My Fashion Muses
It’s no secret that I have a major girl crush on Giuliana Rancic.
She always looks so classy and put-together, and I would die if I had access to her E! News wardrobe. Since a lot of the styles she wears aren’t very realistic in Tucson (let me walk amongst the cacti in my ballgown), I definitely follow a WWGD (What Would Giuliana Do) policy when it comes to more dressy events.
My outfit for the Gatorade launch party was certainly Giuliana-inspired 🙂
For more everyday, casual looks, I have another style muse: Jessica Alba.
Jessica Alba has AMAZING street style. Even when she’s casual, she adds fun touches to her outfits and they go together very nicely.
Here’s what Jessica Alba and Giuliana Rancic have going for them, which makes them excellent style icons:
1. They pick a haircut and color that’s classic and stick to it. It’s REALLY easy to get caught up in funky cuts and colors, but when you look back, your hair is the easiest way to make yourself look dated. Pick something that works for you and stick with it!
2. They step out of the box, but not too far. Giuliana switches things up with more edgy fashions (she experimented with the bold shoulder look for some past events and totally pulled it off), and you can find Jessica Alba rocking grungy boots with a sundress. It’s totally cool to play with trends, as long as you keep the main part of your look classic. Pick one extra-trendy item per outfit max.
3. Accessories. Both of these girls have KILLER accessories, from funky jewelry, handbags that make my heart swoon and unique shoe collections. Even if I don’t copy their entire outfit, I’ll pay attention to the smaller details and be mindful during my next shopping trip.
Tips for finding your style muse:
1. Go for someone with similar characteristics to yours. Obviously, I don’t look like Giuliana or Jessica, but we have the same Italian-Hispanic olive skin tones, dark eyes and brown hair. Colors and styles that look good on them have a better chance of *matching* me.
2. Think about your inherent style and find someone who mirrors that. Vintage? Zoe Deschanel. Girly? Lauren Conrad. Preppy? Reese Witherspoon. Classic? Kate Middleton. Find someone who matches your style ideals and Google away, or check out tabloid magazines (my ultimate guilty pleasure). [A tip: google from your phone. Last time I googled “Jessica Alba style” a worm attacked my computer]
3. Don’t feel like you have to fashion/shop overload. Use pieces you already have to mimic styling techniques, and go from there. This way you can experiment before you commit.
Do you have a style icon or inspiration? How would you describe your style?
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I don’t have a particular person so much as a brand inspiration- my style is very J.crew meets anthro – classics with a fun, modern twist and lots of attention to detail!
Great post Gina! I’d say I’m more classic when it comes to style, although I really do love Jessica Alba and I certainly envy her tan!
Love this post! Recently, I’ve been thinking about what my inherent style is and trying to keep it in mind when I go shopping. It’s so easy to pick out things that seem fun and cute at the time, but then a few months later, I always end up thinking, “Why did I buy this?!” Great tips!
I don’t know if I have a fashion muse — I’m just not very fashionable 🙂 But for the most part I try to get really classic pieces, but comfort also plays a big part in what I get!
Oh my gosh! I have the exact scarf Jessica Alba is wearing in that picture- and I got it for $7 at my local thrift store a month ago and wore it non-stop on my honeymoon. I feel so trendy! 🙂
I’d say my style is 50% Reese Witherspoon and 50% Natalie Portman. (Preppy, Southern, and blond like Reese, with a heart shaped face, delicate features, and a fairly simple style like Natalie.)
I love Kim K’s style and we have similar features dark hair, eye’s,,,she aremnian and Im russian so…. I also love Nicole Richie’s style for street style…
I love fashion. And I am a firm believer that you do not need to spend a lot of mony to look good. My mom an dI both shop and thrift stores and often get great deals on quality classic pieces. As far as my style maven I would have to say Stacey London – the host of What Not to Wear. She has such great style herself and her advice for her guests is always enlightening. Right now my obsession is anything Mad MEn Inspired.
I think you look a lot like Jessica Alba in that picture! I like her cute, casual style in that outfit.
Due to where I live I’m decidedly not a hipster; I go for more practical REI/Patagonia pieces and funk it out only occasionally. But I love looking at what others in the lower 48 are sporting.
Fun post!
I think my style icons are a mix between Hayden Panettiere (sp?) and Hilary Duff. I’m more of a casual shorts and tank kind of girl and love that they are casual but always have a little something interesting going on.
I love Cameron Diaz & Nicole Ritchie… I also really like Selma Blair…
I love Guliana’s new hair color where it’s a little darker on top and gets lighter at the bottom. My hair is short now so I can’t do it, but I would! Love her!
it’s called a “melt”- my mom is going to do it to me when my hair gets healthier (the stylist in georgia wayyyy overtexturized it). love it too!
“let me walk amongst the cacti in my ballgown” = funniest mental image of the day.
