As the fashion and lifestyle director of Shape magazine, Brooke Ely Danielson has had the tricky task of leading the Meredith-owned publication’s lifestyle coverage through a redesign, as well as cultural shifts regarding fitness, body positivity and wellness.
Danielson, who started at Shape in December 2017 after working as the accessories editor at Vogue, is in charge of the magazine’s “Be the Style” section. Be the Style is the latest iteration of Shape’s fashion coverage after the debut of a new print magazine design earlier this year. In its new form, Shape editor-in-chief Elizabeth Goodman Artis described Shape’s fashion coverage as “covering fashion in a post-athleisure world” in an interview with Folio magazine.
Finding ways to be simultaneously stylish and active across all areas of life is something Danielson knows well. As a running enthusiast, Danielson embodies the Shape brand on her prolific Instagram account, where she has more than 10,000 followers keeping tabs on her recent adventures, including running a 5K with Olympic gold medalist Shalene Flanagan.
An Instagram post shared by Danielson of a recent trip to Tokyo.
Danielson shared a recent day in her life, which included planning features for the next issue after returning to her New York office fresh off a red-eye flight from a Los Angeles cover shoot. The following has been lightly edited for clarity.
4:40 a.m.: I land at Newark from LAX, exhausted from a red-eye but super happy to be home. I just spent the weekend in Santa Monica with my boyfriend and family following a cover shoot we had out in Malibu. The weather was spectacular.
5:30 a.m.: Finally home from the airport, now seeing double. Still, I manage to get my suitcase unpacked and my new tea towels from Raoul Santa Barbara hung up, and light my new candle from Hudson Grace. I am back in my home oasis. A quick wash of my face and application of hydrating serum to save my skin from the overnight flight, and I am back in bed for a few hours before I take off for the office.
8:30 a.m.: My alarm is ringing in my ear, and I spring out of bed for a quick shower, brush my teeth and then proceed to pace around the living room thinking about my outfit for the day. I’ve settled on my favorite pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a blazer. I love what I do, so I am amped to get back to the office after all of this travel. We have a big cover shoot coming up, so I start to organize a to-do list in my head.
9:20 a.m.: I give my apartment the once-over after making my bed. You could think of me as Type A, I guess. I cannot leave my apartment until it’s spick and span for the day: bed made, trash taken out, dishes in the dishwasher and everything in order.
9:45 a.m.: I make a pit-stop by Irving Farm Coffee for a cold brew with oat milk and a vegan pumpkin granola bar. I haven’t had time to stop by the market yet, so breakfast on-the-go will have to do.
10:00 a.m.: Sitting down at my desk for the first time in a few days was an adjustment, but I am so happy to be back. I have 85 unread emails, which is actually not bad at all. I’ll most likely get through them quickly.
10:30 a.m.: My to-do list for the day is done, and I am pulling together materials for a cover shoot we are working on. My editor and I have a week to pull it together and get it shipped out to LA.
10:45 a.m.: We have a quick fashion meeting to go over our boards for the shoot and the upcoming weeks of what we have to accomplish.
12:15 p.m.: Starving! I head out to Juice Press for a lettuce wrap and cup of soup. I’m a vegan, so this is one of the easiest places for me to grab food if I haven’t packed my lunch for the day.
1:15 p.m.: I spend some time booking travel for cover shoots and work trips, then I respond to emails, file some lookbooks and hit a quick fashion meeting to go over updates and confirmations for a shoot.
3:45 p.m.: I pop over to the Shape.com team’s area so we can discuss upcoming stories for the site. I am a contributor to not only our site but also our social platforms, and I need to touch base with our social editor on a few upcoming initiatives. We have a really fun story tied to travel coming up.
4:50 p.m.: My co-worker Alan has summoned me to the art department to review pages. I grab the fashion editor on my team, and we head over to discuss our October fashion pages. We’ve drawn inspiration from the runway and from street style, so we are discussing different visuals for the page.
5:30 p.m.: Still going strong, even after the red-eye flight this morning! It’s time to pack up and head out to Whole Foods to pick up some vegetables and brown rice for dinner.
6:15 p.m.: I survive the madness that is rush hour at Whole Foods. I’ve made out like a bandit with fresh veggies, avocados, brown rice and oat milk for the week.
8:30 p.m.: I clean my apartment (again), answer more work emails and cook dinner. I’m completely exhausted and didn’t get a workout in today. Usually I get up and run five to seven miles, or hit the gym at 6 a.m. — but not today. Perhaps tomorrow!
9:30 p.m.: Bedtime.
