Who, what, wear
It’s no surprise that Louise Roe, the 31-year-old model, fashion journalist and new host of NBC’s “Fashion Star,” has transformed an entire room of her West Hollywood home into her own personal closet space. It’s a small room, decorated with pictures of her family, where she plays dress-up amid racks of shoes, dresses, handbags and an impressive collection of costume jewelry.
On a day in late February, Roe has all of her Oscar week outfits neatly organized on a rack. White and black pairs of Jimmy Choo heels, a yellow pair of Steve Madden heels and a pair of print Carvelas are laid out at the foot of one rack. An acid yellow bag sits next to a vegan purple crocodile clutch by Heather Belle and a week’s worth of accessories. It’s a fashion lover’s paradise, and Roe is queen of the kingdom.
She navigates her closet as if it’s a well-organized small department store. A large rack of shoes displays studded heels, animal print flats, cap-toe heels and stilettos in bright pink and yellow and teal. A prized pair of bronze metallic sneakers sits on the floor, saved for when “I’m feeling like a rock star,” she says. Fashion books are tucked under a small end table covered with jewelry. Rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets of every style are wrapped around a jewelry stand. She stops to point out pyramid bangles by Lia Sophia. Headpieces from Urban Outfitters and American Eagle litter the top of the table.
Roe is dressed in a pair of watercolor print trousers from her friend’s label Femme d’Armes, a poppy-colored top by Express and purple shoes by Carvela. She likes to support smaller designers rather than exclusively wearing big names, and her outfit is the perfect expression of the way she mixes designer labels with affordable brands for a look that’s on trend but attainable.
“My personal style is very bright, and I don’t know if that’s because, well, wearing bright colors makes me feel happier than wearing just black,” says Roe as she fiddles with her oversized Kimberly McDonald ring. She admires the way Kate Bosworth, Miranda Kerr and Olivia Palermo dress and looks up to designers Diane von Furstenberg, Tory Burch and Rachel Roy.
When it comes to beauty, Roe keeps it simple. Her favorite products include Lancome brightening serum, a Makeup Forever brow pencil and Maybelline mascara. “I’ve used it since I was probably too young to even wear mascara,” Roe jokes. She favors one fragrance -- See by Chloe -- because “It makes me think of Paris.”
Roe is into prints at the moment, especially Mary Katrantzou, Peter Pilotto and Holly Fulton out of London, and she cites the 1970s as her main style inspiration. “I love that era of quite boho but bold, everything from like Bianca Jagger’s white wedding suit to Lauren Hutton in cut-off jeans or Farrah Fawcett in high-waisted paints ... I just love all that.” To this day, Roe keeps a scrapbook she fills with pictures she rips out of her favorite fashion magazines.
As she sifts through her wardrobe, her fingers glide over a bright yellow leather jacket from Reiss, a blue print dress by Mara Hoffman and some select pieces from Zara and Express. Every color in the rainbow is present. She pauses when she finds a particular dress and smiles.
“It’s from the BCBG spring collection, and it’s got a harness on it, which was big on the runway,” she says. “Very ‘Fifty Shades.’ ”
Roe brought her love of prints and colors to her “Fashion Star” wardrobe, which she styled herself, with help from Daniel Musto, wardrobe stylist for the show. She replaced original host Elle Macpherson when the show started its second season March 8 and viewers can expect to see brightly colored gowns, prints and even a Tibi suit. Her favorite is a dress with acrylic fins she’ll wear on the show’s finale May 10 -- a dress she describes as “epic.”
“Fashion Star” is just one of Roe’s many endeavors. She is also a designer for the site Stylistpicks.com and has just come out with her fourth season of handbags and shoes for the line, her favorite being an acid yellow bag.
“I want to eat it, it’s come out so beautifully,” Roe says of the bag.
Once “Fashion Star’s” season ends, fans can see more of Roe on a new weekly show with the Style Network called “Pop Style,” slated to premiere in April. She’ll join co-host Jeannie Mai for the network’s first live show focused on pop culture and fashion news.
“It’s a little bit of ‘The Soup’ meets ‘Fashion Police’ meets like a smidge of ‘Ellen’ with a little bit of the ‘Sports Center’ idea thrown in,” Roe says.
Roe also hosts “Plain Jane,” a makeover show on MTV International that airs in 66 countries around the globe. She wanted to make her accessories line accessible to fans of that show, who are sometimes as young as 12 years old, so prices for her line range from $60 to $70 for a pair of shoes or bag.
“I get tweets and Facebooks, and they are so passionate about dressing up and having fun with fashion and beauty that it just seems fair to make it attainable to everybody,” Roe says. “If you’re saving up your pocket money for a cool bag, I just think that is what fashion should be.”
“Fashion Star” airs at 8 p.m. Fridays on NBC.
--
