Who What Wear

Celebrity and Runway Style for Real Life

Hillary Kerr, Katherine Power

• Publisher: Abrams Image
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780810980457
• eBook ISBN:
  9781613122426
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Fashion Design

A smart and stylish fashion and beauty guide from the creators of the popular website WhoWhatWear.com. The founders of WhoWhatWear.com share their tricks of the trade, translating high fashion in a low-fuss, accessible way. Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power, two former Elle magazine editors, are the fashionable duo behind the booming website. In Who What Wear they've compiled the best of their tips and advice into one stylish compendium. Trends come and go at a dizzying pace and it can be challenging to just get dressed in the morning! Kerr and Power banish those fashion faux-pas fears and give readers the tools necessary to update their own personal styles and recognize and incorporate the latest runway and Hollywood looks. Celebrity contributors such as Rachel Zoe, Nicole Richie, and Rachel Bilson also dish their insider-style secrets alongside images from the runway and beyond. " Who What Wear is a dream for every aspiring fashionista... it helps make fashion accessible to everyone." —Rachel Zoe "WhoWhatWear.com is one of my favorite fashion sites... you can spend hours on the site—I do." —Nicole Richie

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

COCO CHANEL

style by inspiration

Style is a tricky thing: everyone wants it, and few have it. Creating your own personalized version can be an expensive, time-consuming, what-was-I-thinking?-filled process that goes on for years. And if that wasn’t enough, no matter how committed you are to the quest, great results are not guaranteed! It’s enough to make anyone get annoyed, give up, and go buy a lifetime supply of uniforms, just to avoid having to make any more fashion choices!

But let’s assume, just for a moment, that you are up for a little self-discovery style adventure. No matter if you’re a total freshman who can’t tell the difference between Marni and Mayle or the Chancellor of Fashion herself with a closetful of next season’s Balenciaga bags and vintage Philippe Chevallier sunglasses, everyone could use a little help along the way. Just think of us as your friendly tour guides—sans pleat-front khakis, of course—who will help you learn how to become a better-dressed, more fashionable, style-savvy version of yourself.

Now, before we hit the metaphorical trail and start searching for that rare and covetable beastie, stylus personalus—otherwise known as personal style—let’s discuss our game plan. Regardless of your budget’s size or the current state of your closet, it’s important to do your research. We’re not talking about cramming your brain full of fashion facts and stats—instead, we want you to focus on the one simple thing that is the crux of every excellent outfit or admirable look: inspiration.

SECRET STYLE WEAPON:
inspiration boards

At the Who What Wear office, we have an entire wall that’s dedicated to inspiration. It’s a constantly changing hodgepodge of our favorite runway images, celeb photos, editorials torn from our beloved overseas magazines (Paris Vogue in particular), fabric swatches, album covers, movie stills (we love Hitchcock), ad campaigns, black-and-white photography, and product shots of yummy coats, hats, handbags—whatever! The oversized collage might seem random and crazy, but it actually displays everything and everyone who inspires us and informs our work on a daily basis. The wall is a shrine to fashion and our favorite tastemakers—so it’s is really quite fabulous looking and definitely adds an arty edge to the décor—but at the end of the day, it’s just a really gigantic inspiration board.

People often pooh-pooh the inspiration board, as they associate it with the sort of scrapbook-style assemblages you make with your junior high pals, but we promise that it’s actually a powerful tool to help discover your personal style. Plus, by creating a mood board, you’ll be in fine company: most fashion insiders, including designers and editors, make new ones each season. The board lets these stylesetters channel their creative energy in a concentrated, playful way and provides them with a risk-free environment to try new things and experiment.

We highly encourage you to create your own version at home, though of course you don’t need to dedicate a whole wall to your board. If you don’t have enough room for a regular bulletin board, or fear that it might look too juvenile, just use the backside of your closet door, or even the inside of your bathroom cabinet, instead. Perfectionists take note: your board shouldn’t be pre-planned or something that needs to reflect your taste in twenty years. It doesn’t need to be cohesive or have a clear direction; it just needs to appeal to you in some way. Even if your instincts seem ridiculous—where would you even wear that avant-garde dress?—if an image appeals to you, grab it!

Just think of this as a simple snapshot of your taste at this particular moment in your life. You know how a mix tape (aw, we’re dating ourselves) or playlist can conjure up a vibe or transport you to a specific moment? Your inspiration board should be similarly evocative and current.

hillary’s board

katherine’s board

making your inspiration board

As for the actual nuts and bolts of assembling your inspiration board, there are only three things to keep in mind.

