(The following is an excerpt of a story from Entertainment Weekly’s March 23, 2001, issue.)
Ah, the celebrity stylist. Now as indispensable to an actor's entourage as the manager, the agent, the personal trainer, and the publicist, the personal services of an in house fashionista are no longer considered a luxury, but an image making -- or breaking -- necessity. (Don't believe us? Think back to Oscar night 1999 and Celine Dion's dreadful white Dior suit.) ''Fame and fortune don't give you style,'' says Tameka Foster Glover, 30, who has worked with Lauren Hill and masterminded Toni Braxton's barely there Richard Tyler at last month's Grammys. ''You can have all the money in the world and not know what to do with it.''
Only a handful of actresses do know how to look good no matter what. That's why Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, and Nicole Kidman are among the few who've often bypassed the celebrity dresser in favor of their own relationships with designers like Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, and John Galliano for Christian Dior, respectively. (Each may be hoping to re-create Audrey Hepburn's hugely influential partnership with French designer Hubert de Givenchy, who defined the star's classic look.)
But most celebs won't get anywhere near a red carpet unless they have a stylist in tow. Charlize Theron and the L.A. based Cindy Evans, 35, placed first in last year's Oscar fashion derby thanks to Evans' selection of a tangerine Vera Wang for Theron. Catherine Zeta Jones' premiere strategy includes Fati Parsia, 36, a marketing exec turned fashion guru who advised the actress to stop traffic in a turquoise and black lace Christian Lacroix gown at the Globes. And Jennifer Lopez covers her assets thanks to help from the L.A. based Andrea Lieberman, 33, who put the actress in a sleek, single shouldered Valentino at the GGs, not to mention the headline grabbing Versace ensemble at the 2000 Grammys.
This era of the high profile celebrity dresser began in the early '90s, when designers like Nino Cerruti and Armani realized that the red carpet was the world's biggest catwalk and began campaigning harder to get their clothes seen on Oscar night. ''Ten years ago, our goal was twofold: One was to return glamour to Hollywood,'' says Patty Fox, fashion director of this year's Academy Awards. ''The next was to make the viewing public interested in what the stars were wearing. Now it's hard to believe that we even have to think about this.''
Or that it's become such big business. Stylists like 37 year old Arianne Phillips (who advises Madonna), the ubiquitous Phillip Bloch (Courtney Love, Salma Hayek, Halle Berry), and former stylist's assistant Jessica Paster (Minnie Driver, Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett) can pull in more than $4,000 a day offering up their fashion do's and don'ts. Some have even become stars in their own right: With his frequent TV appearances, his own jewelry line on QVC, a book, and a fledgling acting career (Return to Babylon, due this fall), Bloch, 38, who started as a model and clothing designer, is as much a fashion industry fixture as Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
So what exactly does a stylist do? Bloch sees himself as the producer of an awards night image. ''We did Lauren Holly for the 1997 Oscars and she wore this Valentino dress with flowers on it, and my whole thing was she should look like the White Rock nymphet,'' he recalls. ''It's always a team effort between the celebrities, the hair and makeup, the designers, and myself -- anybody that thinks it's not, that's where they go wrong. They do things like, 'Darling, it's gotta be Gucci,' as opposed to 'Darling, it's gotta be the White Rock nymphet.'''
Whatever the fashion emergency, with scores of aspiring dressers competing for the same pool of hot celebs, customer service is key. Says Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig, whose clients include the Backstreet Boys and Jada Pinkett Smith: ''The day of the Oscars the celebrity needs to be catered to. Everything from making sure everything's buttoned right, to de-linting them, to cutting seams if they ate too much. The stylist really needs to be there to buckle their shoe.'' And if that service happens to involve some crafty maneuvering, stylists say it comes with the sartorial territory.
And what about avoiding -- quelle horreur! -- two stars showing up to a soiree in the same frock? Shouldn't happen, says Rosenzweig, because the designers' ''PR people -- they will make sure, come hell or high water, that nobody else could possibly be in that outfit.'' However, she adds, ''When you're dressing someone for awards, never put them in anything you buy in a store because you run the risk of someone showing up in it.'' But double vision still happens, as it did with Brenda Blethyn and Lisa Nicole Carson, who appeared at the Globes in the same pastel Escada gown. ''Maybe they both bought it retail because neither are a sample size exactly,'' muses Boucher.
Catty clothing catfights aside, stylists' duties involve a lot more than shopping. ''A celebrity really has to feel good about what they're wearing, otherwise they won't wear it well,'' says Rosenzweig, who dressed Toni Collette for last year's Oscars. ''Everybody has insecurities about their body -- and anybody who says they don't is lying.'' Stylists have their own insecurities too. ''My nightmare would be when a client is on the worst dressed list,'' says Rosenzweig. ''I have nightmares about that day, if it ever comes.'' (Additional reporting by Tricia Johnson)
Read All About Oscar 2001 for EW.com's comprehensive Academy Awards coverage.
Or see photos from the nominated movies at People.com
