Stars Sans Stylists: What Does it Really Mean?

[Label Basher]

^ Wow she's brave. I wouldn't have worn it but then the press wasn't as mean in 1997 as they are today.

If it was now the weekly mags/blogs would be all "bad mistake", "worst dress list", "you can afford to buy another dress honey" etc. I can hear Joan Rivers now.

 

[loladonna]

What a celebrity sans designer means is that major fashion houses handpick clothes and send them to the celebrity or the major PR showrooms brings a rack of designer clothes to their hotel.The celebrity picks a fab designer frock from the rack and Voila! They've "styled" themselves without a stylist!

 

[wild roses]

Wow! I remember when Kidman wore that Dior gown to the Oscars and I had no idea there was such a backstory behind it. Very informative. (I disagree with the assumption that Kidman wasn't a fashion risktaker up until then. If anything, she used fashion throughout her marriage to Tom Cruise to try to stay in the press until she started she getting breakout roles.)

This topic makes me think Hollywood hasn't changed too much after all. Although the studios are no longer controlling the how the stars look and dress (like they did pre-1960s), the stars themselves are maintaining that system by hiring out stylists and design houses to help them create an image. Not to mention all the obscene plastic surgury and dieting, etc.

 

[ultramarine]

What about SJP??? I mean ... we all know about her relationship with Patricia Field .. but .. did she had a style of her own before that show (I was shocked to hear she wore a black dress to her wedding .. SO bold! And twas pre SATC).

Now ... on another note ... actresses who I think do not have a stylist:

*Emma Thompson
*Dita (I second that)

and that chick from 30 Rock .. she was SO clueless on the first red carpets .. I think she got an stylist but she insists on wearing something "her" which at the end .. doesnt quite work most of the time ...

PS What about Drew Barrymore?

 

[Label Basher]

^ SJP is one of L'wren Scott's clients but like Diane Kruger if she wants something I think she can call up directly and get it. No one's gonna say no to SJP.

Oh yes someone is helping Tina Fey but then she doesn't really care about fashion so it's expected. Like you say she "insists on wearing something "her".

Drew has a stylist. I can't remember who it is but she definitely has one.

 

[before]

Stylist and Starlet

 

[before]

An older but relevant article.

The battle to dress an A-list actress for the Oscars makes the contest for a gold statuette look positively bloodless.
If producers, directors, and Hollywood celebs are only as big as their last big hit, celebrity stylists are only as big as the last tiny dress their biggest A-list client squeezed into. This year's top Oscar stylists—Cristina Ehrlich, Jen Rade, Rachel Zoe, and Estee Stanley— have all paid their dues and beyond. Yes, each has the so-called "eye," but they also have smarts, loyalty to their clients, and some even know when to keep their mouths shut and shun the limelight. More importantly, they have access to the best dresses in the world—and can get them, pronto.
But these days, celebrity stylists are replaced more frequently than cabinet secretaries. The job "celebrity stylist" was only invented in the mid-‘90s, and seniority is far from security in this high-stress, high-earning sect. If you dress Cate Blanchett and she's not nominated you can sit out a whole awards season to the tune of fifty grand or more. Luckily, Blanchett’s stylist, Elizabeth Stewart, scored Best Supporting Actress nominee Viola Davis (Doubt) this season while Blanchett sat on the bleachers.
The so-called "names" who invented the job—Philip Bloch, who dressed Halle Berry, and Jessica Paster, who styled Minnie Driver, Kim Basinger and Blanchett—have a better chance of landing on a reality show these days than landing a big name. (Bloch is actually on VH1's Glam Gods.) You can credit Paster and Bloch with starting the Great Stylist Wars of the 1990s. Each would call in the best of Dior, Valentino, Versace, and Oscar de la Renta just to make sure the other stylists couldn't get their greedy hands on them. Then they would casually bestow them on C-listers who paid them more than their A-listers did, while the A-listers got paid real money to wear a different designer. Or got flown to Paris for Couture with their whole family. Or both. Designers wised up, and contracts are required now.

