THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 107 FEBRUARY 28, 2018
5 Options for
Non-Sample SizesT
hough Christian Siriano, Prabal
Gurung and Tadashi Shoji dress
diverse body types and not just
stars, such designers are an emerg-
ing class. Personal shopper Dana
Asher Levine says luxe labels “never”
offer to loan to execs, while designers’
plunging necklines can be too showy
for clients like Fox Searchlight’s Nancy
Utley. “She doesn’t want to outdo the
actresses,” says Levine. For non-sample
size gowns, Levine suggests Westfield
Topanga Mall’s Nordstrom and Beverly
Hills’ St. John (Ava DuVernay and
Mindy Kaling are fans), where employ-
ees ensure no matching gowns are
worn to the same event: “They have a
great VIP area; just say you are going to
the Oscars.” Other options:ALBRIGHT FASHION LIBRARY,
608 N. ALPINE DRIVE, BEVERLY HILLS
Originally stylists-only, now open to
the public, this is a resource for Tr a c e e
Ellis Ross, Chrissy Teigen and Armie
Hammer’s wife, Elizabeth Chambers,
who rented a black Vauthier for the
Globes. A $1,000 fee covers a consult
and one head-to-toe rental of pieces
by Dior, Valentino, Monse, etc., in sizes
0 to 10, for five days.ARMARIUM X FLONT,
158 N. ROBERTSON, WEST HOLLYOOD
Styling site Armarium teams up with
jewelry rental service Flont for a
monthlong pop-up ending March 9.
Three-day gem rentals range from
$300 to $160,000 for Cartiers and
Bulgaris. Armarium offers current and
past season looks (Susan Sarandon
and Busy Philipps have rented) from
the likes of Brandon Maxwell and
Marc Jacobs in sizes 0 to 12; fees vary.11 HONORE.COM
The luxury e-retailer offers runway
fashion in sizes 10 to 20 (expanding to
size 24 in the spring). Rebel Wilson,
Danielle Brooks, Octavia Spencer and
Allison Janney have worn the clothes.
Prices start at $100.RENTTHERUNWAY.COM
The e-boutique carries 450,000-plus
styles from 500 designers in sizes 0 to- Nikki Reed rents and Beyonce has
curated for the site. Looks can be bor-
rowed for four to eight days, starting at
$30, backup size included. Hit Westfield
Topanga Mall for an RTW bricks-and-
mortar to try dresses on. — JANE CARLSON
Albright Fashion Library in Beverly Hills.she dressed 72-year-old Goldie Hawn in her
robin’s egg blue crepe column gown. “She’s
not your typical fashion icon, but she looked
amazing,” says Monique Lhuillier CEO To m
Bugbee, explaining that the $2,595 Resort 2017
season style was rushed back into production
in response to dozens of inquiries. “It’s a nice
shape, not so tight and unforgiving,” he says,
adding that some older stars have more selling
power on the carpet “because they are more
familiar.” People instantly recognize Goldie
Hawn; Margot Robbie, perhaps less so.
Stars who are not sample size face their own
challenges. “Have designers opened up to
Octavia? Not all of them,” says Wendi Ferreira,
who with her sister Nicole Ferreira has been
styling the actress for more than six years.
Exceptions are Zac Posen, Prabal Gurung and
Tadashi Shoji, who has dressed Spencer, a
size 18, on more than a dozen occasions, and
notes that a version of Spencer’s 2012 ivory
tulle short-sleeve Oscars gown sold particu-
larly well at retail. “There’s a fine line between
being covered up and matronly,” says Ferreira,
adding that Spencer and their other Oscar-
nominated client, Sally Hawkins, 41, insist on
looks with sleeves. “Those are the conversa-
tions we are constantly having: how can we
show a little skin but not too much.”
Interestingly, brands that traditionally
have a mature clientele, such as Oscar de la
Renta and Carolina Herrera, often are less
open to loaning to older actresses, say sources
(although Valentino recently dressed fash-
ion renegade, feminist actress and nominee
Frances McDormand, 60, for the BAFTAs).
But legacy fashion’s loss has been new design-
ers’ gain. “I dressed Selma Blair [who is 45]
recently in what became my top-selling style of
the season,” says designer Christian Siriano.
Other designers are rethinking their red
carpet strategy with older talent in mind. “We
started to look at who our customers are; they
are mostly over 35,” says Sachin Ahluwalia of
Sachin & Babi, which made a gown for Metcalf
for the SAG Awards — and tapped Maye Musk,
69, mother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for a
new campaign. “The red carpet goes through
cycles,” says stylist Swennen. “Where the past
few years have been about the young thing, with
the women’s movement right now, it should
be about owning your age.”IMG Models’
Maye Musk,
69 (also
Elon’s mom),
with Ashley
Judd at a
Globes party.Hawkins, 41,
in Dior at
the Golden
Globes.Metcalf, 62,
in Sachin
& Babi at the
SAG Awards.Janney, 58,
in Yanina
Couture at the
SAG Awards.Mirren, 72, in
Zuhair Murad
at HBO’s
Golden Globes
afterparty.