For spring inspiration, we turn to Vanessa Williams, style icon on both the red carpet and the small screen.
By Mary Murphy
"To be sexy and hot at 45 is wonderful."
On the morning of the shoot for this story, Williams is trying on one designer dress after another. She ultimately selects a stunning royal blue chiffon gown by English designer Jenny Packham as well as a lamé one-shoulder shift by Stella McCartney.
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If you think you know what Vanessa Williams' style is really all about by watching her play the ruthless fashionista Wilhelmina Slater on "Ugly Betty," think again.
When you open the door to her bedroom closet, it's not a computerized, color-coordinated, neatly stacked inner sanctum.
Sure, there are Jimmy Choos and dresses by Michael Kors and Prada, but her closet is a shockingly normal walk-in, with T-shirts scattered on the floor, dresses hung together on one hanger and splashes of vibrant uncoordinated color.
Wilhelmina would faint if she saw it.
You're at Williams' L.A. home atop the Hollywood Hills, in the same gated community as Britney Spears, to find out what she has learned from playing TV's chicest villain and if it has changed her own approach to style.
You learn her closet reflects the real world of an actress who often works 14-hour days on the set of "Ugly Betty," splits her time between New York and L.A., and even serves as a Brownie mom while she records a new album. In short, it's a closet in which you can snatch and grab and not worry if something goes unhung.
"I have four kids," says the former Miss America, "and I go back to New York as needed. I don't have time to be anything like Wilhelmina Slater."
Indeed, there's a moving truck in the driveway delivering some things from her New York home, and two dogs are running through the rooms.
"This is my life," she says as she ushers you into a spacious living room with a statue of Buddha at the entry and a piano in the corner. "I just dropped my daughter off at school. I'm wrangling dogs and dealing with movers. The Brownie cookie sales are due tomorrow. There's never a dull moment."
"Who am I in comparison to Wilhelmina?" asks Williams, laughing. "Look at me -- I'm wearing Hudson jeans and an Urban Outfitters T-shirt." And she's barefoot -- a definite Wilhelmina no-no.
If Williams is casual chic, her TV character, the villainous creative director of "Mode" magazine who plots to take over as editor, is at the opposite end of the fashion spectrum. Couture is her life; ivory is her color. "In the pilot, she wore a pair of ivory Prada round-toe pumps with a big metal heel, which told you everything you needed to know about Wilhelmina," Williams says. "You see the shoe, and you know she is in charge."
High fashion and a haughty attitude led many to speculate that Wilhelmina was based on Anna Wintour, the powerful editor in chief of "Vogue." But Williams says no: "It's an alter ego thing where you can be as nasty as you want, and I've also incorporated stories you've heard about everybody from legendary recording artists to opera singers to tyrants like Alexis Carrington, the "Dynasty" character played by Joan Collins in the '80s."
But when Williams takes the set and becomes a super-diva, all comparisons seem to evaporate. "I am transformed from head to toe, from wig to shoes," she says, "and as soon as that happens, I become sophisticated, refined and a bit uptight." Some fashions work well for the transformation -- others not as much. "She has such a big presence, but she is so small that you have to be careful an outfit is not eating her up," says "Ugly Betty" costume designer, Eduardo Castro.
Taking it up a notch is Wilhelmina's signature style and something Williams herself brings to the red carpet. "Vanessa is an everyday mom in jeans and T-shirts and sweats," Castro says. "But when she has to go to an event or do a photo shoot, she really puts on that star quality."
At the Emmys last year, she wowed the crowd in a mint green Kevan Hall gown covered in feathers. And at January's Screen Actors Guild Awards, she was stunning in a mango Escada dress with a slit that went from here to there.
Her confidence about her style shows: "Playing Wilhelmina hasn't changed my style. I dress how I want to dress. I'm not one of those people who comes home and turns on "E!" and says, 'Oh, my God, do they like my dress or not?' "
Still, she's grateful for the attention she draws. "To be sexy and hot at 45 is wonderful," Williams says. "'Desperate Housewives' made it OK to be 40 and glamorous again. The tide has been rolling in, and I am riding that wave."
She stays on top of it by taking meticulous care of her body and skin. Williams does weight training three times a week and yoga twice a week. And she gets daily deliveries of healthful meals that include a lot of fresh juices, grains, protein, greens and fruit. "She's in even better shape now," Castro says, "than when we started the show."
On the morning of the shoot for this story, Williams is trying on one designer dress after another. She ultimately selects a stunning royal blue chiffon gown by English designer Jenny Packham as well as a lamé one-shoulder shift by Stella McCartney.
"I tried on a low-cut Hugo Boss that is a classic cut, but for me it does not work," she says. She also rejected a soft black silk minidress, but not because of the length.
"At my age," she says, "the question is how short can you go? I think showing leg is much better than showing weathered cleavage."
And now for the shoes -- Williams chooses a pair of red Sergio Rossis that she had worn to the NAACP Image Awards.
"This is my hot tip," she says. "You can wear Sergio Rossi shoes on the red carpet, and they do not kill your feet. And they are so sexy."
In other words, Wilhelmina definitely would approve.
Go to top
The five most important things in Vanessa's closet:
1. A good-fitting pair of jeans.
2. A high-quality cashmere sweater.
3. A sturdy bag big enough for a book, script and laptop. Right now, I'm carrying a cowhide bag from a local designer.
4. A great pair of sunglasses. I've got everything from Prada to Michael Kors to Fendi and Gucci. It all depends on what style you're trying to evoke and what frame fits your face.
5. A black satin blazer that I can throw over anything.
Cover and cover story photographs by Mike Ruiz for USA WEEKEND
Styling: Arianne Tunney/Tracey Mattingly; hair: Sam Fine; makeup: Oscar James
Cover clothing: dress by Jenny Packham, jewelry by David Yurman; clothing inside: shift dress by Stella McCartney, shoes by Kenneth Cole, jewelry by David Yurman
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