Hollywood's Next It Stylist Just Gave Us 3 Epic Party Outfit Ideas
Kylie Jenner's 21st-birthday pink dress. Kourtney Kardashian's CFDA Awards power suit. Khloé Kardashian's chicest late-night TV look. If any of these outfits sounds familiar, then you know stylist Dani Michelle's work. In addition to styling the trio of boldfaced names, Michelle is also responsible for helping a pair of on-the-rise stars achieve a banner year in the style department: 19-year-old Amanda Steele and 17-year-old Amelia Gray Hamlin, among other clients. You know how financial advisers tell you to diversify your investments? Well, with a mix of Kardashian-Jenners and up-and-comers, Michelle's styling portfolio would certainly pass, with flying colors at that.
Like many fashion success stories, Michelle's started with an internship. "I learned what a stylist was after I took an internship at a fashion magazine in college," she told Who What Wear. "At the time, it felt like a dream and not a job, but today I experience the craft as a real art and business (yet still a dream job)."
That dream job takes a lot of hard work, certainly, but it never hurts to have some killer personal style of your own—and Michelle is definitely not lacking in that department. We decided to turn the lens on Michelle to offer us a few holiday party outfit ideas, and I came away from the shoot frantically taking notes on her styling suggestions in hopes that her expert eye would rub off on me. Read on to see the extremely Instagrammable looks and learn Michelle's take on each outfit.
"The first look is one of my go-to styling tricks: belting outerwear," Michelle told us. "I love to belt blazers, and this Loewe belt is especially well designed. Pairing it on top of this jacket helps give your body a defined shape. A belt can reimagine a silhouette of a dress, blazer, or outerwear look. This is something I constantly do in real life so that my clothes look more tailored and stylized."
"My second look is my favorite," Michelle said. "Styling is all about mixing proportions, and I love the idea of a mini skirt with an oversized jacket. It’s about finding the right balance between your top half and bottom, especially in relationship to your body frame. I love tall, slouchy boots, and this is something I wanted to wear right off the set and into real life!"
Michelle went on to explain the accessory trend she'll definitely be relying on in 2019. "My third look features my favorite accessories trend right now: glitz!" she told us. "I'm obsessed with accessories that have diamantés. I love to juxtapose super-fancy accessories with jeans as I did with this look. It shows how the right accessories can take a casual outfit to a whole new level."
Rest assured you don't have to be a high-powered stylist with an A-list clientele to pull off these looks. (For starters, you can nab a leather corset belt for a fraction of the price of Michelle's Loewe version.) You just have to be willing to step outside your comfort zone a bit—and have some trust in the impeccably dressed professional who does this for a living.
Erin got her start as a Who What Wear intern over 13 years ago—back when the site only published a single story per day. (Who What Wear has since increased that number twentyfold.) She graduated magna cum laude from USC, which is how she ended up moving to Los Angeles from her hometown of San Diego. In college, she also interned at Refinery29, where she was promoted to editorial assistant and then assistant editor. After nearly three years at R29, she came back to WWW in 2016, where she currently holds the title of Associate Director of Fashion News (as well as the unofficial title of resident royal expert—in case you haven't noticed her numerous Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton stories). She spends her days trying to incorporate her idols, Anna Wintour and Roger Federer, into as many stories as possible. Outside of work, she loves tennis, classic rock, traveling, and smothering her dog with affection.
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