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No training, no license, no clue

If the contestants on Style Me can call themselves stylists, you can too.

By SHARON FINK
Published January 21, 2006

[WE]

The batch of celebrity stylist wanna-bes on Style Me do their best to debunk the mystery of what it takes to do the job by demonstrating no obvious sense of style.

	[WE]
	Rachel Hunter

If getting dressed were as easy as it seems, there would be no Garanimals, no Glamour magazine dos and don'ts, and no celebrity stylists.

There's no mystery to the appeal of clothes that come with instructions on how to wear them or of tips on what looks good and bad.

Celebrity stylists are another thing.

They've become the newest power players in fashion. They get paid to dress famous people hoping to avoid getting excoriated around the world for what they wear to the grocery store. They get praised by name on the Golden Globes red carpet for their savvy in matching earrings to a dress. They write books, have Web sites, and are featured on TV and in newspapers and magazines as visionaries for a cluelessly outfitted world.

It's enough to wonder how we can even think of getting dressed every day without first asking "What would Eva Longoria's stylist do?"

Who are these people? How did they get to be celebrity stylists? And do they really deserve to control our fashion agenda?

For insight, we checked out a preview copy of the first episode of Style Me, premiering Monday on the WE: Women's Entertainment network, with Rachel Hunter, onetime supermodel, current reality TV sycophant and recently divorced from aging rock star-turned-crooner Rod Stewart, attempting to find the next celebrity stylist.

At the end of this tedious 40-some minutes, we were left thinking more than ever that anyone can be a celebrity stylist.

And, with tips gleaned from Style Me, we're here to tell you how. Or at least how you can confidently style yourself and know that Eva Longoria is paying a lot of money to someone who knows as much as you do.

TIP 1: "Stylist" is not an occupation that requires formal education. It also doesn't require a battery of tests to get licensed in things like purse selection. On paper, stylists have no more credibility than the best-dressed person you know. And they can have less than the worst-dressed.

TIP 2: Hunter tells her 12 contestants that being a celebrity stylist has basic requirements: "good instincts . . . great taste . . . and a whole lot of heart." If you're looking for some that are a little more quantifiable: Trust your gut, even when it tells you to ask someone else if you look okay. Remember that everyone's definition of good taste differs; the most important accessory to have is confidence in yours.

TIP 3: Fashion isn't for wimps. Style Me's first challenge, styling a little black dress "with creativity and accessories" for Hunter to wear dancing, sends several contestants - most of them men - into crying meltdowns.

TIP 4: Have your own file of dos and don'ts - in your head, on your computer, on an index card taped to a mirror. The range of outfits put together for the little black dress challenge - each stylist had a $75 budget and 45 minutes to shop a New York City flea market - was full of points to include. Do have one big statement-making piece of jewelry that can jazz up anything. Don't wear sunglasses indoors. For a night out, do carry a purse big enough to hold all your basic needs. Don't get stuck on one outfit idea; be flexible. You'll save time, money and a meltdown.

TIP 5: Minimalism is good. "A stylist is basically an editor. Edit, edit, edit," celebrity stylist-Style Me commentator Philip Bloch tells a contestant who overaccessorized.

TIP 6: Don't waste your time watching this show. You can find more useful, and interesting, ways to work on your inner and outer stylist.

Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 and fink@sptimes.com

AT A GLANCE: Style Me premieres at 10 p.m. Monday on the WE: Women's Entertainment network.

[Last modified January 20, 2006, 08:59:03]