We all know I am fashion challenged. No, it’s not just because in an industry of less-is-more, I keep to some standards of
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. And no, it’s not that I am vegan and don’t wear leather shoes or leather belts. It’s more that I don’t have a strong sense of vanity or ego and I just don’t think about my body that much. I lived quite happily this way until “What Not To Wear” snatched me up and publicly made me over about three years ago.
Now that I am acting full-time again and find myself going to publicity events and red carpet events and things like the Emmys and book tours, I have finally found that I need to have a stylist I can call on to help me. After much searching and hysteria on my part, I finally found a stylist I love. I have gushed about her on Kveller before, but while I was in New York for the book tour a few weeks ago, Alison M. Kahn outdid herself.
Based on hours of trying on clothes with me, watching me try to accessorize unassisted and the like, Alie knew that I could hardly be trusted to dress myself all alone in New York. So what did she do? How did I look so put together for each and every talk, book signing, and appearance I did? Well, Alie made me a PowerPoint presentation representing every single day of the book tour, complete with photos of each outfit laid out on the floor. She made notes on what jewelry to wear, and she even reminded me which bra and SPANX to wear for each unique outfit. Her PowerPoint included a “packing list” so that Miles (my 6-year-old) and I could run down the list and throw everything into a suitcase, along with the portable clothes steamer she made me buy for the trip.
(Sidenote: the first time I went to use the steamer on my trip, I managed to dump the entire contents of boiling water all over my new J. Crew sweater. Thankfully, the makeup artist helping me knew how to handle the situation and within an hour, only I knew what had transpired. I didn’t tell Alie that. Guess if she’s reading this, she’s going to have a good laugh at her PhD client who can’t work a steamer!)
It’s not a free service Alie provides being a stylist, but she is very reasonable as stylists go, and she styled a lot of the book tour looks from clothes I already had in my closet which I appreciate both for financial and environmental reasons.
Looking “good” is sort of part of my job now, whether I like it or not, and I really hate dressing up but love when I find people who make it less painful and stressful. Here are a few samples of the PowerPoint so you can see how fashion magic for this celebrity mama is made. Enjoy!
