Stacy London
Encyclopedia
Stacy London is an American fashion consultant and media personality known primarily for her role as co-host on What Not to Wear, a reality program
that features makeover
s. After graduating from Vassar College
, London started her career as a fashion editor at Vogue
and transitioned into being a stylist for both celebrities and designers. While still co-hosting What Not to Wear with Clinton Kelly
, she has since moved into fashion reporting for the Today Show and business consulting for several corporations. She is a brand ambassador
for Pantene
hair products, Woolite detergent, Dr. Scholl's
, and Riders by Lee
jeans.
, of Sicilian
descent on her mother's side and Jewish descent on her father's. Her stepmother, Victoria, is a romance novelist. Her mother, Joy, worked as a venture capitalist, and her father, Herbert London
, is the president emeritus of the Hudson Institute
. "We don't see eye to eye on that much politically," she acknowledges, but "he did instill a certain sense of propriety and right and wrong in me, which plays into my fashion sensibility." She also acknowledged him as "the best father in the world." She received her B.A.
from Vassar College
with a double major in 20th-century philosophy
and German literature
, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. It was during a summer internship in Paris
in Christian Dior
's PR
department that she took a serious interest in pursuing a career in the fashion industry.
magazine and later became the senior fashion editor at Mademoiselle
. She has styled fashion photos for other publications, including Italian D, Nylon, and Contents. London has styled for celebrities such as Kate Winslet
and Liv Tyler
, as well as on fashion shows for designers Rebecca Taylor
, Ghost, and Vivienne Tam
. London has worked on numerous advertising campaigns as well. Her client roster includes Hanes, Wonderbra
, Bali
, Procter & Gamble
, CoverGirl, Suave
, Target
, Levi Strauss & Co.
, Maytag
, Swatch USA, Longines
, and Calvin Klein
.
Since 2003 London has co-hosted TLC
's What Not to Wear. She is known for referring to women's breasts as "the girls," and often shouting "Shut up!" or "Shut the front door!" to express her approval when the guests of the show appear at the end of the program to reveal the results of their makeover. She is also known for her love of high-heeled shoe
s, owning over 300 pairs. In a "Best of 2005" look-back show, her co-host Clinton Kelly teased London by saying "...there are almost as many great moments as there are high heels in Stacy's wardrobe." In 2005, they wrote a book together entitled Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body. In addition to hosting What Not to Wear, London also served as the host of her own talk show Shut Up! It's Stacy London! which served as the pilot episode for Fashionably Late with Stacy London
.
In 2005, she teamed up with Fresca
, the sugar free soda brand owned by Coca Cola, for their "Fresh New Look" promotion to celebrate their new brand logo and packaging. In 2007, she partnered with Sprint
to launch their "My Mobile Style" website which aimed to help people choose a cell phone based on their personal style. She is quoted as saying "I partnered with Sprint on this project because Sprint understands that your mobile phone is a major reflection of who you are." As of 2009, London serves as brand ambassador for Pantene
, Woolite, Dr. Scholl's
, and Riders by Lee.
In addition to her hosting duties and endorsements, London has done some fashion reporting for Weekend Today, The Early Show, Good Day Live and Access Hollywood
. She is a frequent contributor on NBC's "Today Show". In 2010, London and business partner Cindy McLaughlin co-founded Style for Hire, an online service that matches people with personal stylists that live in their area. The agency was launched on September 13 in Washington, D.C.
. Due to her experience growing up, she became a spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation as an adult. She is well known for her trademark natural gray streak in the front of her hair which she has had since she was eleven; her Pantene contract includes a "gray clause" that allows her to keep it. Before becoming famous, London (5'7") struggled with weight issues. "I have been every size in my life. I’ve been smaller than a zero, up through a size 16. I’ve had lots of issues with body image and weight my whole life and it really took a great deal of work to recognize that at all those weights, no matter how I felt, I could still find a dress that made me feel sexy and powerful."
