definitely going to try. Spring is the season I do the most wardrobe thinking. You're dressing for graduation dinners, long travel days, outdoor everything. And in my case, summer involves a lot of heat and a lot of movement for me and my kids. And so one thing I keep coming back to every single time is cotton. I love it, not in a boring way. Cotton breathes. It's like genuinely breathable. When it's hot and you're outside and you want to feel human, cotton is the thing. It does not trap heat. It does not irritate your skin. It moves with you.

47:19I also think about the fact that it's a natural fiber. It comes from the earth and it does not shed microplastics into the water when you wash it. So that part matters to me a lot. And from a purely practical standpoint, cotton just lasts. My favorite pieces, the ones I've had for years are cotton, even if they're like hanging on by a thread, they're still my favorite pieces that I keep coming back to and back to. It keeps it shape. It gets softer with time, not worse. It's genuinely the buy nice or buy it twice situation. You invest once and you stop thinking about it. We have cotton all over our home.

47:59We have cotton sheets in all of our bedrooms. And we also are a big, like kind of like white tea family, you know? So between myself and Davide and the kids, like we have been, especially at the beginning of spring, now that we have like a whole beautiful summer ahead of us. Like I have been buying packets of white tees for all of us to like live in through summer. And it's so cute looking at these little shirts that Carlo wears and like seeing how happy he is just running around his little white t-shirts looks like such a little grown up, but it seems so like American and dignified to see my kids wearing like a classic white cotton t-shirt, especially with a pair of cotton jeans.

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49:16Talk to me about, by the way, when is the tuberose scent coming back? And the lily of the valley? Well, we're working on. I'm working on the new, the second chapter of that. Okay. It's happening, right? Yes. Yes. I was given a very specific phone call from my chicest friend in Pastina. She's like the Carolyn Bissette of our group of friends, Sarah Lanny. And she had very strict instructions to get some sort of timeline on when. Well, you know what's life is, life is full of lessons. Did we make a bad perfume deal? I chose a wrong partner. And so I got the opportunity to learn some lessons the hard way.

50:04And I'm almost there to begin again and do something new. and it will be, watch this spot quite quickly. You used to bathe in perfumes as a child, correct? I literally. Chic la freak, huh? I love. Dumping cologne in a tub. The weird thing was when I started the flower business, my thing about not going out at night or anything was because I had to be the best if I was going to do it and I had the clients, all this stuff. But if I was the best, I'd get a reputation high enough that I could launch a perfume brand because that was the dream underneath it. Incredible. Because I'd done that all my life.

50:44And it took me a long time to get it out of the gate. But when I did, it was also crazy. It was the biggest perfume launch that had ever happened ever in history. You know that three months after I launched the perfume, I was sitting at my desk and my phone rang with a friend from Geneva who worked at Procter & Gamble. And he says, you're not going to believe. He said, every Monday, the head of Procter & Gamble has a meeting with all divisions. He said, the entire meeting was about you today. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And he said, they've commissioned a study to figure out how anyone could launch a brand that big.

51:21And then another thing, I run into the head of Estee Lauder. Two months after I launched, they brought a private plane here with all the executives to come see my space to figure out how I did it. And so it was a little bit of a bummer that I picked the wrong partner to, I lost the reins to the horse and several things. We've had, we've made some really terrible business mistakes. You've, you've had some opportunities to learn. I made one recently too with someone I hired for something and I hired these two guys who are great that are temporary operators to set up everything for me. And one of them is, you know, so many of these work calls become these like therapeutic emotional calls, right?

52:01because it's all intertwined. And he just looked at me and he said, this is just a mistake. It's an annoying, really bad financial mistake, but it happens all the time and you just need to file it under a mistake and keep moving. And I was like, you're totally right. And I let myself be upset for a second and I just thought it's just getting me. Yeah. Well, the thing is when you do those mistakes, you don't do them again. You don't do them again. You don't do them again. No, I should ask more questions. I should have been a little less. There was a lot of things I didn't do. I was so. It was a friend.

52:36The friend stuff really. I was so happy to find somebody that I thought could do it. And actually, I asked the right questions, but the answers didn't add up to what came after. Okay. That back is a setup for a comeback. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Love that. Yes, bitch. Can we get some like celebrity lore? And I don't like to do this because I don't like snitching. And I have lots of celebrity lore from when I was in my early 20s in New York. That will never leave my brain because I just think. But if we could just get some fabulous, like we need some Elizabeth Taylor stories. Well, the one thing that was amazing, Elizabeth was.

