When stars look so extraordinarily beautiful in photographs, not all the magic is in the star or the photographer. The stylist who dresses the actor or actress for the camera plays a crucial role. We asked five celebrity stylists to name the high point of their styling careers and explain what they did that turned out so right.
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ANGELINA JOLIE STYLED BY JEANNE YANG
"I styled Angelina Jolie in a wonderful collaborative effort with the photographer Isabel Snyder for a 'Women We Love' feature in Esquire magazine [February 1998]. This was when Gia had just come out, and Angelina wasn't as well known as she is now. She's so sexy and she's got the body of a model--in a word, scorching. So I thought. Why not use it to full capacity? I didn't want to make her look too rough or too overtly sexual--I wanted a more feminine, sweet look--so I put her in a citrus-tangerine velvet and chiffon wraparound mini-dress from Valentino and we contrasted the softness of it with a very severe '20s bob haircut. It was phenomenal. Angelina loves the camera. We had her stretched out on a couch with a pair of leather Richard Tyler stilettos that perfectly complemented the dress. She looked amazing."
LARA FLYNN BOYLE STYLED BY RICCI DEMARTION
"One of my favorite results was the Lara Flynn Boyle cover of Angeleno magazine last January, shot by Davis Factor. I'd never met Lara before the shoot, but I had a feeling that she'd be really fun--and she was. She was willing to take risks and play with dramatic clothes. I'd pulled a lot of clothes for her to try on, but once she put on that Carolina Herrera black feather dress with the Rafinity necklace, it was magical. There are very few people who want that old Hollywood glamour look, but she carried it off with style and ended up looking very fashion-forward."
CATE BLANCHETT STYLED BY JESSICA PASTER
"I styled Cate Blanchett, who was photographed by Anna Williams, in New York for Time Out New York magazine just after Elizabeth was released. Cate has a very clear idea of her own style, and I wanted to emphasize her individuality. Also, she has this great sense of warmth about her and stressing that warmth became a big part of my theme. We looked at a lot of clothes, but in the end we went with a muted brown Gaultier skirt and a gray sweater also tinged with brown. The minute Cate put that outfit on, I knew it was right. She looked dressed up but still very sexy and warm, and she still retained her own style."
JESSICA ALBA STYLED BY VINCENT BOUCHER
"I styled Jessica Alba for the Young Hollywood issue of the British Sky Magazine last April, which was shot by Steve Shaw. Jessica is quite reserved and not all hard-edged. She's very sexy, but in a quite way, and that's how I wanted her to look. I thought about that almost smoldering quality of hers as I was choosing clothes--everything we pulled covered her body far more than showed it off. We avoided flashier colors, like gold, and bare, strappy, sexy dresses. Jessica was very open-minded about young designers-she's definitely not a 'Where's my Prada?' type of girl, I finally chose the maroon top by Custo Barcelona Because of the color-maroon is so sexy-and its almost Old World feel. I also put her in a slitted leather skirt by Rozae Nichols, a young L.A. designer, The Jimmy Choo shoes were a great detail-no sexier shoes exist. These were especially cool because they were almost like a civilized way of going barefoot-they were nude and showed a lot a skin, but the heels make them sexy. As a stylist, what's most important is the end of photograph. To me, this one doesn't read. These are my clothes; it reads 'Jessica Alba.'"
CATHERINE ZETA-JONES STYLED BY GEORGE BLODWELL
"The styling for Catherine Zeta-Jones on the February 1999 cover of Movieline, shot by photographer Alberto Tolot, is one of the best examples of my work, I think. When I found that black velvet dress by L.A. designer Eduardo Lucero, I freaked. I said, "This is it." The look was daring without revealing décolletage, and it was classy. But it was also slightly edgy and--most important--very different, very fashion-forward. I hadn't seen many dresses that were cut so deeply on the sides, and I knew that that would make a beautiful side shot, so I insisted on the photo being taken from the side. From that angle, even though the dress was plain black, the fuchsia lining was visible, as was Catherine's beautiful hack and a glimpse of her hips. Totally sexy."
THEY NEVER LOOKED BETTER ON THE RED CARPET
Styling stars for events has a different dynamic than photo shoots. Here, our five stylists recount their favorite moments in the live arena.
George Blodwell
"For the 1997 Golden Globe Awards, I dressed Halle Berry in a yellow-gold, sequined Missoni gown. At the time, neither print dresses nor backless dresses were worn much, so when I saw this, I knew it would be really different. Halle's body is so beautiful that we had to show it off--especially her back and her legs, which at the time were two areas often neglected by designers. The funny thing was that Demi Moore originally had the dress on loan--she was planning to wear it to Cannes that year. But I knew Halle would look perfect in it, so we fought for it and Demi finally gave in. The only part of the dress I wasn't totally certain about was the color, but when Halle put it on, it brought her to life. In fact, she loved the dress so much that she ended up keeping it."
Vincent Boucher
"For a recent photo shoot with Mena Suvari, I chose a long-sleeved vintage Pucci jacket from Decades in LA. A lot of designers, like Versace and Missoni, have paid homage to Pucci lately, because there's something undeniably distinctive about the look, Mena loved the jacket so much that she wore it with a pair of black leather pants to this year's MTV Movie Awards, and she looked terrific. There's a danger in dressing someone as young as Mena in clothes that are too advanced for her age, so my goal was to enhance her youth and make her look hip and very New York chic. The bold color of the jacket was sexy and perfect for her because of her blonde hair."
Jessica Paster
"It's a tie between Kim Basinger's light green Escada gown and Minnie Driver's vivid red Halston dress by Randolph Duke. Both were for the Academy Awards ceremony in 1998. Kim and I collaborated on her dress and opted for light green because it hadn't been done before. With Minnie, I knew exactly how I wanted her to look: simple yet beautiful. Because of her hair and complexion, I wanted her in red, but a very specific red, not orange-red. The Halston turned out to be the perfect color. The look we achieved was simple yet modern and young, glamorous but not sparkly. And we had a really good time, which I consider to be very important."
Ricci DeMartino
"Working with Lisa Kudrow for the 1999 Academy Award ceremony was definitely one of my high points. It was the first time I'd ever dressed someone for the Oscars. She wore a pave diamond fitted tank top with a fitted full silk skirt by Randolph Duke. I had so many different ensembles for her to try on, but this one really fit her personality--it was both elegant and beautiful."
Jeanne Yang
"For the Golden Globes ceremony in 1999, I dressed Calista Flockhart in a white skirt and a black top by Pamela Dennis, It was a great classic look. Ten years from now, Calista won't look back and be embarrassed about that outfit. Finding a timeless look is ideal, and it's something I try to do for everybody. I think the most important thing for a stylist to do when a star is appearing at an event is to make it seem like you're not even there--like the person didn't use a stylist."
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