At Home With Lauren Ezersky

Lauren Ezersky is recognizable to anyone who lived in New York City in the 1990s. Her long-running cable television show, “Behind the Velvet Ropes,” was on air at that time and is now a cult classic. During that same time, from 1989 to 1999, she also wrote a column on fashion, “Lunch with Lauren,” for Paper Magazine.

The fashionista stands out. Her Yonkers accent, teased salt-and-pepper hair, colorful eye-shadow and eye-catching outfits draw attention.

And with considerable enthusiasm, she has interviewed every fashion designer who has ever walked the runway. Well, almost everyone.

“It must be in the thousands by now,” she said of the number of designers she has interviewed over the years.

Ms. Ezersky will not say who her favorite designer is, but she’ll admit that “Ralph” is her favorite shop in East Hampton. Ironically, Ralph Lauren is perhaps the only top designer she has not interviewed, thus far.

But even though she’s been there and done that, she has maintained her passion for finding out about people, she said during an interview at her home in Amagansett, which she shares with her husband, Warren Schultz, a gardening book author and writer of the “American Traveler: Budget Travel and Dining in New York and Abroad” blog.

“I never get bored. There’s always something new to discover about someone,” Ms. Ezersky said.

These days, she is less about trendy in the city and more about chilling here on the East End.

“I love the Hamptons. You can make it whatever you want. You can wear a ball gown or jeans and a sweater every day. I love the casualness of it,” she said.

At their home in the dunes of Napeague, wearing a pair of black jeans and gray cardigan, Mr. Schultz was asked if he was a fashion plate like his wife. His sister, who was visiting them at the time, responded, jokingly, “More like a bowl.”

But Ms. Ezersky’s flair makes up for any lack of style on Mr. Schultz’s part, the couple agreed. The largest wall in their home is covered with photos of family and friends—mostly fashion designers. There are photos of Ms. Ezersky with the likes of Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, Isaac Mizrahi, Manolo Blahnik, Gianni Versace, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Bob Mackie, Judith Leiber and Sonia Rykiel.

The home has a Victorian vibe. Crystal chandeliers hang in almost every room. Oil paintings from local antiques shops adorn the bedroom walls.

A Hunt Slonem painting and a sketch by German fashion designer Wolfgang Joop decorate a spare bedroom. Vintage lamps sit atop side tables just big enough for a book and a glass of water. Beds are fluffy and feminine. There’s even a collection of Steiff stuffed animals from Germany in their own cabinet. A teddy bear sits atop a leopard-print stool.

In the living room, the couch is a Mission-style triptych of leather seats, framed in dark, heavy wood with a straight back.

“It’s not that comfortable,” Ms. Ezersky said, bouncing up and down. “I guess I’m more form over function. It looks good.”

She expressed a similar attitude about living on the East End, which she said she enjoys immensely but not in the way that one would expect.

“Even though I’m not a beach person, I love being so close to the ocean,” she said. “You can smell it and hear it.”

Judging from her sparse kitchen, it’s fair to say the culinary arts are not one of Ms. Ezersky’s talents.

“My husband likes to cook,” she said, adding that they eat most meals out. “Of course I love Nick and Toni’s but we go to Sam’s a lot too. I like the ‘fa-fa-fa’ places and the $2 places. Candy Kitchen is our go-to Sunday breakfast joint.”

“I feel this is my home more than the city,” Ms. Ezersky, who also has an apartment in Manhattan, continued. “The moment I arrive from the Jitney or the train, I say ‘ahhh.’ I like it when it’s quiet.”

It’s not surprising then, that her favorite place to hang out, after her own house, is the Amagansett Library.

“I love my Amagansett Library. I take out a zillion books and read them in bed all day long,” she reported. “I just finished this awesome book about President James Garfield who was assassinated. So fascinating.”

Ms. Ezersky is currently on hiatus from filming her most recent television gig as “girl reporter” for Better TV, a syndicated women’s morning show on the Fox channel, she said.

Her repertoire of subjects has expanded into the film world. This past season, she interviewed actor Gabriel Byrne and directors Joel Schumacher and David Cronenberg.

“It’s fun doing red carpet events,” she said.

However refreshing she finds her new flexibility, the fashion doyenne is not about to give up her day job. She’s been tucked away in Montauk all summer, working at the boutique Share With ... while looking for investors to start her own fashion company.

And she’s got even bigger plans for the immediate future, though they will take her away from the East End for a short time.

“Fashion Week is two weeks away,” she said, “I’m looking forward to some of the young designers. I love to discover new talent.”