53:22She was a real one of a kind. And I feel so lucky to him. But one thing that happened, the reason I, one of the reasons I stayed so connected to her was when I started working for, oh, I'll tell you, I forgot how I met her. When she was getting married to Larry Fortinsky at Michael Jackson's house, Versace was doing the men's clothes. Valentina was doing her wedding dress, but stuff. So I had to go to Elizabeth's to get all the stuff. And the day I went down there with the tailor to measure everybody, Michael and her gaze and everything, and the groom, was the day she got her first bottle of white diamonds.

54:07And so I walked in and she started covering me in it. And it was just so bug spray. It smelled so awful. And I couldn't get it off me for a week. But that's actually how I met her. But when I started... God, those advertisers were white diamonds. Diamonds. But she was, I was in England and she came for a visit and she was, there was a huge AIDS thing at Wembley Stadium. And all these bands were playing. And she came out to open the thing because she had her AIDS foundation. But it was, you know, it was every band on the planet. Elton was singing in it. It's, you know, just my George, there's nobody not singing in this concert in the music business in England.

54:57And so I went with her to that and I sort of walked her out when she was going to do it. And she was quite nervous in that because that's a different thing than what she does. 75 ,000 people screaming on the stage. But she had flown her granddaughter, Naomi Wilding, there from, she lived in Wales. and she was sort of 18 and she wanted me to hire her to work for me as a summer job and I became close to her. She sort of lived with me and worked at Versace for a summer. But Elizabeth was plotting everything to get that to happen. And then she and Naomi ended up moving here. So that was another reason that we just stayed close for a long time.

55:37And Elizabeth was literally phenomenal. I mean, she was, you'd go there and, If you couldn't get her moving to come out for barbecue, let's play in the jewelry. And then she gets perked up and Jose goes up and does the hair. I mean, she was phenomenal. She wanted to play with the jewelry. Yeah, always. That always got her in a good mood. Oh, my God. Bring a couple of trays. Oh, my gosh. Bring a couple of trays. Yeah, it's amazing. But I've had luck with the stuff. You know, there were things. Did she ever give you anything? She gave me not any jewelry. reefer. She gave me some silver frames with her stuff from her wedding because I'd help with that.

56:18And she gave me a lot of scarves and belts and fashion things, probably recycled stuff. She liked to receive more than give, I think. I love her. But I think the other thing is that I was thinking about because of right now working on Demi's daughter, Tallulah's wedding, I've had working on somebody's wedding that you're friends with and you care about is a phenomenal thing. I'm sure. And like Salma, I designed her wedding in Venice, which was a phenomenal, it's one of my proudest things. And it was, but because. Logistically, how do you do that? You sort, I took over a shop there and took my main designers and they made all the big stuff and that.

56:55Because you've done a lot of things. So many huge events. Yeah. And some of them, I did one of Paul McCartney's weddings in Ireland. And I was a year in, I'd just been doing flowers for a year. And he and his current girl were obsessed by me. So they flew me to this castle in Ireland. And then you have to figure out like where to source flowers from? I went, that one, I went to Holland and had two 40-foot trucks drive all the flowers there, refrigerated trucks. It was big. Oh. So I've done a lot of different stuff, yeah. You had two refrigerated trucks of flowers from Holland for Paul McCartney's wedding in Ireland.

57:35I mean, that's a real sentence. I had 19 florists, some from London, some of mine, that did flowers for eight days without stopping. Some nights overnight. I mean, it was a huge job. How do you keep them fresh? In the refrigerated truck. It was a whole science to them. Who figures out all those logistics? At that time, I had somebody called Michael that worked for me that was very good at that. Yeah, good. Yeah. Oh, my God. What's your favorite wedding you've ever done? Thalmas, by far. One being in Venice and her father-in-law has all the museums there and she's a friend. And it was also only 160 guests.

58:18And most of that was our little posse, that it was intimate. And it was in the Fenice Opera House. It was really... But if you care about somebody, you put so much of your heart in it because of the friendship and wanting to... So that was really fun. And it was also fun planning. What are you doing for Tallulah? Can you give any details? It's in Demi's garden. She has a beautiful property there in Sun Valley. And it's beautiful. It's a long, it's the base of the river and the mountain right there. And it comes through and it's all these aspen trees, just whatever. So it's all outside in the garden and we're doing a little whimsical.

58:58Cute. That's so nice. It's going to be good. Okay, where can people find you? You post a lot of really cute, charming videos on Instagram. We lead everybody there. I think Instagram's my place to be. and I appreciate anybody who comes there and watch this spot because I do have more than one new thing coming that's coming up. So I have some next acts. I want to know before we go, what are some Eric, like, chic non-negotiables that you have in your home? Like a routine or an item or something that, like, something displayed on a silver tree in your bathroom that you love. Like, I just feel like your house is probably fucking fabulous, and I want to know a little bit about like what's in there in a day in the life.