This year, four new names have claimed their place at the top of the stylist hierarchy. One, Cristina Ehrlich, is a no-nonsense, jeans-wearing workaholic who lives for her clients. She's got a soft spot for high-fashion drama from Paris, and travels there often to find obscure looks from Gianbastitta Valli and Alaia for her girls. You'll never see her clients in a predictable look—she loves a spectrum. For the Oscars, she’s dressing Amy Adams, Penelope Cruz, and Melissa Leo. She also dresses Jessica Biel, and co-created the line Miss Davenporte.Then there’s the eclectic Jen Rade, famed for dressing Angelina Jolie. She’s a costumer and stylist who’s done hip hop (Dr. Dre), metal videos (Marilyn Manson), and horror flicks. She also dresses Pink, Kim Kardashian, and various rappers. But she’s no label snob. Sure, she loves a couture dress, but she embraces the two-dollar vintage no-name just as warmly. A low-key goth-girl rocker who is impressed by nothing, she knows a good "Angie" look when she sees one. She also keeps herself out of the spotlight, which is why Angie loves her and won't work with anyone else.The third new star this year is Estee Stanley, who both dresses the Olsen Twins and designs their home interiors. She created the Miss Davenporte line with Ehrlich, and also did a line of lingerie for Frederick's of Hollywood. Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake came to her wedding. Stanley's looks for Marisa Tomei have been all over the map this awards season, from high-society to sexy—that's what makes her interesting. Her choices range from Oscar de la Renta to Elie Saab to vintage. Nearly outshining them all, however, is Rachel Zoe. “I will take over Jessica Paster’s rule” Zoe announced when she moved to Los Angeles around 2000 – and then proceeded to essentially do just that. A gown-wearing toothpick with a mop-top, she has a habit of dressing her clients like herself. Twinning out Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan may have put her on the tan-blonde-celebrity map, but stars like Cameron Diaz, Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley have kept her there. Lucky for her, there's no way Oscar-nom Anne Hathaway can look like Zoe—she's paler, taller, and a lot more demure. Former assistants of Zoe's, like stylist Tara Swennen (Miley Cyrus, Angie Harmon) have built entire on the foundation of working with her.

But why are these new stylist stars not dressing their clients in Valentino, Vera Wang, Gucci, or even Isaac Mizrahi? For the same reason they are dressing them in Elie Saab and Reem Acra: reciprocation in the form of highly paid Prs, sending seamstresses to L.A., frequent trips – and, no doubt, gifts.
Because Hollywood fashion is big business disguised as a b*tch-fest. After all, Giorgio Armani has a lot of perfumes to promote. (And a makeup line. And a jeans line.) One - or five – dresses, or even tuxes, at the Oscars seen by hundreds of millions can curry up a lot of cash at the world cash register. But exactly whose hands does the cash cross? The actresses'? The stylists’? A publicist or manager? Perhaps all. We know actresses have received up to $500,000 to wear a dress—not to mention diamond jewelry—and we've watched stylists get flown to Paris and Milan first-class. The year Scarlett Johansson was nominated for Girl With a Pearl Earring is the year celebs started getting full ad-campaign offers, and hiring agents to negotiate ever-pushier fashion and beauty deals. According to sources, Scarlett's mother negotiated that both she and Scarlett get to keep their clothes and jewelry.
And Renee Zellweger loves to wear Carolina's creations, but all the time? What about Reese Witherspoon and Nina Ricci? Ricci and Herrera are both run by Puig's Mario Grauso. And Witherspoon and Zellweger both have BWR's Nanci Ryder as their longtime PR woman. Is it worth it for these companies to keep stars and their keepers on retainer? Can you say "household name"? When did Nina Ricci become a household name? It's a small, exclusive French brand that was once only the denizen of select fashionistas.
A shorter list would be fashion houses that don’t pay. Chanel has never paid a star to wear a dress. Harry Winston, who made history as the "jewelers of the Oscars," never paid a star to wear a diamond either, and consequently, do you ever hear of Harry Winston on a red carpet anymore? Why is barely anybody wearing vintage? (Dead designers don't pay.) More often, you hear "Neil Lane," an L.A.-based Kaballah-going jeweler, or Chopard, or Cartier. Which stars refuse payment? Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman are the names that have always been associated with, "No thanks, I'll wear what I want. And I can afford it. Here's a check." On the other hand, didn't we hear Giorgio Armani financed Cate Blanchett's favorite Sydney theater the year she wore Armani Prive to the Oscars? It's simply too much money for too little work to be sneezed at. If your kid could go to college on a dress, are you going to opt for a prettier dress? How much prettier could it be? College educations are very pretty. And in this economy, "money" is the new "pretty."

