Street Style: Meet Helen Clemens
For Helen Clemens, a good book has always been about more than the story on the page. As a child, she constantly immersed herself in books, reading any chance she could. Today, that lifelong love of reading has found a new home in Alexandria through Literary Libations, the monthly book club she created at Morrison House, where thoughtful books and conversations meet equally thoughtful cocktails.
Although Alexandria is home today, Helen spent her childhood moving between Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Connecticut and Maryland. Eventually, she says, "home" became less about a place and more about a feeling.
If she had to choose, Savannah, Georgia, would be the closest thing. "We spent so much time there visiting my grandparents that I always remember the way it smells when you're crossing the bridge into Savannah,” she says, “That was the constant."
Helen attended the University of Georgia for undergrad before making her way to law school at George Washington University. Newly engaged and figuring out what came next, she and her fiancé decided Alexandria would be home for the long haul.
Their first apartment was a small place on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, a chapter she remembers fondly, bourbon slushies at Front Porch included. On the day she toured the apartment, a stranger happened to walk by and told her she would never regret moving into the neighborhood. They were right.
"It was a happy season of life," she says. "Pre-children. Just figuring it all out."
Today, Helen works in the Alexandria City Attorney's Office, where she focuses on child welfare litigation. She's been there for nearly five years, following a career as a prosecutor. Practicing local government law, she says, feels a bit like being general counsel for the good guys.
"It's not like a company," she says. "It's like, how are we all going to get along? I really like that kind of alignment, and the idea of working for the public good."
But Helen's love of books came long before her legal career. As a child, she would climb trees with a book in hand and once turned her own collection into a neighborhood library, complete with index cards and checkout stickers.
"I've always loved that feeling," she says. "A novel can give you a transcendent connection to another human — whatever that author's voice is, it reveals truths that we might not always know other people carry."
Helen Clemens
Self-Styled
Shoot Location: The Study at Morrison House
Photography: Renée C. Gage
Hair: Cameron Ball
That lifelong love of books, paired with an equally strong appreciation for a good cocktail, eventually became Literary Libations, the book club Helen now hosts monthly at The Study inside The Morrison House Boutique Hotel. The idea had been sitting on her "40 before 40" list, a collection of experiences she wanted to try before turning 40.
The idea finally became real one evening last year, when Helen wandered into The Study for the first time after a very long day at work. She met bartender Manny and listened to the resident pianist Dehrric play "As Time Goes By." When he learned she was from Georgia, he followed it with "Georgia on My Mind." It was the moment she knew she landed somewhere special.
"After my second delicious cocktail, I was like, you know, this place would be so good for this idea I've had," she told Manny, who then handed her a card and told her to email the hotel with the concept to see if they’d bite. They immediately said yes.
For the first gathering, Helen picked North Woods, and was extremely nervous about whether anyone would show up, but they did — some her own friends, others who'd found it entirely on their own.
"If you have an idea of something that you think is going to be fun, other people are going to find it fun too," she says. "It turns out there are a lot of readers in Alexandria who feel exactly the same way."
Now nearing a year in, Literary Libations regularly draws 20 to 25 people, sometimes more, with a rotating structure that shifts from full-group discussion to something closer to a mingling cocktail party depending on the size of the crowd. Helen comes prepared with discussion questions — sometimes pulled from an author's own website, sometimes dug up through her own research rabbit holes — but leaves plenty of room for the conversation to go where it wants.
"If you love good books, good conversation, meeting new people, this is the place for you," she says. "I like to call it a cocktail-forward literary salon."
Each gathering includes a themed cocktail menu to match the book, plus a standing mocktail on the menu called “The Dog Ate My Homework.” It’s a deliberate choice, Helen says, so that not having read the book, or not drinking, is never a barrier to showing up.
Above all, what Helen is proudest of isn't the cocktails or the turnout; it's the space itself.
"It's rare to have a place where you can so pleasantly disagree in public right now," she says. "We're not very good at that in society, but it has been so fun to do that together."
In many ways, that's exactly what Helen has always loved about books. They invite us into other cultures, other experiences and other points of view, offering a chance to understand a perspective beyond our own.
Perhaps that is what Helen has really built with Literary Libations: not simply a book club, but a place where people can come together, see the world through someone else's eyes and stay awhile. The books may be what bring everyone to the table, but it’s the conversation, the camaraderie, and sure, the cocktails too, that keep them there and coming back for more.
And that’s a story we’d all like to read.
ABOUT HELEN
Your neighborhood: Del Ray
Your hometown: It’s complicated as we moved a lot when I was growing up. I’m from the DC area with deep roots in Savannah, Georgia. Alexandria is home!
What would surprise people about you? I was bit by a lemur in Madagascar and had to get rabies treatment when I came back.
Favorite book or movie: This is a stressful question, I love too many! The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and It’s a Wonderful Life, but can’t say that won’t change when asked again next week.
Guilty pleasure: Chocolate covered strawberries
Latest binge-watch: Colin From Accounts!
Bucket list travel destination: Peru and Machu Picchu
What would your walkout song be? American Woman by The Guess Who
Favorite motto/quote: “True freedom is the ability to follow a rule prescribed by yourself.” - Jean Jacques Rousseau (roughly translated there)
STYLE
Define your style in three words or less: Classic yet approachable
The go-to piece in your wardrobe: Give me a Boden dress that can go from court with a blazer to cocktails with a girlfriend!
Favorite trend: I’m not very trendy…
Beauty product you can’t live without: A good face lotion & water first thing
Boots, heels or sneakers? Heels
WELLNESS
Go-to way to de-stress: Hot Bath with a book
Favorite way to stay active: Running
Wellness goal: To keep moving so I can live without limitations
Want to try: Breathwork
Proudest wellness achievement: I came back from a foot injury to hike the Narrows and Scout’s Lookout in Zion National Park this summer. It was awesome!
HOME
Favorite room in your home: The screened porch.
Antiques, modern, or a mix? Mix
Last item you bought for your home: Lamps for my nightstands
Favorite way to entertain: Our annual Georgia Tailgate in our backyard with Chatham Artillery Punch. Go Dawgs!
Clutter-free or well-lived in? Well-lived in as I’ve got two littles at home.
Next planned purchase: Setting up a homework station for my kids.
Helen with her friend and Alexandria Stylebook contributor, Lauren O’Brien of XML Financial Group.
ALEXANDRIA
What do you love about Alexandria Stylebook? I love learning about and celebrating all the amazing things that Alexandrians get up to.
Favorite spot in Alexandria: Sitting by the water in Founders Park. Bonus points if a blue heron visits.
Your go-to shop(s): Old Town Books, Penny Post, The Lucky Knot, The Purple Goose
Best food spot(s): Thompson Italian, Stracci, Vermillion
Favorite local organization(s): Hopkins House, Cornerstone Craftsman, InspireLit
Annual Alexandria event you most look forward to: The Del Ray Halloween Parade. Everyone is so joyful
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