Thursday, June 26, 2014

Bit-O-Inspiro 53

READing Your Style: Q&A with Susan Ashbrook

One would think that being a stylist is an easy job to have. One would think that picking out combinations of clothes for people to look good in would be such an easy way to make money. The book, The Secrets of Stylists: An insider’s guide to styling the stars, written by Sasha Charnin Morison proves that notion is false. In my fashion, what I came to learn is that the seemingly glamorous and cheeky occupation of styling requires tremendous parts of effort, organization, resourcefulness, and quick thinking, and when dealing with A-list celebrities whose image carries the weight of million dollar Hollywood deals, celebrity styling is almost comparable to a covert operative mission. It’s funny to me when I style mannequins at Forever 21, that most of my time spent is not actually on dressing the mannequins, but prepping the mannequins to be dressed. One has to undress the current mannequins, re-censor their clothes, pick out the clothes, then steam the clothes you picked out, and un-censor those clothes. Also, one has to think about how those clothes are going to fit on the mannequins, and how those clothes are going to fit the aesthetic the store is trying to showcase. After those considerations one must find accessories, and shoes that fit the mannequins. Then one can go about dressing the mannequins, all the while hoping that nothing breaks or rips during the process and that you hadn’t wasted time putting something on backwards. All of this prep work to put clothes on things that aren’t even going to move for two weeks. Think about prepping for a real live person who is going to be out and about in the world, and will be moving around in the clothes! On top of  conducting fittings, and borrowing garments from international design houses, and returning those clothes without damage, other menial considerations are things like will the celebrity be mostly sitting or standing, and how will they look when they do, or how will the garment reflect light when it is photographed. When styling people, the range of preparation is considerably heightened. “The Secrets of Stylist” tells us about the considerations that go into this line of work. My favorite parts of the book were the Stylists Interviews that were scattered throughout. For this series I will highlight some of my favorite interviews from the book because I love to hear what one should know about styling that make the profession so esoteric.

Q&A with Susan Ashbrook


Susan Ashbrook was one of the first people to help designers put celebrities into their clothes. She is a former executive at an amazing archive and resource called Film Fashion, a premier agency matching A-list celebrities with exclusive fashion designers. Today, almost every major design house has a “celebrity division” or V.I.P. position based on this concept.

What’s your advice to young people who are just starting out?

They should work with a great stylist first to learn the ropes. These is more to styling than pulling clothing. They need to return borrowed clothing in a timely manner, and each piece needs to be returned as it was borrowed. You’d be surprised if I told you how many times I have seen expensive clothing wadded up at the bottom of a shopping bag. I also would advise them to watch old movies, when costume designers had the time, money, and knowledge to create custom clothing for talents that accentuated their best features—Joan Crawford’s great shoulders, Lana Turner’s small waist.

How did you get your start?

I started my career in fashion working for Richard Tyler, who was the “it” designer at the time. I loved walking into his office and seeing his inspiration board full of drawings, paintings, and images from magazines that would inspire him to build a collection of clothing each season. However, I am an entrepreneur, so it wasn’t long before I decided other fashion designers might want to be dressing celebrities. My clients included Ralph Lauren, Escada, Herve Leger, Issac Mizrahi, and late Monique Lhuillier and Alber Elbaz, among others.


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Bit-O-Inspiro 52


Style Watch: Inside Chanel (Part 2)

When we wake up, we all have our morning routine that helps us to fully wake up and be ready for the day ahead. Some of us meditate,  or take a relaxing shower. Some of us listen to music that jump start our internal verve. As of late, what I have found to be my roosters wake up call is the short videos of Gabrielle Chanel's life and career that the House of Chanel has posted on it's YouTube channel over the last year and a half. Since the first video posted on October 5, 2012, there are now ten chapters to the series entitled, "Inside Chanel". In my fashion, for anyone interested in fashion history, and understanding the root of style, listening to these videos as I wake up instills a certain fire inside of myself to live life radiantly and continue my sartorial journey in life, as Coco Chanel did once upon a time. 


