Stacy Cox signs the ReveLAtion LA backdrop on the red carpet
Hollywood, CA (LA ELEMENTS) 11/11/16- “When you see your beautiful celebrity or person on the red carpet or on camera or in a movie, so much went into it, blood sweat and tears, blood sweat and tears,” says Stacy Cox, nationally renowned beauty, lifestyle and fashion expert. Cox, who has shared her expertise on such TV shows as The View and Access Hollywood, moderated “Styled By”, a panel discussion with some of the top fashion stylists in the country at ReveLAtion LA, held on November 5th and 6th at Siren Studios in Hollywood.
“Styled By” panel members included Ali Levine, who counts Jesse McCartney and Oona Chaplin among her celebrity clientele, Alison Deyette, whose style know-how has been showcased in such shows as Good Morning America and Steve Harvey, and Laurie Brucker, who was named “LA’s go-to stylist” by the Los Angeles times in 2012 and whose styling tips have been featured in Self Magazine and Forbes.
This panel covered a range of topics and revealed that it’s not just a flair for fashion that makes a successful stylist, but the tenacity to pursue your dreams, even if it means working for free while you build your portfolio, as Laurie Brucker did.
Alison Deyette and Laurie Brucker
“When I first started in LA, I was living in my parent’s house, I hadn’t even gotten a place yet, and I went to music venues where I used to watch live music. I love live music in general but I would watch the shows and the band would come off stage and I’d be like, ‘You guys are awesome but we have to fix your wardrobe. You need a brand. I can do that for you.’ I actually booked my first clients that way. I booked young rising musicians because they didn’t have a thought about what their brand really would be.”
“Especially in this day and age artists in theater, acting and music, you kind of have to have the total package brand. You have to have the Instagram following and the great photos and the total package and the look, so I was really providing these musicians and stars with a marketing tool. Initially, I didn’t know what I was doing, I was kind of ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ kind of thing. Working for free provides you a means to hone your craft in a way that gives you opportunity to speak more confidently about it. The more I worked with clients, the more I could walk up to someone and say, ‘Hi, I’m Laurie and here’s what I can do for you.’ The way you start articulating yourself then becomes a little more refined and defined.”
The more technical part of the job tends to be similar for all of the stylists. “As far as a “pull” is concerned,” says Ali Levine, “most stylists do things pretty similar in the sense that there’s always a routine. So when you receive a project, whether it be, a person whose come in, a celebrity, whatever project it’s for, you know you’re going to have to go out and find clothing for that person. For me, I of course get their sizing, know their measurements, know what I’m working with, know if there’s anything that they don’t wear, will wear, something they love more, if there’s a certain color, fabric, all those notes and things before you go out to do a pull are super important so that you make sure whatever you’re actually going out in the world to get adds up to what they’re expecting.”
“So then once you have all those tools, you can then go to showrooms, or, …I have many relationships with designers all over Los Angeles, even New York, so they’ll ship me things and I’ll find my different “f’s”, fit, fabric, form, that I feel are really important for me and that’s how I start my pull. As I go throughout the day or week looking for those pieces, I then start to put those outfits together, and see what’s cohesive and what will actually work. That’s basically the start of your day. And then of course, being in Los Angeles, you drive everywhere to all those places and haul everything into your car. Your lower back, your arms…I feel like it’s my workout all the time.”
If the “pull” appears to be time consuming, returns are often times considered to be even worse.
“Really, the bitch is the returns,” says Deyette. “ You have to be super organized because everything you pulled, whether bought in a store, pulled from multiple stores, has to go back and you have to check it off your list. So you check it in, you have to check it back out, you have to make sure it looks good whether it gets returned in a package or if you’re dropping it off. You have to make sure the tags go back on and that it’s cleaned.”
“If you buy online for clients and then you’re returning a bunch of stuff, there are plenty of times I don’t just assume because it went back in the box it’s going back to the warehouse. I have to work to make sure that the guy unpacking my stuff at the warehouse actually checks it in. I’ve had plenty of instances where an expensive dress bought in two sizes only one gets checked back in. So I’m constantly checking that to make sure ‘Oh yeah, that Karen Millen dress or this very expensive dress of $600, there were two of them, both went back and somehow there’s only $600 on my AMEX and not for both. I have to reach out on a regular basis I’m going to say, probably once every month.”
“One nice thing about my relationships with designers is that they will offer my clients a discount. I go by a fee so if a designer offers a discount or a commission, I always give it back to the client then I don’t have a motive to specifically sell them something. I’d rather have them get the rewards.”
Despite the time and hard work dedicated to making a client look amazing on the red carpet, last minute disasters can happen and hopefully, there’s a savvy stylist close by to save the day.
From left to right: Ali Levine, Stacey Cox, Alison Deyette and Laurie Brucker
“Less than a week ago, at the Reality TV Awards,” says Levine, “one of my clients was walking the red carpet in a gorgeous long gown and someone happened to step down on her gown really hard. She walked and the gown went rip, and I saw it happening as I was there on the carpet. I had to salvage it because she still has to look amazing for interviews and walk through. So, I run over and I’m trying to move the skirt over as much as possible. I have of course topstick, needle and thread, the whole nine yards, and I fix it as much as I can so it looks somewhat camera ready because she’s got to get through the rest of her carpet. Afterwards, I immediately called the designer to let them know, ‘Hey, I am so sorry, I kind of faux fixed this as much as I could, but it is ruined, it is damaged. Please let us know how you want to handle it.’ In that situation, talking about relationships and troubleshooting, designers really appreciate your honesty. This designer in particular was so happy with the press that they just let it go. They were like, ‘You do so much for me all the time, I get so much press from you and it’s so much appreciated.’
