Secrets of the Red Carpet: Creating a Red Carpet Outfit Begins with the Basics! #AD

2016’s ‘red carpet’ season is well on its’ way in Los Angeles. With the Grammys scheduled for Monday, February 15, the ‘season’ is well on its way with Golden Globes, Critics Choice, Producers Guild, SAG, and DGA wrapped there are still a few more events on calendar like BAFTA, Grammys, Independent Spirit Awards and finishing up with the Academy Awards on February 28. This list is tightly curated since it doesn’t include movie premiere or awards that are regarded as popular votes by fans. So for celebrities, there are a lot of red carpets to be walking – and a lot of red carpet outfits to put together for those events.
The questions I get asked the most often is how do celebrities put together these outfits? How do they afford all the clothing and jewelry they are wearing?

Here are my answers:
1) Stylists assist celebrities in putting together the outfits. Yes, celebrities pay a stylist for their time and their connections to designer lines.
2) Clothing, shoes, bags and jewelry are sometimes gifted but more often than not, they are loaned to celebrity with return within a certain amount of time guaranteed by a credit card.
Celebrities and stylists for celebrities are often invited to parties or suites where they can see jewelry, dresses, shoes and/or bags they can borrow. For them, the beautiful fashions they wear to parties and major events are just a phone call (to the stylist) away.

Disclosure
I was provided product and compensated by Depend for this post. As always, my opinions and editorial features are my own words, thoughts and feelings.

While mere mortals like you and me typically aren’t invited to these celebrity events, we don’t qualify to borrow designer clothing unless it’s borrowed from a well-heeled friend or you use websites like “RentTheRunway.com”. Events like anniversaries, reunions, weddings, vacation trips and even business trips qualify as personal ‘red carpet’ events. While you might think about using a personal shopper at a department store, I have some tips on how to create your own red carpet look that might give you direction and inspiration. You might be pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t require spending a lot of money.

Focus on the Basics:

What does that mean? It’s the basics of fashion pieces and also beauty products.

Basics are special pieces of clothing that you love and they look great on you because of style and color. You always reach for them because of the way you feel wearing them. Look at color and style as well as the item type to get a sense of your personal style.

Where to hunt first:

• Your closet
  Always shop your closet with a bestie to see if you missed a dress or special something. Always try the garment on.. always! If the item work s– particularly if it’s a dress– find accessories that will take it’s style quotient up a notch or three.
•   Shop  someone else’s closet.
  Talk to a  sibling or best friend who is your size or your style and ask if you could  cruise their closet for ideas with the idea to borrow  shoes, bags, jewelry  or clothing .
•  Shop vintage stores
  Places like American Cancer Society ‘Discovery” stores  or Salvation Army or Buffalo Exchange have lots of stock. While time-consuming to find items that  might work for you, they are a fraction of the cost
• Check out bargain stores 
  www.saksoff5th.com, www.lastcall.com/ and 6PM.com . Check both brick and mortar stores in the various outlet malls as well as online. If you can snag discount coupons from an outlet mall, it makes the drive to the mall worth it.
• Sample sales 
  If there are sample sales in a large metropolitan area near you, go and shop!
• Ebay.com
  Hunt on-line for specific items on Ebay. Make sure you know your size for that garment. Ask the seller about measurements.Note that I featured a lot of clearance and bargain stores. You can find pantyhose, great bags, dresses, jewelry and shoes for a fraction of the price. Don’t just look at the price tag. Comparison shopping is a must!

  You might be looking at this list and think I am crazy because it’s impossible. It’s not impossible. I have done it. I bought this dress from a sample sale.

  

  It’s embellished silk charmeuse and chiffon dress from Sara Feinberg that originally retailed for about $250-$400 in boutiques. I paid $79 at the sample sale! No alterations to it were necessary.

  Here’s my red carpet moment in this dress. I was invited to be a guest of the 2006 Emmys!
  