In my fashion, if one can capture any semblance of Chanel within one's personal style, one will always be in fashion. In my research of The Secrets of Stylists, one cannot deny the legacy of style that Chanel has brought to the world. If you can recall one of IMF.blog's most popular Style Maven posts on Coco Chanel, as the ultimate stylist, she instilled a most true meaning of style that is felt among anyone who seeks to obtain it. I adore the videos because in demystifying the mystery behind Chanel, one gains a grander sense of how to cultivate ones style, for even if you do not own a Chanel blazer, cardigan, or bag, the simple principals of style and elegance that Gabrielle Chanel propose are universal in their application. 


As I continually chant on IMFblog, one must understand the past to build on one's future, and these videos are a perfect way of looking into the past to understand the history of Chanel. If you are going to own a Chanel blazer (as I intend to in the future), there is much more semblance in wearing the jacket when one understands and appreciates the prestige and history in wearing such a garment. When wearing a Chanel piece, the values of style so exclaimed by Gabrielle herself are reflective of the the wearer. She succeeded at impressing her style upon the world. I paid close attention to where she got her influences from and what changes in life shaped her sentiment toward life and style. Understanding the origins of her ideas is what translates through a Chanel piece, and makes the piece more than a frock, and the same is true of one's own style. Figuring out the things in your own life that bring the most meaning to what you have learned about in life is what makes your style recognizable and strong. 


In my fashion, the word "Chanel" is the embodiment of what a women wants to feel like as an individual: empowered, beautiful and timeless, in a simple, easy way. Gabrielle translated those qualities into clothes that is the fashion essential of a women in society. Hopefully that is what you draw to see from some of my favorite short videos I listen to in replay in the mornings. I adore the construction of the videos and the visuals for they too are very indicative of Chanel style. In terms of The Secrets of Stylists, this is a good beginning towards understanding how to approach your style and sartorial choices. If only I understood French so I could understand what Karl Lagerfeld is saying in his interviews in chapter 8 and 9, but perhaps that will be another undertaking I will intend to accomplish in the future. 

Monday, June 23, 2014

READing Your Style: Q&A with Nicole Chavez

One would think that being a stylist is an easy job to have. One would think that picking out combinations of clothes for people to look good in would be such an easy way to make money. The book, The Secrets of Stylists: An insider’s guide to styling the stars, written by Sasha Charnin Morison proves that notion is false. In my fashion, what I came to learn is that the seemingly glamorous and cheeky occupation of styling requires tremendous parts of effort, organization, resourcefulness, and quick thinking, and when dealing with A-list celebrities whose image carries the weight of million dollar Hollywood deals, celebrity styling is almost comparable to a covert operative mission. It’s funny to me when I style mannequins at Forever 21, that most of my time spent is not actually on dressing the mannequins, but prepping the mannequins to be dressed. One has to undress the current mannequins, re-censor their clothes, pick out the clothes, then steam the clothes you picked out, and un-censor those clothes. Also, one has to think about how those clothes are going to fit on the mannequins, and how those clothes are going to fit the aesthetic the store is trying to showcase. After those considerations one must find accessories, and shoes that fit the mannequins. Then one can go about dressing the mannequins, all the while hoping that nothing breaks or rips during the process and that you hadn’t wasted time putting something on backwards. All of this prep work to put clothes on things that aren’t even going to move for two weeks. Think about prepping for a real live person who is going to be out and about in the world, and will be moving around in the clothes! On top of  conducting fittings, and borrowing garments from international design houses, and returning those clothes without damage, other menial considerations are things like will the celebrity be mostly sitting or standing, and how will they look when they do, or how will the garment reflect light when it is photographed. When styling people, the range of preparation is considerably heightened. “The Secrets of Stylist” tells us about the considerations that go into this line of work. My favorite parts of the book were the Stylists Interviews that were scattered throughout. For this series I will highlight some of my favorite interviews from the book because I love to hear what one should know about styling that make the profession so esoteric.

Q&A with Nicole Chavez


California native Nicole Chavez started in film but eventually got a big break working on The OC. She became fast friends with star Rachel Bilson, whom she soon began styling. She also works with Kristen Bell and Scarlett Johansson.

How long do fittings usually take?