However, I dunno: ridiculous notion or Miss Arizona’s truth? 😉
I quite like Lauren Conrad’s style and we have similar hair/skin tone so it all works. I also LOVE Blake Lively’s haute coture fashion, but it’s rare if ever I dress up that much!
Giuliana Rancic clearly has issues with eating and body image; she looks like a bobble-head skeleton now. Gross! She looked much healthier in the picture you posted above.
i think she always looks beautiful
she obviously has a lot of personal things going on that she’s struggling with, which can affect eating habits
I think it’s more than that-
http://www.skinnyvscurvy.com/celebrity-quotes/giuliana-rancics-meal-plan.html
I love your Guiliana obsession. I assume you’ve been to her fitness and fashion website, right? I subscribe to the e-newsletter. My style is classic, and I admire people like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Kate Middleton, and Reese Witherspoon. This post is so much fun! 🙂
Kate Middleton is my latest style icon. I LOVE her looks- always put together and completely classic, but appropriate for the occasion. She looks incredible in jeans, sparkly going-out dresses and chic tailored suits. In twenty years you’ll be able to look at pics of her, and even though styles will have changed, she’ll still look classic.
Such a fun post! I also adore Jessica Alba’s casual style; she is one of those ladies looks even prettier “dressed down” than she does when she gets all fancy for event (but obvs still looks gorgeous then, too).
For casual/everyday, I probably dress most like Jennifer Aniston, very basic but quality pieces and erring more on the side of figure flattery than trendiness. I love how she always looks effortlessly put together. For dressing up, I’d say Lauren Conrad and Kelly Ripa. I like L.C. for color pairing inspiration, because she seems to play with color in a way that always turns out to be pretty and feminine, and because we have the same coloring. K.R. I look to for dress/outfit shape and structure inspiration, since we share a similar height and build that can be hard to make look elegant, but she does it fabulously.
I love Diane Kruger’s style! She always wears the cutest cocktail dresses for events and I also love her casual outfits too. I just wish I could steal both her style AND her boyfriend (aka Joshua Jackson). 😉
I’m not sure I know how to describe my style. Its hippie, with a touch of girly and a bit of classic I think.
I love this portion of the blog. I have no fashion sense and never thought in a million years to just google some celebrities for fashion ideas. Duh! Oh, and I didn’t know how cool J. Crew was until your post yesterday. Mayja thanks!
🙂
i loveee jessica alba’s style! she always looks lovely!
I love this post, Gina!! And this whole fashion action section. SO FUN!
“They pick a haircut and color that’s classic and stick to it.” YES..not getting caught up in trends and fads, so important.
and “Go for someone with similar characteristics to yours. ” So true as well. I am really tall and blond with blue eyes. What looks good on Jessica Alba and you is probably not going to look as good on me so yes, being realistic what you’re working with and have is key too 🙂
I have a friend who says she alternates between Penny Lane in “Almost Famous” and Kate Moss circa Heroin Chic-ness.
This is super-dorky, but sometimes I catch myself trying to channel certain songs when deciding what to wear. This time of year, it usually involves early Bob Dylan stuff…Haha I can’t believe I just admitted that!
I love G too! I think she’s so cute and has a great personality. Bill’s not so bad to look at either.
bill is hawt. that is all 🙂
I rarely have money to spare on clothes, but when I do (or at least, when I drool over outfits I find on the interweb), I find my style is an eclectic congolmeration of vintage-boho-European-with-a-splash-of-grunge. I’m also a strawberry blonde with super-fair skin, so I tend to pull ideas from the likes of Zooey Deschanel, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel in Gilmore Girls (my dad used to half-joke that I must be related to them because I’m so much like them), and Amy Adams.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has a mix of styles! Sometimes I don’t know how to make them all work!
Ooh, I love this post!
Reese Witherspoon has always been my favorite style muse. She and I have similar coloring and face shapes, so I always look at how she is wearing her hair. Her fashion choices are always so classic looking.
I LOVE BOTH OF THEM! They are style icons of mine too!
I saw Giuliana walking down Michigan Ave. in a huge crowd of people once. I didn’t get to say anything to her b/c I was totally star struck, and that’s probably a good thing in hindsight … I wouldn’t want to be the token crazy fan. But I stopped dead in my tracks, my husband was totally confused, and I just kept saying OMG that was Giuliana Rancic! He just didn’t get it 🙂
I love your black and white skirt. Who is it by? And is that a cute black,white and red purse I see hanging from your shopping wrist? I would like to see those up closer and who makes that purse? Everyone is going crazy for black and white where I live.
it’s actually a dress! i can’t remember who makes it.. it’s in the POD 🙁
that’s actually a mini sephora bag 🙂
or is that a cute shopping bag ? hehehe from a store? obviously we do not have that store in my town if that is true.