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
that features makeover
Makeover
A makeover is a term applied to changing one's appearance, sometimes through cosmetics. Makeovers can range from something as simple as a new haircut, to the use of cosmetic surgery, to the extreme of the implantation of dental veneers, eye-color-changing contact lenses, and the use of...
s. After graduating from Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, London started her career as a fashion editor at Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and transitioned into being a stylist for both celebrities and designers. While still co-hosting What Not to Wear with Clinton Kelly
Clinton Kelly (TV personality)
Clinton Kelly is an American fashion consultant and media personality best known for his role as co-host on What Not to Wear, a reality program that features fashion makeovers. He shares on-air duties with Stacy London. Kelly started his career as a freelance writer for several fashion magazines...
, she has since moved into fashion reporting for the Today Show and business consulting for several corporations. She is a brand ambassador
Brand ambassador
A Brand Ambassador is a person employed by a company to be the sales rep and physical representative of the company with respect to sales and marketing. The Brand Ambassador is meant to embody the corporate image in appearance, demeanor, values, and ethics....
for Pantene
Pantene
Pantene is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1947 by Hoffman-LaRoche of Switzerland, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient...
hair products, Woolite detergent, Dr. Scholl's
Dr. Scholl's
William Mathias Scholl was a podiatrist, pioneer of foot care and the founder of Dr. Scholl's, a brand of foot care products. Scholl went on to found the Illinois College of Chiropody and Orthopaedics. William M...
, and Riders by Lee
Lee (Jeans)
Lee is a brand of denim jeans, first produced in 1889 in Salina, Kansas. The company is owned by VF Corporation, the largest apparel company in the world. Its headquarters is currently in Merriam, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, Missouri...
jeans.
Early life
London was born and raised in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, of Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
descent on her mother's side and Jewish descent on her father's. Her stepmother, Victoria, is a romance novelist. Her mother, Joy, worked as a venture capitalist, and her father, Herbert London
Herbert London
-Early life:He was born in Brooklyn, New York circa 1939 and attended Columbia University, graduating in 1960. Standing 6'5", he was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals of the National Basketball League, but did not play for them because of injuries. He was a social studies secondary school teacher...
, is the president emeritus of the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
. "We don't see eye to eye on that much politically," she acknowledges, but "he did instill a certain sense of propriety and right and wrong in me, which plays into my fashion sensibility." She also acknowledged him as "the best father in the world." She received her B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
with a double major in 20th-century philosophy
20th-century philosophy
20th-century philosophy saw the development of a number of new philosophical schools including logical positivism, analytic philosophy, phenomenology, existentialism and poststructuralism...
and German literature
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. It was during a summer internship in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
's PR
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
department that she took a serious interest in pursuing a career in the fashion industry.
Career
London began her career as a fashion assistant at VogueVogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
magazine and later became the senior fashion editor at Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle (magazine)
Mademoiselle was an influential women's magazine first published in 1935 by Street and Smith and later acquired by Condé Nast Publications....
. She has styled fashion photos for other publications, including Italian D, Nylon, and Contents. London has styled for celebrities such as Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
and Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler
Liv Rundgren Tyler is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and Bebe Buell, model and singer. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14, but after less than a year she decided to focus on acting. She made her film debut in the 1994...
, as well as on fashion shows for designers Rebecca Taylor
Rebecca Taylor
Rebecca Taylor is a New Zealand-born fashion designer based in New York, New York, United States. To Americans, she is probably the most famous New Zealand designer, with her label at US and European department stores. Her retail outlets include boutiques in Japan...
, Ghost, and Vivienne Tam
Vivienne Tam
Vivienne Tam is a fashion designer based in New York City. She was born in Guangzhou, China and moved to Hong Kong at the age of three. She attended Hong Kong Polytechnic University....
. London has worked on numerous advertising campaigns as well. Her client roster includes Hanes, Wonderbra
Wonderbra
The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1935, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses Nadler, founder and majority owner of the Canadian Lady Corset Company, licensed the...
, Bali
Bali (lingerie)
Bali is a lingerie company operating in the United States of America.Bali began in 1927 with Sara Stein as Fay-Miss. In 1935 the company changed its name to Bali Brassiere Company. Bali merged with Hanes Corporation in 1969. Hanes was then sold to Chicago based Consolidated Foods Company, which...
, Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, CoverGirl, Suave
Suave
Suave is a brand name based in Chicago, IL used by the Unilever company in the United States, Argentina, Mexico and Canada. Targeting discount stores, the brand represents more than 100 products including shampoo, lotions, soaps and deodorant....
, Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
, Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
, Maytag
Maytag
Maytag Corporation is an American home and commercial appliance company, headquartered in Newton, Iowa, that is a division of the Whirlpool Corporation.-Company history:...
, Swatch USA, Longines
Longines
Longines is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. The company was originally founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832 and it currently holds the oldest registered logo for a watch company . Longines is currently owned by the Swatch Group.Longines is known for its 'Aviators' watches...
, and Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
.
Since 2003 London has co-hosted TLC
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
's What Not to Wear. She is known for referring to women's breasts as "the girls," and often shouting "Shut up!" or "Shut the front door!" to express her approval when the guests of the show appear at the end of the program to reveal the results of their makeover. She is also known for her love of high-heeled shoe
High-heeled shoe
High-heeled footwear is footwear that raises the heel of the wearer's foot significantly higher than the toes. When both the heel and the toes are raised equal amounts, as in a platform shoe, it is technically not considered to be a high heel; however, there are also high-heeled platform shoes...
s, owning over 300 pairs. In a "Best of 2005" look-back show, her co-host Clinton Kelly teased London by saying "...there are almost as many great moments as there are high heels in Stacy's wardrobe." In 2005, they wrote a book together entitled Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body. In addition to hosting What Not to Wear, London also served as the host of her own talk show Shut Up! It's Stacy London! which served as the pilot episode for Fashionably Late with Stacy London
Fashionably Late with Stacy London
Fashionably Late with Stacy London was a late-night talk and variety show on TLC hosted by Stacy London. As of February 8, 2008, the show no longer appears on TLCs TV show schedule.The show aired weekly on Friday night at 10 pm EST...
.
In 2005, she teamed up with Fresca
Fresca
Fresca is a citrus diet soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company. First introduced in the United States in 1966, the drink is now sold throughout the American continent...
, the sugar free soda brand owned by Coca Cola, for their "Fresh New Look" promotion to celebrate their new brand logo and packaging. In 2007, she partnered with Sprint
Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...
to launch their "My Mobile Style" website which aimed to help people choose a cell phone based on their personal style. She is quoted as saying "I partnered with Sprint on this project because Sprint understands that your mobile phone is a major reflection of who you are." As of 2009, London serves as brand ambassador for Pantene
Pantene
Pantene is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1947 by Hoffman-LaRoche of Switzerland, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient...
, Woolite, Dr. Scholl's
Dr. Scholl's
William Mathias Scholl was a podiatrist, pioneer of foot care and the founder of Dr. Scholl's, a brand of foot care products. Scholl went on to found the Illinois College of Chiropody and Orthopaedics. William M...
, and Riders by Lee.
In addition to her hosting duties and endorsements, London has done some fashion reporting for Weekend Today, The Early Show, Good Day Live and Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
. She is a frequent contributor on NBC's "Today Show". In 2010, London and business partner Cindy McLaughlin co-founded Style for Hire, an online service that matches people with personal stylists that live in their area. The agency was launched on September 13 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Personal life
As a child, London suffered from psoriasisPsoriasis
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. It occurs when the immune system mistakes the skin cells as a pathogen, and sends out faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis is not contagious. However, psoriasis has been linked to an increased risk of...
. Due to her experience growing up, she became a spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation as an adult. She is well known for her trademark natural gray streak in the front of her hair which she has had since she was eleven; her Pantene contract includes a "gray clause" that allows her to keep it. Before becoming famous, London (5'7") struggled with weight issues. "I have been every size in my life. I’ve been smaller than a zero, up through a size 16. I’ve had lots of issues with body image and weight my whole life and it really took a great deal of work to recognize that at all those weights, no matter how I felt, I could still find a dress that made me feel sexy and powerful."