Clinton Kelly Tells Moms What to Wear | 30 Days to Gorgeous Mom Style

I had the pleasure of speaking to my fashion hero, Clinton Kelly, who is as funny, warm, and down to earth in person (okay – over the phone, but still) as he is on TV. Clinton is a cohost of ABC’s The Chew, the author of Freakin’ Fabulous, and my bedside fave, Oh No She Didn’t! Clinton Kelly has partnered with Macy’s since 2005, conducting style seminars around the country, and on May 5, Clinton and Macy’s will celebrate spring with an event at Orlando’s Mall of Millenia. We discuss how What Not To Wear has changed over the years. “We have definitely evolved. At the beginning we were sassier and poked fun at people, but I’m a different person than I was… years ago… I only want to help people who want to be helped. The comedy part has worn thin for me.”

Here, excerpts from that interview, and timeless style advice tailored specifically to moms.

The Frump Factor

“I’ve seen the way the average mom dresses, and a lot of moms have given up. Their kids are first, so they can’t be anywhere near the top of the list. I’ve seen moms make the mistake of wearing the mom uniform: a sweatshirt or a hoodie over a one size fits all t-shirt, a mom jean or cropped pants, and a cross trainer sneaker. Those are probably the biggest mistakes, and there are very simple alternatives that will really increase your style quotient exponentially.”

Simple Substitutions

“Instead of hoodies and sweatshirts, casual jackets give the same warmth and comfort and there is shape built into them and they are inherently more stylish than sweats. If your body is not built like a rectangle, why put rectangle shapes on your body. Instead of that t-shirt that clings to every lump and bump, try casual blouses. A blouse doesn’t have to be fancy, but just a top that is made for women with seams or darts or details like a ruffle. And there’s nothing wrong with a cropped pant necessarily, just as long as it’s not a copout, so they don’t have to hem their pants. They are not for every height or at every length; a walking short is generally preferable and more polished, and it hits just above the knee, or the pedal pusher just below the knee. There are so many alternatives to cross trainers, like ballet flats with an arch are really comfortable, or sneakers that are cute for running around town, or flats or sandals.”

Clinton Kelly tells us what he really thinks of mom style.

The New Mom Uniform

So, since the hoodie/baggie tee/cropped pant/cross-trainer look isn’t working for him, what’s Clinton Kelly’s prescription for a new mom uniform? “Great dark washed jeans, a cute colorful ballet flat, a beautiful short sleeve printed blouse, and a cardigan with a great pop of color.” The man is a genius. That’s exactly how I want to look, and how I try to look , on a good day. (Let’s talk about me, for a moment. Don’t pretend you didn’t see this coming. A couple of weeks ago, I did a shoot to update my blog photos, and in one shot I wore my dark AG Stilt jeans, a ruffled J. Crew long tank, a printed Liberty of London for Target scarf, and a bright yellow Lilly Pulitzer cardigan. Sigh. Clearly, Clinton and I share the same views on mommy style. We should start a crusade… But first I have to do something about my hair…But I digress.)

The Musts

Ready to go shopping? These essentials are a good place to start. “I think every woman needs a great cocktail dress, a fabulous day dress, a pencil skirt, flattering jeans the cut of which depends on her body type, cute flats, great sandals, a great pair of boots, a variety of cotton blouses, cashmere sweaters, great cardigans, casual jackets, a clutch, a day bag.”

The Must Nots

Clinton and I share another belief: If an item of clothing is named for its purpose, it should generally be reserved for that purpose. “The problem with yoga pants is that they are called yoga pants for a reason. It’s athletic wear, and unless you are an athlete or actively participating in athletics, you shouldn’t wear them. It’s a copout. People wear them because they don’t want to be bothered… putting on pants. It’s so exhausting.” Ditto with cross trainers, which are, no surprise here, for cross training. “It’s not that any one thing is awful, it’s just that people wear them the wrong way. Yoga pants are for yoga, leggings are not pants… Every item of clothing should come with a warning label, like this will kill you. Maybe it’s not obvious. Pajama pants should come with a label saying ‘don’t wear these out of the house.’ Or ‘wearing leggings as pants will get people to laugh at you behind your back.’”

A Closet Full of Clothes…

Clinton claims that there is a remarkable difference between the approach that American women and European women have to shopping. “I’ve encountered women with a closet full of junk sweatshirts, t-shirts, bad lightwashed jeans, and I’ve also seen a ton of women who are impulse shoppers and have a completely mismatched wardrobe and no idea what to wear them with. Most American women have too much low quality junk, and they are more concerned about quantity than quality. In Europe, women spend their money on good quality pieces, then they spend money to have them tailored and they always look great. People say they don’t have the money to buy nice clothes, but if you added up all the money you spent on junk you would have plenty of money to spend on the good stuff.”

Shopping With a Plan

“Most women have no shopping strategy whatsoever,” Clinton says. “I always tell women to use the 2 and 2 rule. Are there 2 different aspects of my life that I can wear this, for example work and evening, and are there two other pieces in my closet that it will go with. If you don’t have the bottoms that go with the top, you have to ask yourself if you can wear it with jeans, khakis, your black pencil skirt.”

Face Your Fashion Fears

When I asked Clinton how he handled objections like “I never wear belts” or “I can’t wear color”, he takes a philosophical turn. “I would say to stop living your life based on what you don’t do. I think that is a yucky way to live. ‘I don’t do this,’ and ‘I don’t that.’ So you are just completely happy where you are? What’s the worst that could happen? If you try it on and it doesn’t look good then take it off. I will try anything new and that’s the way I live my life. If you are afraid of how people think about you, then I would reassess whether you should live your life based on fear and think about whether you are really happy with the way that you are living your life.”

Wow. I’ve always said that fashion is about so much more than clothes. Clearly Clinton agrees. Love him! Hope you following along with my series, 30 Days to Gorgeous Mom Style. Let’s make 2015 the chic-est year yet!