Dressing for SUCCESS
Priya Rao
IN KINDERGARTEN, Anya Sarre’s principal reprimanded her for changing outfits multiple times a day. “I was doing makeovers during recess!” she says. Now she dresses Entertainment Tonight’s Nancy O’Dell and The Insider’s Brooke Anderson, but that’s just one facet of her coveted career in couture. Watch! chats with the superstylist, who dishes on her designer gig.
Watch!: Entertainment Tonight and The Insider have had some major changes with their female anchors. How did you approach this from a style point of view?
Anya Sarre: I try to dress Nancy and Brooke in a way that is true to their own personal style. Nancy is tall and statuesque and loves dresses, so I like to put her in a lot of sheaths, like Michelle Obama. My favorite designers for her are Roland Mouret and Catherine Malandrino. Brooke looks best in tailored separates that are chic and sleek. It’s very authoritative but still glamorous, almost like Diane Sawyer. I like using a lot of Domenico Vacca, Diane von Furstenberg and Theory for her.
Watch!: What is the biggest difference between dressing stars for television and dressing for real life?
Anya: You really have to train your eye for bright, saturated color. I tell Nancy and Brooke that I like to use Teletubby colors, not neutrals or patterns. Red and yellow are my favorites because they are TV winners, but so are fuchsia, magenta, cobalt and aqua. You want to catch the viewer’s attention and keep it there.
Watch!: What has been your favorite day working on ET and Insider?
Anya: Hands down, the royal wedding. It was like three awards shows and a celebrity wedding mixed into one. I took 12 suitcases to London to dress eight people for seven days. At Buckingham Palace, there wasn’t a place to change. So I had to try to dress Mary Hart, Nancy O’Dell and Jane Seymour all at once in a janitor’s closet each day.
Watch!: Aside from your ET and Insider responsibilities, you also launched a jewelry line with ShoeDazzle.
Anya: It’s so exciting because everything is only $39.95! How amazing is that? Everything I designed is inspired by my own jewelry box. There are lots of statement necklaces, bangle bracelets and cocktail rings in turquoise, gold and coral.
Watch!: You are also working on a book that will debut in 2012; how will it be different from the other fashion books out there?
Anya: My book is really about taking all my style tricks and knowledge behind the fitting room door and providing it to women and girls who want to be stylists themselves. There is no class that teaches you about tag guns or how to dry-clean your clothes at home. This is really going to be the style bible—everything and anything you want to know.
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