Issue Date: March 18, 2007

In this article 6 truths of dressing Spring must-haves from Stacy and Clinton Enter: Nominate yourself for TLC's "What Not to Wear!" Also this week Rachel Roy: Fashion's rising star

Spring Fashion Report '07

What to wear

"What Not to Wear's" Stacy and Clinton reveal the most valuable lessons from the hit TV show.

By Michele Hatty

It takes the same amount of time to dress badly as it does to dress well -- if you know what to look for," says Stacy London, co-host of TLC's "What Not to Wear."

And she should know. London, 37, and counterpart Clinton Kelly, 38, have overseen nearly 200 wardrobe transformations as the show's resident fashion gurus. On their popular show (Fridays, 9 p.m. ET), they've helped women -- and some men -- of all shapes and sizes say goodbye to their old ways of dressing and hello to clothing that makes them look better than they ever thought possible. And along the way, the duo has learned much about how the average American woman approaches what passes for personal style.

"If you want your image to be a certain way, if you want to look put together on a daily basis," London says, "you have to work for it. It's just like anything else. If you want to get in shape, you gotta go to the gym. This is a process like anything else. And you can't give up. You have to keep trying."

"People just want [dressing well] to be magic," Kelly concurs. Still, he says, if you follow a few basic principles, you'll find yourself staring into a neatly edited closet full of functional fashion tailored to fit your body as it really is, rather than an overstuffed one overflowing with fashion mistakes.

That's because the key to having great style "is being very honest with yourself about what your body shape is and then finding clothes that highlight the things that you like and hide the things that you don't," London says. "And that could be as basic as a pair of khakis."

So, as the dreary, dark duds of winter make way for an explosion of spring color on clothing racks across the country, we asked Kelly and London to share with us the universal truths they've uncovered, closet by closet, about the way we dress.

1 Four pieces that always work
"There are a few things that work on every woman," Kelly says. "The structured jacket, the straight-leg trouser, the pointy-toed shoe and the A-line skirt. It doesn't matter what body type you have, those four items of clothing generally work on everyone."

And they will do different things for different body types, London says. "If you are heavy in the middle, the A-line skirt gives you the illusion of a smaller waist by extending the hips. And if you don't have curves, it helps give you volume where you need it -- in the hips."

Similarly, a structured jacket is the best way to camouflage a tummy. "It has a built-in hourglass shape," Kelly says. "If you don't necessarily have an hourglass shape, then it makes people think you do. The jacket does the work for you."

A straight-leg trouser presents a straight line up and down the body, creating what London calls an "elongated verticality." "Let's say you have skinny legs and big hips," she says. "If you try to emphasize your legs, your hips look disproportionately bigger. The straight-leg trouser equalizes volume and width so that you get a straighter, narrower line all the way down."

And, Kelly says, pointy-toed shoes further elongate the line of the leg. "When you have a little extra visual height, your leg looks longer because we've extended the toe box of your foot," he says. "And that's just a trick of the eye."

2 Not all fabrics are created equal
Look for fabrics with structure and weight to them, like cotton canvas and wool, London says. "The idea is to get the clothes to create some of the ideal shape you want your body to have, whether it be that hourglass shape or something that tricks the eye into thinking the leg looks longer," she says. "Fabrics with more weight hold their structure better than chiffon or silk or something that just literally falls wherever it falls on your body and lays over it without giving it any shape."

3 A good tailor is a fashionista's best friend
"If you do not have fit, you do not have anything," Kelly says, matter-of-factly. "You can spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a wardrobe with the best fabrics in the world by the best designers in the world, and if they do not fit you, they will look cheap."

But the opposite also can be true, he notes. "You can takea $50 jacket and shorten the sleeves to where they should hit you on the wrist, narrow the sleeves a little bit, maybe take it in on the sides. Do $50 worth of alterations. Now you've spent $100 on the jacket altogether. But it can end up looking like a $300 or $400 jacket because it fits you perfectly."

The key to good tailoring is to start with a garment that fits the widest part of your body (i.e., with a jacket, it might be your bust or your tummy) and then have a tailor take in the rest.

4 The numbers can lie
"Women are never the same size in any given designer as they are in another designer," London says. "You'll be a different size if you choose a different cut of pant. But women get locked into this psychological torture that they have to be a size 8 and that's the only size they can be. They don't realize that this designer cuts smaller and if you went to a 10, those pants would look fantastic."

