Fashion Insider Susan Redstone Dishes Shopping Secrets to Stylehive! - Stylehive

Have you ever wondered what inside secrets fashion industry insiders are hiding from the rest of us? Sure, they share some stuff, but there must be more they€™re keeping for themselves. Well thanks to Susan Redstone, we no longer have to wonder. Susan has been a fashion and style writer for over a decade and in her new book- Just Try It On- she happily dishes on all the inside-knowledge she acquired during her impressive career.

The book is a month by month guide to shopping and style, aimed at arming us all with the skills and savvy to shop like seasoned fashion-experts. Plus tips on how to dress like a style icon, get the hottest styles without going bankrupt, assembling your must-have fashion emergency kit, and so much more.

Stylehive was at the book€™s launch party, where we got the chance to talk to the woman herself (pictured above with mega-designer Dennis Basso) about style, the book, and all the wonderful insider tips we can expect to find.

Stylehive: How did the idea for this book come about?
Susan Redstone:Well I was a fitness writer, so I was very concerned with the celebrity bodies, the bodies under the fabulous dresses, and then my beat changed, and I started getting invited to fashion shows. I was always into fashion, but I wasn€™t complexly on the inside until I started working in it, and then I realized that there was a big leap between being somebody off the street who had a great passion for fashion and somebody who really works on the inside. And I thought it was time to bring the stuff that we see and work with everyday to everybody else, the rest of North America.

Stylehive: What distinguishes this book from other fashion and style books?
SR: I think the key thing is that it tells you when to shop for what; it really highlights the retail calendar. So it€™ll tell you what to buy in January, what to buy in February, what to buy in March- and not necessarily what to buy, but what fashions are in stores when. So for example, if you want to get a new coat for the season, did you know they really only hit stores in August- now you€™ll be on the beach in August and it€™ll be very hot and very steamy, but August is the time when all the stores receive their fresh batch of coats, so that€™s the time to go check it out. Back to school time, the September time, is also a huge moment, when all the new merchandise for the fall and the winter hits the stores. So it€™s really just highlighting ahead of time the season€™s to come, showing people when the majority of merchandise hits the store and encouraging them to buy then so that they have a kind of future-planning, so that when it comes to July, you€™re not buying a bathing suit from the junk that€™s left because there€™s really not that many choices at the end of June and July, by the time the weather€™s hot.

Stylehive: How would you describe your personal style?
SR: Well I always say €˜I€™d rather be on the horse€™ because I€™m a huge equestrian, I mean obviously I can€™t look equestrian at Bendel€™s at my book party wearing Catherine Malandrino, but I guess my everyday style is casual. If you were to pinpoint by time of day and my references, I€™d be €˜Saturday afternoon on the ranch€™- but it€™s not quite Ralph Lauren, it€™s a little kookier, a little bit more from the 1950€™s- so it€™s girly-girl hits the ranch on a Saturday afternoon, in Colorado- not in New-Mexico or California- Colorado. So the references are kind of specific, but some see me on the weekend, and you€™ll get it!

Stylehive: What piece of advice in this book do you wish you had known when you first stated working in fashion?
SR: Polaroid yourself when you get dressed to go out! Make sure your panty-line€™s not showing, make sure everything€™s decent, make sure that your makeup and hair are in proportion. Take a digital photo or Polaroid of yourself before going to a big event. That€™s huge- designer Cynthia Steffe actually taught me that and I€™m incredibly grateful.

Stylehive: Best style advice?
SR: Pick a signature item that you have with you all the time or you wear one of. For example, if you€™re super tall, pick flats, and make it your business to have the most fabulous collection of flats so that everybody knows you for flats and sees you in flats. And one day you€™ll be in hot pink flats, the next day you€™ll be in Chanel black flats, make it your signature item. If my signature item would be called to hand, it would be vintage earrings; 1960€™s Kenneth Jay Lane vintage earrings, I have a great selection. I have a cousin who€™s a vintage jewelry dealer, so I have an enormous collection of those, and I€™m always borrowing and swapping in swapping out, so that€™s my signature item- big, fat, custom, vintage earrings. But pick a signature item and stick with it and that way you€™ll build your style.