It depends on the client. But on average, fifteen looks will probably take an hour and a half to two hours. I have the tailor there. And I take digital photos so I can see what’s working and what’s not. And then I just keep everything pinned. Then I’ll download the pictures, look at everything, and edit that way too. Then I send [the garment] to the tailor to be altered. Everything gets altered. I don’t think I've ever sent anyone down the red carpet without it being pinned.

How many people are on your team?

I have an assistant and an intern. And I sometimes have a third assistant running around if it gets really busy.

Do you collaborate with hair and makeup to figure out the overall look?

Absolutely. It’s a team effort when you deal with me. First, I work with the publicist to get a very detailed list of exactly where the client is going to be, what she is doing. I want to know whether she’ll be standing or sitting and in what kind of chair. Because it makes a huge difference. I’m not going to put someone in a miniskirt who’s going to be sitting on a chair. That’s when I’ll slot in the looks for the events. Then I e-mail hair and makeup to give them details on the looks for the different events; then they at least know and are on board.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

EDITOR'S LETTER: June 2014

Ponchos and kimonos are my favorite items this year.
This colorful fringe poncho was perfect for standing out
at the festival I went to.
I hope that this spring if you didn't get a chance to attend some of the big name festivals such as Coachella, or Bonnaroo, you were able to attend some local festivals in your vicinity. In my fashion, the main thrill of festival season is of course the fashion, especially because if you spend enough time at the event, the look you began the day in is not the look you can expect to end the day in. While getting ready for the festival events I attended this year, I couldn't help but think about how all of our efforts in fashion is simply to prepare for our day most appropriately. With festival dressing one wants to be prepared for anything that could happen while spending all day outside in a field such as, a rain shower, unexpected springtime cold fronts, being sweaty, and the possibility of getting an outfit dirty from walking around on muddy, uneven terrain, all while trying to sustain a cute look in case one happens to run into a hot musician. Fashion, in general, is primarily is about how we can dress ourselves so that we can be prepared to take on the day ahead, whether it is for the office, traveling, or simply walking the streets, but all in all we want to do so in the most flattering manner for who we are, and what we do with our lives. Even if one’s goal is not to be the most spectacular looking person on the planet (which in my fashion should be everyone’s goal), one still wants to appear attractive and comfortable in one’s skin and know that people’s initial perception of who you are is not a fool. Confidence is key to looking amazing, and usually confidence comes from an internal sense of comfort in that you know how to operate your life. The first impression of confidence is one’s dress.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, “Living for Design: The Yves Saint Laurent Story” by the Parisian journalist and writer, Axel Madsen. To understand design and styling, there are so many quotes and insights on YSL’s sartorial philosophies, such as: “If I chose this trade, it was because I think fashion is very important. It reflects the state of mind, the evolution and the future of civilization. Every seven, ten years there’s a great change in how we live that is first expressed in the way we dress.” The reason fashion is such a popular topic, and is an industry that constantly changes is because of the simple fact that life is constantly changing. In our society one has to get up every day, and get dressed. Fashion is essentially about how one adapts to life in that regard, and the industry of fashion works to help make the process of preparing for one’s day most easy. Depending on how we want the world to see us and what we are doing with our lives, we are always trying to find new ways to make our style more manageable and effortless, but it can be difficult to be able to redefine one’s self everyday in a creative light that exudes pride and confidence. Cue, the stylist.

My ongoing theme, The Secrets of Stylists, has been a topic that I have delved deeply into because of the amount of interesting information I have gathered in all my research. I really wanted to be able to speak on the subject with substantial references and insights from industry insiders, past and present to be able to come up with a basic thought process about how to go about styling one’s life. Personally, I am always trying to make the point that fashion is an important industry and is not frivolous and superficial. Styling is hard work that deserves a certain level of respect and appreciation because think about how life would appear without the work of people in the industry. One’s style is ever-evolving whether we want it to or not for the simple fact that life is always evolving. That is why it’s important to keep up with the times, and fashion make it so convenient to understand what the trends are so that one may stay current and adapt to life’s inevitable changes. I plan to continue exploring The Secrets of Stylists and hopefully bring it to close very soon, so please bear with me while I attempt to construct quality posts on the subject with my busy schedule.