Instead of fixating on the numbers, Kelly says, shop around and find the right cut and style to really flatter your body. "Fashion and style are smoke and mirrors. You don't know what my body looks like without clothes on, but hey, if I look good in a suit, who cares?"

5 The mirror can lie, too
"No woman sees herself correctly," London says. Adds Kelly: "We can't tell you how many times women have come onto our set and said, 'They don't make clothes for my body.' It's like, what, do you have a third arm? Every woman we've had on the show has not had a realistic body image. We've had women who are size 0 tell us they are fat --"

"-- And we've had women who are really, clearly, a size 16 putting themselves in size 10 pants," London finishes. "Everybody has body dysmorphia."

6 Your closet holds more than clothes
"We believe in having fewer, high-quality items in your closet, items that fit you really well, than having a closet that's full of junk," Kelly says. "There's emotional baggage in your closet right now. Most people have sizes in there that they haven't fit into in 10 years."

"For us, style is more about personal power than it is about living up to any standard of what style is," London says. "And that's a lot easier to do once you take away the emotional stuff that's attached to creating style."

Cover and cover story photographs by Mike Ruiz for USA WEEKEND; illustrations by Sandra Bruce for USA WEEKEND Hair by Regee Drummer for Oliver Piro; makeup by Matthew Nigara for Sally Harlor; styling by Jeff Neff

Cover clothing: dress by Reiss; jewelry by Lee Angel; jacket by Ted Baker; jeans by Rock & Republic; shirt by Hickey Freeman; pocket square by Etro

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Stacy and Clinton's spring must-haves

What will we see popping up on fashionistas this season? Stacy London and Clinton Kelly offer tips on how to navigate the latest trends.

PRINTS
Clinton Kelly: "There are a lot of big floral prints this season."
Stacy London: "Florals and geometrics."
CK: "It's really fun. They've sort of blurred the lines between geometrics and florals in a lot of cases. But be careful: If you're petite and you go for an oversize print, they walk into the room before you do, and that's the last thing we want. Proportion is everything."

COLOR
CK: "It was such a dark fall and winter, and now color is back. Primary colors: the reds, yellows and blues ..."
SL: "... Crayon colors. A lot of cobalt blue. Some beautiful yellows -- and not the ugly mustard yellow."
CK: "Jewel tones, which look good on most skin tones."
SL: "You'll see tons of black and white and red. You'll see a lot of white and cream and nude. And a lot of neon color, too. We recommend you do that in very small doses. Stick to neon or bright accessories rather than dress head to toe in one of those colors."

DETAILS
SL: "We're seeing lots of sheer overlays -- many have a metallic tint to them and are over florals. It's a new way to make clothing slightly more interesting."
CK: "There's [also] lots of floral embellishment. Even Armani is doing floral embellishment."
SL: "They're like florettes: three-dimensional flowers sewn into the hems of fabrics. They're not placed on; they're formed and melded and then stitched on."

SHAPE
SL: "Spring is a little bit of a retrospective of the ages: You'll see '40s-style high-waisted pencil skirts and really high-waisted denim. Now they're also doing high-waisted denim in skinny jeans, which is as hard to wear as any low-rise jean you ever ran away from in the first place."
CK: "You've got to have a great figure to pull that off. When in doubt, go mid-rise."
SL: "Edie Sedgwick is back, so you'll see '60s sack dresses that fit in the shoulder but are sacky through the rest of it. You'll see '70s caftan dresses, which have a lot of volume. And you'll also see gold lamé leggings, which are very '80s yet futuristic."

ACCESSORIES
SL: "There are tons of high-gloss metallic shoes and bags. There's lots of white and lucite jewelry. Things that can accent very simple pieces and allow you to participate in a trend without having to look like a robot. Or a crayon."

PAIRINGS
SL: "One thing you'll see a lot of is what I call 'soft tailoring': a play on masculine and feminine in the same outfit. So you'll see a trapeze top with a skinny trouser and a really fitted blazer. Or a very soft dress with a very fitted blazer."

SHOES
SL: "You'll see lots of rhinestone-embellished flats this season."
CK: "And a lot of crinkled patent leather."
SL: "It's become generally acceptable that shine works for day, whether it's embellishment or metallics. That's why we're seeing so much more of it."

-- Michele Hatty

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