When it comes to styling, no one does it quite like Christie Moeller. You’ve seen her work everywhere from MTV and VH1 to the Billboard Music Awards and ads for Toyota, Penn & Teller and Nike. She even styled Andre Agassi for his recent book tour. Then there are her fashion shoots, which she has styled for nearly every magazine in this town. Moeller has a fashion-forward style that comes from her 12 years of experience dressing celebrities, personal shopping, gathering commercial costumes and selecting high-end couture for fashion editorials in magazines.
She sat down with Haute Living to talk about fashion trends for spring and some of the amazing photo shoots she has styled.
Haute Living: How would you describe your personal style?
Moeller: Urban, comfy and sometimes funky casual with a little sparkle.
Haute Living: Where do you find inspiration for the photo shoots you style?
Moeller: Everywhere. On the streets, in magazines, from my mood, even from a pretty cupcake.
Haute Living: What is your favorite fashion accessory?
Moeller: Sparkly whimsical jewelry. I love Tarina Tarantino.
Haute Living: I want to reinvent my wardrobe. What type of advice would you give me?
Moeller: Pay attention to your body, age and lifestyle but add some fun and color!
Haute Living: How would you describe Las Vegas style?
Moeller: Contrary to what people outside of Vegas perceive it as, Vegas has a cool, urban, trendy style.
Haute Living: What are the top trends of the summer?
Moeller: This summer make sure you have variety of shades to complement and complete your outfits. Floral prints and prairie looks are big this year as well as Southern belle-type ’50s style dresses.
Haute Living: Are there summer trends that people should avoid?
Moeller: If you don’t have the body, as many of us don’t, avoid the denim shorts/boyfriend shorts.
Haute Living: What drives your passion for styling?
Moeller: I have always been obsessed with combining colors and textures and showing people the unexpected.
Haute Living: Most of your work is with magazines and advertising clients. How do you take their concepts and make it into final photos?
Moeller: With magazines I have more of a hands-on role in deciding the concept but with advertising, you have to learn how to read your client and extract the picture they have in their heads of what they want, which sometimes can be quite difficult.
Haute Living: What are some of your favorite projects?
Moeller: Caesars Player Magazine is close to my heart. I have been with them since the beginning and I am their fashion director. I love the shoot we did in Atantic City with supermodel Kristy Hinze. I love whimsy and color so anything conceptual I jump in with both feet! Here are some of my favorites (click on the photos for a larger view):
Haute Living: Can you tell me some of your tips for becoming a sought-after model?
Moeller: I recently wrote a column about that. I tell models to arrive to photo shoots at least 15 minutes before call time; carry a ”model bag” armed with various kinds of undergarments, snacks, a variety of shoes, hair extensions and clothing choices; arrive bikini ready with perfectly manicured hands and feet and clean and dry face and hair; and follow photographers’ instructions and doesn’t complain. When it comes to a photo shoot, I’ve seen models change their makeup and clothes and eat, drink or smoke in their shooting wardrobe. All are big no-no’s that won’t get you ahead in the modeling world.
Haute Living: In your blog, you talk about items that everyone should have to make styling themselves easier. Can you talk about some of the must-have items everyone should have besides a lint brush?
Moeller: Ahh, tools of the trade. Every woman should have some Top Stick (toupee tape) to hold things down, a great bra to hold things in, baby wipes in their handbag to clean things up and a good portable steamer (jiffysteamers.com is the ONLY way to go) to smooth things out.
Want more great styling tips from Christie Moeller? Check out her blog, where she writes about fashion trends, tips for making it as a model in Las Vegas and her latest projects. You can even win goodies in her giveaways. See it at http://icanstyleu.com/blog.