thedailybeast

 

[Psylocke]

FLORENCE WELCH: What’s amazing is that you don’t have a stylist, do you?

BLAKE LIVELY: You know, my mom modeled and made clothes, so I always had such an appreciation for design. And then Gossip Girl completely blew open the door to fashion for me. I’d go to fashion shows and call my publicist and say, “Can I wear that?” I think I became my own stylist by not knowing any better. And once I was told it was time to get one, I thought: This is one of my favorite hobbies! And I’m going to pay someone to steal my hobby from me? That’s a terrible idea!

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/showpost.php?p=9195229&postcount=249


Attending the 2011 Ghetto Film School Spring Benefit on June 13th at The Standard in New York City.

wearing Marc Jacobs Resort 2012


justjared, posted by sobriquet87


Thoughts / Explanations? I get that, she has a publicist and probably has access to designer fashion quite a bit before the rest of us mortals do, but wearing an off-the-runway look a week after the presentation without having a stylist and when doing the shopping yourself? That just seems really weird to me. How would she even have had time to 1) browse the Resort collections 2) pick a favorite look and 3) get the outfit right away all within a week when she's really busy with Awards shows, promo events, etc atm?

I do not mean to bash Blake in any way, I just wonder if that is even possible or if she's really flat out lying in interviews about this.

 

[isa.b.elle.]

^ I agree with you.I ve always thought she actually has a stylist. Sometimes her outfits are hits other times a miss..but it looks always very styled to me..
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[MyNameIs]

^^I'm suspicious about how much Blake actually does herself as well. She was wearing a MJ Resort 2012 look just the other day. Barely a week after the look was shown as part of the Resort collection. Considering she has been jetsetting with Leo for the last couple weeks, MTV Awards she had, all the other stuff, when did she have time to review MJ's resort collection?

 

[lucy92]

wow, its amazing to think that angelina's stylist also dresses kim kardashian.

black lively is a brand ambassador for chanel. so is vanessa traina.

here vanessa explains what that means to intothegloss:

I’m a ‘Chanel Ambassador’, which means that I basically just formulated a relationship with them, and they introduced me to their line of products and they send things to me before the collections come out. It’s up to me whether or not I like them, or whether or not I wear them. But I actually do happen to like the products and I’m more than happy to wear them, and kind of represent their beauty.
​

 

[fantastical]

Blake Lively talks about her not having a stylist in this video. I'm not sure I believe that she styles herself entirely....but I also don't care that much lol

 

[SabrinaNicole]

I think Blake's style is sort of a hybrid of her own taste with the influence of Eric Damon & her involvement with Chanel....sure I believe she dresses herself, mostly.

The few truly self styled stars have already been mentioned; SJP, Kate Moss, Dita Von Teese, probably Gwen Stefani to a great extent.
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[agee]

Thoughts / Explanations? I get that, she has a publicist and probably has access to designer fashion quite a bit before the rest of us mortals do, but wearing an off-the-runway look a week after the presentation without having a stylist and when doing the shopping yourself? That just seems really weird to me. How would she even have had time to 1) browse the Resort collections 2) pick a favorite look and 3) get the outfit right away all within a week when she's really busy with Awards shows, promo events, etc atm?