“That’s my point is with these relationships…you know if you went to a store and that happened you would have to buy that dress. For me, especially with celebrities, these showrooms are key in my relationships because I’m able to loan or rent or get something and not have to worry about dealing with stores or being on consignment.”
Communication is key in any profession. Working with celebrities and publicists requires not only excellent communication, but on occasion, some serious diplomacy skills as well.
“You can meet some really lovely publicists who you really connect with,” says Deyett. “Particularly when working with magazines and freelance styling with magazines and TV, I’ll sometimes work with a publicist who when we are looking at their client and I say, ‘So, what size are they?’ They’ll say, ‘She says she’s a two….’ You get a vibe so here’s what you do: You pull in sizes 2’s, 4’s and 8’s, and your plan is just keep them fitting so they’re not recognizing, so they’ll see some size 2’s.”
“I’ve been on some shoots where the music star will complain because she’s not fitting into the clothes but she’s like, ‘I’m a two! I’m a two! All my clothes at home are two’s!’ You just have to as a stylist convey that they look great on camera. Who cares about the size? No one is stopping you on the street and checking the label of your size. If you look great, they’re going to say that you look great and who are you wearing? They’re not going to say, ‘what size are you wearing?’
“Then on the other side you sometimes don’t get your connection to the celebrity because their publicist is so protective and almost thinks they’re on par with the celebrity and that becomes so difficult. I’ve actually gotten jobs for television because the person’s publicist is so difficult to work with that that someone will come to me and say, ‘I’m coming to you because you’re just so much easier to work with.’
An educational background in a fashion related field can certainly help (Ali Levine has a Bachelor’s Degree from Fashion Institute of Technology, Laurie Brucker has one in Apparel Merchandising from Indiana University) however, if there was one common driving force to maintaining status as a leading fashion stylist in an especially competitive industry it would have to be creating and nurturing professional relationships. Or as Brucker put it, “I think the most important thing though is the relationship building. You build those relationships, you take care of the clothes, you treat everything and every person you work with with respect and love. There are too many stylists out there who notoriously are not the nicest of people as told to me by other people. I find that when you are good and nice and give respect that goes a long way.”
It’s not everyday that four acclaimed stylists are gathered under one roof. We took advantage of this opportunity and asked the question we know you are most curious about: Which fashion item in your closet is your absolute favorite?
Alison Deyette
“I don’t have a specific piece but I will say that I am a dress fiend. Half of my closet is dresses!”
Stacy Cox
“A Helmut Lang little white jacket with leather on the top. I always say it’s a Jennifer Aniston piece. You put it on with your nice fitted pair of denim jeans and a basic black or white tank top and a snazzy pair of strappy heals or shoes and it sets you up for success. I go out in that white Helmut Lang jacket that I got at Wasteland, the second hand store in Studio City. I feel like I’m on point in that white Helmut Lange second-hand jacket.”
Ali Levine
For me, I would have to say heels. These are Givenchy, probably one of my favorite pairs; they’re a total go to. I’ve definitely throw them off and on to a client on a photo shoot. I just love heels, I feel like as soon as I put heels on I start to feel like myself all over again.”
Laurie Brucker
“I love heels. I’m a big proponent of always wearing one item in your wardrobe that just stands out. I pick colored shoes and ones that are just unique and different. The one particular shoe that I love the most is a pair that I got in Paris at Manoush. It’s like tan with big neon yellow flowers all over it. It’s like so out of control, not normal but it has like a nice mini stacked heel so I can wear it all day. It makes me feel great when I wear it because it’s a great purchase and it has a great memory attached to it.
Expert panel discussions were only part of this two-day fashion event, which kicked off with an intimate breakfast with designer Michael Costello. There were also fashion runway shows, (keep checking back for our coverage) and pop up shops offering trendsetting jewelry and fashion from the following brands:
From left to right: Arhaus CEO Ambriel with designer Jessie Liu
Jessie Liu The luxurious texture of the Jessie Liu line is likely due to the fact that the San Francisco based designer favors silk and lambskin leather for her collections. A graduate of the Academy of Art University, Jessie creates all of her own graphics and artworks, giving her work a bold aesthetic. Jessie debuted her Autumn/Winter 2016 line at the Daytime Emmy’s gifting suite.
Design by Oz + Otz
“We are 18 months old and this line was founded by myself and my niece, Princess”, says Stacey Stewart, co-founder of Oz + Otz. “We decided that we wanted to develop a line that celebrates women and their curves. No matter what size she is, her curves are ok. We have four size categories: Just Enough, A Handful, Something to Hold and Much To Love. Our silhouettes are pencil skirts and shirts. Very simple. You can take it up, you can take it down. We call it “ready, set, go-wear” We only make 50 pencil skirts per design. Once we get to 50 we discontinue and move on to another design.”
Foxbait Founded by LA based artists and designers Camille MacMillan and Mathew Westray, this company is dedicated to creating contemporary, sophisticated clothing without sacrificing comfort.
Vassari Boutique This brand offers jewelry utilizing precious metals, semi-precious stones and trendy designs.
Other outstanding brands offering pop up shops at this event were: Nicole Miller, Stussy, Derivative Apparel and Belle Neptune
ReveLAtion LA was produced by ParkerWhitaker Productions
Cover photo of Stacy Cox, Laurie Brucker, Alison Deyette and Ali Levine.
All photography by Vincent A Chavez except where otherwise noted.
For more information on the stylists and fashion brands mentioned in this article please visit their websites.
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