  I also bought the shoes on sale for $40, borrowed a handbag from a friend (Thank you Justine!!) The jewelry was borrowed from a brand and it turns out it was significantly more expensive than I thought it was. The only negative about this dress was that I had to be taped into it: back, sides and bust. There was no margin for error. That’s what I wore 10 years ago and I still remember how much pain it caused when I had to remove the tape that night. OUCH! I chose the wrong undergarment too opting for sexy and it got uncomfortable about 3-4 hours later because I was dressed by 1:30 PM, left for the Emmys at 2 PM and we were there at 3 PM for an event that started at 5 PM for a live broadcast of two plus hours and then dinner on-site for another 2 hours. Total of more than 8 hours in the dress – tape and all.
  That was 2006 and in 2016 I would do it differently. I still fit into the dress and still can’t find a bra that would work with that dress.
  Today I would wear something a touch more forgiving simply for the comfort factor. I don’t want to be taped into a dress entirely and have to wonder if the tape will hold (*It did!)
  Here’s what I would wear today if I were invited to some uber-fancy party:

  

  Nice dress that is a red column slip dress with another sheer layer over it in the print. I bought it at the American Cancer Society Discovery store for $40. I had the hem redone so that it was even. Wearing the same shoes that I did to the 2006 Emmys. I have a small handbag but I might borrow one from a friend that would carry gum and maybe an energy bar. In this photo, every piece of jewelry is mine and I don’t have to worry about losing it.

  

  This photo shows you the jewelry I have on in that photo. There are relatively expensive pieces here that I bought on sale (Gorjana; Kami Lerner), along with pieces that were bought from Target, GMA Deals & Steals and gifts from various events.

  What’s key with this dress are the colors, the fit (which skims the body). The shoes have a lower heel and are comfortable to wear (and the $40 I spent in 2006 has stood the test of time) What’s really important about this dress are the foundation garments. This one allows me to not be taped into the dress. I am wearing a supportive bra that gives me a little boost. I also believe in wearing underwear that is more about comfort than sexy. Sexy is great but sexy can be uncomfortable. You need to make sure that what you are wearing in terms of bras, underwear and/or shapers that you can easily remove them. You don’t need to feel like a sausage in shape-wear that makes using the restroom difficult and uncomfortable. (Been there, tried that.) And if you have health issues like bladder leakage, it’s critical to have the right undergarments that help prevent an embarrassing situation. Nothing can ruin a great event for someone like bladder leakage.

  Why mention bladder leakage? I have friends and family who don’t go to fancy, fun events because of bladder leakage. They don’t want to wear the old-fashioned undergarments that look like diapers. If it’s hard to get on and off because the item is bulky, it just makes the situation even more stressful.

  In case you are thinking that you don’t know anyone with bladder leakage, think again. More than 51 million American women experience bladder leakage. That’s 1 in 3 women! That’s an even higher number than I expected. That’s a lot of people who can’t dress up and celebrate because of bladder leakage. This is not the fault of women not taking care of themselves and it’s not due to age. It’s due to ‘life events’ like pregnancy, childbirth, even diabetes can cause it.

  Because women ought to be able to dress up and not worry about wearing a thick undergarment that shows under ordinary clothing, Depend has come up with something new. Depend brand introduced Depend Silhouette Active Fit briefs, a moderate-absorbency brief featuring a thin design for complete comfort and the trusted protection of the Depend brand.

  

  This is a photo of a new product. It’s unique in that in every package there are both beige and black briefs. Depend Silhouette Active Fit briefs have a lower rise for an underwear-like look, fit and feel. The product is made in cloth-like fabric that is smooth under clothes. You can wear Depend Silhouette Active Fit briefs under any clothing and it’s unnoticeable. By the way, if you visit the Depend site, you can get a free sample plus a coupon to make it virtually painless to purchase the Depend Silhouette Active Fit briefs
  .
  Wondering how I know? The proof is in the pudding.
  

  I am wearing the Depend Silhouette Active Fit briefs in the smaller size range (SM/MED) in the photo on the left. On the right I am wearing my regular underwear. I had no problems with my dress because it had a cloth-like texture, laid flat and fit pretty well. The other photo is me in my typical undergarments and there is no difference visually.
  (Did you like how my dog snuck into the photo? She likes to be the center of attention!)

  I would like to tell you that it fit perfectly but I can’t. I am smaller and thinner than their size SM/MED chart allowed for. So it was a bit higher rise than I had anticipated and it wasn’t quite as fitted as I thought it would be. Despite all that, I could go out in that dress or in one of my skinny, size 25 jeans in the briefs without the briefs being noticeable.

  No matter what age you are, you can go out in jeans, shorts or gorgeous dresses and never have to worry about bladder leakage again, courtesy of Depend Silhouette Active Fit briefs. They look like mid-rise cloth briefs and are available in both beige and black.

  This is a product you need to try if you have a bladder leakage problem. Visit www.Underwareness.com to request a free product sample and get a coupon.

  The ‘beauty’ portion of this article will be featured in a separate post!

  Stevie Wilson
  LA-Story.com