What Steve Madden Can’t Live Without

I love eyepatches. I don’t sleep well, so I always feel like I have big bagsunder my eyes; I put those on and they wake me up. In fact, I should get ’em now. They kind of refresh you. They’re a great invention. It’s like the wheel.

A friend of mine had this and gave it as agift. It’s just a helpful guide for every day and maybe helps me not personalize things so much. Every day you get a new insight. Today’s was about changing your mind. It’s okay to change your mind when you receive new evidence. It’s okay to say,Oh, I thought this way. But now that I know the facts, I think the other side of this— which a lot of people don’t do. They tend to stay in the same thought; even when they’re hit with new data, they don’t change.

One of my favorite things to do is towork out, and I work out to cowboymusic. I listen to all that stuff. It’s so funny because I’ll put on the Rolling Stones or something, but I always end up at country music. I don’t know why that is. I’m really a New York boy. It’s verynoton brand. I’ll listen to George Strait, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson. I usewiredheadphones, and I like them to plug into my phone. It looks so antiquated. I look so silly in thegymwith my wires hanging all over me while I’m working out, but I don’t really care.

Oh God. I love this more than life itself. Okay, I’m going to tell you about the Coffee Mate. Are you ready? I got a story. So I went to prison for two years, and I was involved with the “Wolf of Wall Street” guys, just in case you didn’t know. But anyway, I was very worried because I was wondered what would I do about milk when I was there. I love whole milk, and it was a big fear of mine. We lived in dormitories, so I would get freeze-driedcoffeeand put hot water on it and mix it with this creamer. It was the greatestcoffeeI had in my life. It was so good. Can you imagine being stuck in prison and having great coffee? It saved my life.

I always wear baseballhatsbecause I guess I like to cover up. I wish I could wear a ski mask. I really do. It’s not that I hate my looks — I don’t — but I just like to have less of them on display. And I love my Yankees hat. I probably overdo it with hats even. There are restaurants that don’t let me in with my baseball hats, which I’m really upset about. Polo Bar — I love that restaurant. I’ve got to call Ralph up. They used to let me in, then all of a sudden they said, “Mr. Madden, you can’t come in with your baseball hat.” It’s a wonderful restaurant, and I love Ralph Lauren. I look up to him, but he won’t let me sit with my baseball hat in the restaurant. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of Yankee hats. Hundreds of hats.

I lovegolf. I have a favorite driver. It has a pink shaft and it’s called the Autoflex. So you could say my Autoflex pink shaft driver makes me happy when I use it. I can’t live without it. I love pink. It’s a great color.

Here’s the thing: There’s a place called Breads Bakery on Third Avenue and 74th and 75th on the west side of the street. They make thisbreadcalled Caraway Rye — they only make it on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I live for it. I really have to kind of lose weight a little bit, but I love it so much, and I eat it right out of the bag. I used to do that with my mother when I was a little boy. She would get something and she would give me a piece out of the bag, and so it’s sort of Proustian in a way. It’s my favorite thing in the world, and I love that place. They have a commitment to very deliciouspastries, and they’re so professional. I want my shoe business to run like that bakery does.

The bottle is great, and it smells so good. Actually, my daughter, Stevie, was wearing it, and I said, “What are you wearing? It smells so good.” And she goes, “it’s Goldie!” It’s named after my other daughter, Goldie, and really, it’s a vibe. You know Steve Madden, it’s Goldie; it’s everything you touch turns to gold. It’s just such a beautiful sort of thing. It evokes a very beautiful spirit.