Tags
Castle tv series, helping people get back into the work force, Jerri Rosen, Kate Beckett, Luke Reichle, Red Carpet & Cocktails, Secrets of the Red Carpet - Style from the Inside-Out, style tips, The Hangar boutique, Working Wardrobes, Working Wardrobes' Smart Women
Style guru Luke Reichle, who is costume designer for one of my favorite shows, Castle, delighted a group of Working Wardrobes ladies and guests with his take on style.
Held at The Pacific Club, the “Red Carpet & Cocktails” soiree drew 90 Working Wardrobe supporters and Smart Women members, a special group of dynamic women striving to make a difference through the nonprofit. Fashions and accessories were available for purchase at fantastic savings through Working Wardrobes’ consignment shop, The Hangar, and the champagne flowed!
Reichle, who spoke on “Secrets of the Red Carpet: Glamour is an inside job,” certainly knows his stuff. He cut his designer teeth at Perry Ellis and went on to design for Calvin Klein and Alexander Julian. He has worked for every major film studio and television network, live-streams a web series called “Secrets of the Red Carpet – Style from the Inside-Out,” has designed for Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony winners, and has even found the time to author “It’s Not About the Clothes: How to Change Your Mind about How You Look.”
Reichle said dressing well is an image problem. “When you look in the mirror, you only see the flaws. What you need to do is decide what you can do to improve yourself, and then buy some shoes!” He sited his own life with not going to the gym, gaining 70 pounds and having a heart attack as his reason for being forced to change his relationship with his body. “It led to exercise to stay alive and gave me my life back,” he said.
The serious, and, at the same time, witty man gave the group some apt style suggestions: 1) Best advice for a professional wardrobe is to purchase a suit – skirt or pant. “It is the key,” he said, and “buy professional clothes in department stores.” 2) “The right bra is the single most important item in your wardrobe,” he said. “Ninety percent of women don’t have it.” 3) “Don’t over-dry clean your clothes – hang them on a hanger and brush them with a clothes brush (boar bristle).” 4) “You need a full-length mirror to view yourself.” 5) “The workplace has become very casual – dress like them but better.” 6) “Being overdressed is as bad as being under-dressed!”
Agreeing with Reichle’s suggestion that ridding yourself of your own roadblocks leads to inner beauty and self-confidence, Working Wardrobe’s Founder/CEO Jerri Rosen shared that the nonprofit’s mission is just that: to rebuild the self-images of men, women, vets, and young adults who are facing difficult challenges by providing training programs for them to reenter the work force. “We service more than 5,000 clients a year,” she said.
The gift selection from The Hangar was very tempting (I left with two packed bags!), and guests agreed by purchasing a myriad of items, thus providing much-needed funds for Working Wardrobes and its mission.
Psssst…I asked Luke about working with the Castle cast, and he said, “It is one of the best environments I’ve ever worked in. And, Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) is just as gorgeous as she looks.”
And, there you have it!