Whitney Port Interview: The Essentials

As an intern in the fashion closet at Teen Vogue on MTV’s The Hills, Whitney Port was often the voice of reason amid the weekly drama that seemed to follow her castmates. Nearly 20 years after we were first introduced to Port, and the Los Angeles native is still doling out practical advice—but now it’s through her social media accounts and on her podcast, With Whit, where she delves into topics ranging from relationships to cooking tips, often joined by experts like psychologist Dr. Robert Waldinger and chef Katie Lee Biegel. In the years since wrapping up The Hills (and her spinoff series, The City, which ended in 2010), Port has been busy building a name for herself in the industry that unintentionally brought her to reality television in the first place: fashion.

Next month, Port will launch her latest collection with Rent the Runway (a partnership that began in 2020), and she used February’s New York Fashion Week as a way to kick-start her passion project with The Butcher’s Daughter (a bi-coastal vegetarian restaurant) and March Fourth (a non-profit organization advocating to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons). “I’ve loved The Butcher’s Daughter forever, and we’ve been thinking about how we could work together in a meaningful way that helps our communities,” Port tells the Observer of how they landed on two on-the-go snacks, with a portion of the proceeds donated to March Fourth.

With Port working alongside the restaurant’s chef, she co-created a Super Charged Trail Mix with granola, nuts and dried berries, and a colorful Butterfly Bowl made with coconut yogurt, butterfly pea flower extract powder, chia seed pudding, granola and seasonal fruits. “For the trail mix, I knew that I wanted a nutty, crunchy base mixed with goji berries and raspberries, and we did some white chocolate chips,” Port says. “It’s important that we take a pause and really take care of ourselves, and that’s something that I’ve been focusing on this year, so I wanted these snacks to be easy and nourishing.”

Also important to Port is March Fourth, a non-profit that she became personally involved with after being introduced to founder Kitty Brandtner through her brother-in-law. “At the time, my son had just started kindergarten, and so the issue of gun sense really hit home for me,” says Port, who started the year by traveling to Washington, D.C. with the organization to lobby for safer gun laws. “I’m really motivated to take action this year, and I feel like this partnership was a perfect way to raise awareness while taking care of each other.”

To celebrate Port’s menu items, which are available at all five locations of The Butcher’s Daughter and online through May 5, Observer caught up with Port on her current essentials— from her wellness routine to her vacation styling tips.

Her morning skincare routine:

I take an oval cotton pad and I use a Bioeffect micellar water to wipe my face off. There are a few serums that I use, like my Osmosis Epidermal Repair Serum, a Retrouvé Nutrient Face Serum and the Bioeffect EGF Serum. For moisturizer, right now, I’m using the Dermalogica Barrier Repair Cream during the day, and then I’ve been loving the Tower 28 SOS Spray.

Her typical wellness routine:

My ideal week would be to work out three times a week: one Pilates class, one hot yoga class and then something with weights to get a mixture of things in. I do my Calm meditation every day; I do the Daily Trip with Jeff Warren. 

The movies she’s watching on repeat:

I love Silver Linings Playbook, My Father the Hero and The Family Stone for a holiday movie.

Current Los Angeles favorites:

Obviously, The Butcher’s Daughter in the heart of West Hollywood, Katsuya is a little sushi spot, a La Scala chopped salad is an L.A. girl essential and Wexler’s Deli if you want traditional Jewish deli food and really yummy bagels. For a good kid-friendly spot, [my son] Sonny loves Jon & Vinny’s, and then Brentwood Country Mart is a must-go; it’s this little red barn in the middle of Brentwood that has really cute shops and these food stands with the best rotisserie chicken basket with French fries.

Favorite vacation spot:

The Four Seasons in Palm Beach. We go there because [my husband] Timmy’s mom lives 20 minutes away. It’s so understated and chill, and it’s just one of my favorite beaches to go to.

What she’s traveling with:

I wish I were a carry-on girl, but I’m a checked bag girl; I can’t deny it.

Her styling tips:

For vacation, I want to keep it simple, with maybe some vintage Levi cut-off shorts, crisp button-downs in linen or cotton, a few simple dresses, sandals, a lightweight beach bag, sunglasses and baseball hats.

The one thing in her wardrobe she refuses to part with:

I have this Burberry leather jacket that I got when I was working in London at some point. It weighs maybe 30 pounds, and I remember getting it on sale and feeling proud of myself that I was working hard and able to afford it.