59:45My favorite thing to do ever is set the table. And even if it's two people, I like to set the table and I love silver things. And I love linens and I love all of that stuff. What kind of plates do you have? I have my new plates that I love are by Zoe de Givenchy. They're ZDG and they're beautiful and connected with Hubert Givenchy. Some of the things he had in his house, she's having made by artisans in Paris. And they're really beautiful. They're sort of white with sort of green bamboo on the edges, which I love. But I also have my grandmother's china. How many sets of china do you have? Probably 10.

1:00:30I love that. How many sets of silver? One, but it's a lot. I have 36 place settings of Wallace Graham Baroque. Oh my God. I've never felt so poor. No. I'm trash. By the way, it took me a while to get up to that. The thing was, and now it's funny because I don't, there was a period that for me, I was that person that was like, oh, if you're having people on two more tables, who cares? So all of a sudden you do something and have, you've got 24, 36 people for dinner out of the blue. So I always wanted the good stuff. And I'd like, now I still like to have people over more than anything, but it's usually like eight people.

1:01:13I love games. I got really famous and I had this apartment on Doheny Road that I loved and sort of big. And I would do Mexican train domino nights and I would have three tables. So it was 24 people. And it was a recipe. People in LA don't really know how to socialize. specialize. No. They'd have no clue. And this deal, I gave them no choice but to have fun. Amazing. And I would set the tables, candles, flowers, over the top, silver, whatever. And you'd get met at the door with shots of tequila on silver trays. My housekeeper cooked the best Mexican food on the planet. People were trying to steal her and open a restaurant behind her and all this stuff.

1:01:57I was like, and then what I would do was, and I'd have played disco too loud. Cool. So I'd start this whole thing and then it was time for dinner. I wouldn't seat it. And so, because everybody in LA is a little insecure. So they'd sit by their person they knew the best. But then when it was time to start playing the game, you were usually loosened up a little bit. Of course. So the new players would go here. The medium players would go here. The really good players would go on this table. And then they'd do four rounds and the winner of this would move. So by the end of the night. Everybody's met.

1:02:38You had sat by eight different people. Fantastic. And it was so fun. And they would go to two in the morning. And I was doing it sort of every couple of weeks. One week would be Gay Dominoes. One week would be Society Lady Dominoes. And the next week would be Movie Star Dominoes. and it was, they were, every one of those groups were fun and they would usually go to two or three or four in the morning on a Tuesday night. Wait, I love that. And people would come, the friendships. People would come and say, I mean, famous people, I'm not going to give them up, but really famous. I mean, one huge movie star came in one night and said, oh my God, you just said we're going to play the night and I ran into Gwen Stefani on the stairs.

1:03:18I ran into my, blah, blah, blah. This is like Vanity Fair Oscar party. And I said, Would you just have fun? Let's play and have fun. That person said, let's do it again tomorrow night. I want to pay for everything. Let's do it again. Because they were really fun. Well, because think about it also. If you're so famous, everything feels weird. It's an art to entertain. To be able to feel like you can let loose in a room where everybody's not oogling you. Look at you. I love. You're a fucking icon. Thank you. You're the through line for a lot of people and a lot of things. Well, I used to be more of it.

1:03:53now I'm sort of a little quieter. We're getting tired. I know. Exactly. And we went through a breakup. Yeah, exactly. And now you have to be in your single hot girl summer. I'm getting ready to kick the hinges off the door again. So get ready. That's what this podcast episode is really about. Good. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. This was so easy. It was so fun and comfortable. Put water in your flowers when you get home because they need it. My mom lives with me and she's a flower freak and she will every day stick her finger in that. I love her. She's smart because I really do it.

1:04:25Thank you. Thank you.

1:04:32And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes this week's episode of Everything is the Best. I hope you enjoyed it. Please rate, review, subscribe, all that stuff. Maybe leave a comment. Go ahead and follow me on Instagram at Pia Barancini. And I hope you have a fabulous, fabulous rest of your day. Love you. Ciao.

1:05:06Thank you.

From the publisher

Eric Buterbaugh has the best stories of anyone I know. This week on Everything Is The Best, we sit down with the man they call the King of Roses, LA's florist to the stars turned founder of EB Florals, and honestly I could have listened to him for five more hours.

He's worked for Gianni Versace, he's done the flowers for Madonna's Oscar parties and Demi Moore's dinners, and at one point in this conversation he tells the story of eating fried chicken on the floor with Elizabeth Taylor, which is exactly the kind of unhinged glamour I live for. We get into what it actually takes to build a life around beauty, the emotional labor of working the most intimate days in people's lives (he's basically a therapist with shears), and how decades of floral obsession turned into a perfume line that made Saks and Bergdorf Goodman pay attention.

Eric is fucking fabulous. Funny, unfiltered, zero interest in being precious about any of it. I love him, and I think you will too.


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