I do not mean to bash Blake in any way, I just wonder if that is even possible or if she's really flat out lying in interviews about this.

She probably has an assistant to do the leg work for her and once the call is placed saying that Blake Lively is interested I am pretty sure that the designers are very, very accommodating. I have no reason to believe that she is lying about being her own stylist, but if she made that comment in a recent interview, she may be being shady over the fact that designers come to her as well, and my guess is that the things we see her wearing are not always the result of her reaching out to the designers.

 

[LUXXX]

To me...the equivalent of these stars saying they don't use a stylist is the same as the celebs who write novels and deny credit to the ghostwriter. If someone else is giving you something to elevate your status...then give credit where credit is due. Of course, I believe a few of these starlets have natural style...a few. Blake is not one of them.

 

[ultramarine]

.. and Tilda Swinton ... do you think she has one?

 

[agee]

To me...the equivalent of these stars saying they don't use a stylist is the same as the celebs who write novels and deny credit to the ghostwriter. If someone else is giving you something to elevate your status...then give credit where credit is due. Of course, I believe a few of these starlets have natural style...a few. Blake is not one of them.

But they are not taking credit for designing the outfit, they are stating that they are not paying a third party to dress them, and if they are indeed not paying a third party to dress them then they are not failing to give appropriate credit. I guess it also depends on the context, because only a few people care about this and I am not sure if the nature of some of these interviews is intended to go into the level of detail and address the nuances that the folks in this thread are interested in. Of course I can see someone having fashion expertise in the form of a personal assistant with a deep fashion background, but I don't know if sharing that you do not have a stylist when in fact you are getting fashion advice in other forms or perhaps using the services of very sparingly, is something that will elevate a celebrity enough for them to in turn try to go too far out of her way to misrepresent things.

 

[LUXXX]

All I know is that the way an actress dresses for a red carpet, or even casual paparazzi shots...can really elevate them to another level--as far as getting fashion campaigns and more important magazine covers/features. It's a particularly useful marketing tool for actresses who aren't the most talented or low on the food chain. At one point, Rachel Zoe used to literally dress a group of young hollywood from the time they woke up til the time they went to bed. And then I remember Nicole Richie acting like it was overblown, but we could all see it wasn't when she left Rachel. The results were never the same.

 

[The_Ida]

Does Chloé Sevigny have a stylist?

 

[agee]

All I know is that the way an actress dresses for a red carpet, or even casual paparazzi shots...can really elevate them to another level--as far as getting fashion campaigns and more important magazine covers/features. It's a particularly useful marketing tool for actresses who aren't the most talented or low on the food chain. At one point, Rachel Zoe used to literally dress a group of young hollywood from the time they woke up til the time they went to bed. And then I remember Nicole Richie acting like it was overblown, but we could all see it wasn't when she left Rachel. The results were never the same.

I agree 1000% that the red carpet is a useful marketing tool and that it has been the means, among other things, to stars attaining A/B-list status and I made a similar point in another thread, in fact I went as far as to state that, depending on the person in question, a good publicist and stylist may get you further than acting classes (and quality acting roles). But at the same time, if a starlet wants to dress herself, all that matters is if she gets media coverage, it really does not matter how creative, tasteful or well put together she is, and while I certainly don't object to there being stylist, I think that there is a downside to having every high profile person dressed by a stylist, personally I would rather see an interesting fashion disaster than an event littered with impeccably styled looks.

I think that the situation with Rachel Zoe and Nicole Richie is that they had a falling out and that there were all kinds of rumors swirling around about their relationship, and also since Nicole Richie was trying to break into the fashion industry, and whether true or not, she was trying to establish herself as someone who had her own fashion sense.