1

nothing’s off limits

As we keep saying, inspiration can come from anything and anywhere, so keep your eyes peeled for things that delight you. Fabrics, photos, magazines tears, and personal mementos are all great sources for mood board materials.

2

follow your instincts

Let your subconscious take over and guide your mood board selections. You don’t have to understand why you’re pulling something for your mood board; you just have to find it interesting. If you pick things that spark an immediate reaction, you’re going to have an honest and revealing board.

3

embrace fantasy

The point of creating a mood board is to delve deep into your desires, so don’t stop and analyze what you’re selecting. This is not the time to think about whether or not a particular silhouette would be flattering on your figure or if your accessories selections are in your budget, so just ignore those realities. You’ll have plenty of time to be practical later!

interpreting your board

Once you’ve spent an afternoon—or an eon—creating your inspiration board, what the heck does it all mean? Sometimes it’s easy to see a pattern. If you’re drawn to platform peep-toe pumps, fishnets, peekaboo bangs and pin curls, tap pants, and pictures of sultry stars like Veronica Lake, your style is very 1940s femme fatale.

Of course, not every board will showcase such a “pure” look, which is certainly fine. Many of our favorite fashion icons blend a couple of different styles together to create their signature looks. If your board shows a seemingly incongruous mash-up of inspirations and you’re unsure about what it all means, don’t freak out. Here are a few examples of boards that hopefully will help you understand the deep mysteries of your style!

board examples

---

1

on your board:

Strappy flat sandals, beaded accessories, fringe bags, vintage concert T-shirts, stills or posters from Festival Express and Velvet Goldmine, high-waisted jeans, oversized aviators, pictures of Anita Pallenberg circa 1969, paisley prints, metallic fabrics.

defining themes:

Earthy hippie-chick standards, glammed up with sexy rock ’n’ roll elements.

translation:

Bohemian Rocker (think: Kate Hudson, Sienna Miller)

---

2

on your board:

Motorcycle boots, skinny jeans, latex leggings, a picture of Joan Jett on stage in the late seventies, images from Alexander Wang’s early runway shows, body-conscious dresses, bondage-influenced jewelry, little leather jackets.

defining themes:

Tomboy insouciance fused with sexy punk pieces.

translation:

Vicious Chic (think: Erin Wasson, Rihanna)

---

3

on your board:

Editorial shots from Bazaar in the forties (preferably by Richard Avedon), slinky pencil skirts, strong-shouldered blazers, leopard-print accessories, Joan Crawford in Humoresque, spike heels, patent clutches, petite hats.

defining themes:

Forties classics toughened up with eighties bombshell basics.

translation:

Hypercolor Heroine (think: Claudia Schiffer, Scarlett Johansson)

---

4

on your board:

Movie stills of Grace Kelly in Rear Window and Faye Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair, perfectly worn-in Levi’s 501 jeans, ballet flats, crisp white button-downs, simple column or Grecian dresses in solid colors, vintage brooches, ladylike clutches, racer-back tanks, Michael Kors and Narciso Rodriguez runway images.

defining themes:

Timeless silhouettes energized with a few sporty pieces.

translation:

Classic Americana (think: Katie Holmes, Reese Witherspoon)

---

5

on your board:

Clunky spectacles, APC jackets, wedge heels, long-strap shoulder bags or briefcase totes, Margot Tenenbaum, high-waisted wide-leg jeans, quirky colors, the Lisbon sisters in The Virgin Suicides, paparazzi shots of Michelle Williams, milkmaid braids, penny loafers.

defining themes:

Laid-back seventies style mixed with a dash of geek chic and French flair.

translation:

Subversive Prepster (think: Kirsten Dunst, Chloe Sevigny)

---

6

on your board:

Super-pointy stiletto heels, Balmain and Givenchy runway images, skinny black pants, kohl eyeliner and bare lips, tuxedo jackets, Alaia bondage belts, textured ankle boo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1: Style by Inspiration
• 2: Not Every Trend Is for Every Body
• 3: Runway to Real Way
• 4: Investing in Trends
• 5: Cycle + Celeb = Trend
• 6: The Time-out Corner
• 7: In the Beauty Closet
• 8: What to Wear Where
• 9: Most Frequently Asked Style Questions
• 10: Staying Ahead from Home
• Glossary
• Photography Credits
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• About whowhatwear.com