I always think that Lauren Conrad might be the smartest businesswoman on the planet. Even I can’t help but respect her journey from MTV reality star to owning her own wildly successful brand, and having that brand reflect her own basic aesthetic. I’m not criticizing her for being basic, I’m actually applauding her: she’s figured out something really important, which is that there was a lot of room to be a Millenial Martha Stewart, with an emphasis on easy, simple, uncomplicated fashion, design and lifestyle. LC covers the October issue of Redbook, and this is all pretty uncontroversial and dare I say, basic. But it’s comfortable and easy! Some highlights:
On the biggest misconception: “It’s really funny to me when people have this idea that I have things very put together. My life is a bit of a mess, and I don’t broadcast that, but I like it that way.”
On keeping-up-with-the-Joneses: “I like to focus on the prettier parts of life, but that doesn’t necessarily represent all of it. I feel bad. There’s such a high standard now to do everything and have it all look picture perfect. You’re not going to enjoy the pretty things if you’ve been up all night doing them. Your life isn’t supposed to be Pinterest.”
On opening a brick-and-mortar location for her nonprofit retailer The Little Market, which sells fair-trade goods made by women artisans: “We wanted to make sure we could give these female artisans the best platform possible and set them up for success. So much of it is one-of-a-kind handmade items that you can’t even understand the value of until you really see them.”
Lessons in fashion: “I used to think dressing stylishly meant being a bit uncomfortable. I don’t make that sacrifice anymore…Stretch denim is my best friend these days.”
Wardrobe staples: “I have a lot of lightweight cashmere turtlenecks, because they can be worn throughout the year.”
Closet cleaning advice: “When doing a closet clean-out, make separate piles of stuff and send to appropriate locations (instead of) putting everything into one trash bag. There’s Dress for Success for work pieces and places that give nicer dresses to girls going to prom.”
“You’re not going to enjoy the pretty things if you’ve been up all night doing them. Your life isn’t supposed to be Pinterest.” That’s what gets me – I love looking at someone’s highly curated life, I creep on their Instagram and I love looking at all of those Pinterest-weddings and such. But when it comes down to it, I would never want that stuff because I know it would drive me crazy to actually put in the work to make it or do it. Why not sit back, eat some Subway and watch tennis? Curated life GTFO. Also: I think it’s really cool that she’s doing a brick-and-mortar shop for The Little Market. LC found a way to highlight artisans in a really cool way.
Photos courtesy of Justin Coit for Redbook, sent from promotional Redbook email.
YES to the curated life GTFO!
Applies to so many areas and it’s so damaging to so many people. Some of us can look and see it;s utter bull but there are vulnerable people who look and think “why isn’t my life like that, why have they got it together?”
Honey, they probably don’t, it’s a snapshot in time that they have carefully curated as an image they *want* to portray.
I found this particularly glaring when I was on maternity leave and there was these “influencers” who had babies around the same time, making out how easy it was, with their designer (gifted) baby stuff. These are not celebs, their whole schtick is how just like us they are, they are from the came city etc.
F*CK OFF
Lol sorry! I just don’t care for her brand.
…This is coming from the woman who literally bases her world around trying to look picture perfect? Spare me. When The Hills was at it’s peak and even for a while after the show went off the air, there were a ton of young women who followed Lauren Conrad like she was a cult leader. She used to have a website, not sure if she still does, where literally EVERYTHING was curated to look pinterest perfect.
It just seems kind of silly to spend as much time as she has portraying yourself and your life in a certain way only to turn around and start talking about how it’s all a misconception.
I know, right? I’m so confused by the point of this post. She’s the poster child for looking superficially perfect.
I was just in a DIY, aspiring Pinterest wedding. It’s MUCH harder than it looks, and far more time consuming. The bridal party spent hours upon hours helping the bride try to bring some of her visions to life, and honestly, we didn’t even create that many pieces! All for a four-hour event after which much of our hard work will either be trashed or put in her basement. It seemed so silly when it was over that we spent so much time on little details that people probably didn’t even notice. Now I know when it’s my time to get married, I’ll just buy the stuff instead of trying to be crafty, lol. It’s not worth it.
I feel like Blake Lively and Lauren Conrad could be friends. Their business ventures sound quite similar and they’re both California cool girls, into fashion, and they’re both mom’s.
She’s basic, but I love her. She used the reality show just long enough to launch her own empire and now she can be as private as she wants to be. She got out while her peers like Kristin and Speidi still need it. She is a smart cookie!