I’m so excited to share today’s recap with you! Most of you know that I had the privilege to attend the Clinton Kelly at Macy’s event last week here in Durham! I was SO SO SO SO SO excited to get invited to be a blogger for the event and I was pretty much stressing out all week about what to wear.

I really had no idea going into it what to expect, but I knew that it would be a fun night. I had NO idea how much I’d laugh and how much I’d actually take away from it.

I was so excited to recognize some familiar faces there! I saw Ashley from Dancing with Ashley. Love her!!

As I’ve mentioned before (haha even yesterday!), I am a HUGE What Not to Wear fan and I’ve met Stacy London before, so I was really excited to see Clinton in person! I won’t bore you with all the little details of the evening, but I will recap the highlights, some of my favorite parts, and some of the wise words of wisdom Clinton bestowed upon us.

Before it all really got going, Clinton started off by explaining that it’s important to FIRST make the distinction between FASHION and STYLE.

“Fashion is all that STUFF that you see in the stores, on the runway, in retailers, on the racks…” Clinton said. “STYLE, is what you CHOOSE to do with fashion. Style is your take on fashion. Think of fashion as the buffet and style is what you decide to put on your plate.

“Style can help you get whatever you want out of life. Sure, it’s profound, but it’s true,” he continued. “Style is a way of communicating what you want out of life without ever saying a word. With style, you can attract people TO you or you can repel people FROM you.” 

I LOVED that. It’s so true! If you see a girl walking down the street with half purple hair, cut off shorts, fishnet tights, and black lipstick… you know that she is trying to convey something very specific about who she is. If you see another girl walking down the street in a black business suit and simple blouse, you know that she is also trying to convey something very specific about who she is. Someone who tends to wear only black and white might convey something different than someone who loves to wear bright colors.

Style really says SO much about who we are as people. That’s one of the reasons I, personally, love style so much and expressing myself through the way that I dress.

After that, Clinton took a volunteer out of the audience to critique her outfit. He was so kind and sweet, but also gave some great feedback to her on how she might have changed one or two things about her look.

It’s all about elongating the leg length and by wearing flip flops with cropped pants, this woman was cutting herself off in an important area. He suggested that if she wanted to wear cropped pants, that she should go for a wedge or a heel to help elongate the leg. He also said a pop of color in the outfit would have really made a huge impact!

After that, began the fashion show featuring outfits all styled by Clinton. There were five segments featuring different trends, American Icons, All-White Look, The Soft Pant and Print Mixing, The New Denim, and Dresses. I also loved that he had different types represented – he had the millennial, curvy, and what we called “fabulous” (aka: seniors).

First up? American Icons. This trend is all about rocking red, white, and blue! 

Here’s the millennial’s take:

Curvy: 

Clinton emphasized the importance of covering “the tush” if you’re self-conscious about that part of your body.

Fabulous (this woman, believe it or not, is an older woman!!):

Next up was the all-white trend. Clinton emphasized the importance of incorporating texture, pattern, and shine when rocking the all white trend. Since you’ve taken color out of the mix, it’s so important to add visual interest elsewhere.

Here’s the millennial’s take: 

The curvy take: 

And the fabulous take (doesn’t this woman look gorgeous?! That skirt is faux leather!! Who said older women can’t rock trends? FALSE!!): 

Next up was the soft pant and print mixing. With print mixing, it’s so important to keep the prints in the same color palette.

Here’s the millennial take:

The curvy take: 

And the fabulous take (now also remember, a black and white print is considered a NEUTRAL and can go with anything!):

The new denim was up next and this is all about incorporating denim or the COLOR of denim in a new way.

The millennial’s take (I LOVED THIS LOOK!!!):

The curvy take (these jeans were actually pinstriped):

The fabulous take (rocking the chambray):

Last up was dresses that are in this season. Some of these are dresses that only VERY SPECIFIC body types can wear…

For example, the millennial (no WAY could I rock this look, but she looked fabulous):

The curvy – I LOVED this look – the fit and flare dress style is my favorite:

The fabulous (cinching or ruching helps to draw the eye to the narrowest part of the body): 

Curvy rocking the wrap dress:

Fabulous rocking a GORGEOUS printed look – another fit and flare dress:

And the millennial rocking the body-con dress: 

Overall I LOVED the looks and really loved everything that Clinton had to say about ways to rock the trends at different ages, shapes, etc.

And one thing he left us with was something that I’ve preached for years…

Clinton said, “Over the years, I’ve styled close to 1,000 women! And if I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned that there’s a common thread among women and that’s their use of the words: ‘I hate _____.’ Ladies, STOP using the word HATE when it comes to talking about yourself. Remove that word from your vocabulary completely,” he exclaimed. “If someone walked up to you and said they hated your shoes, it would ruin your day. So why are you saying these things to yourselves?

“Stop comparing yourselves to other women. Those women you see on billboards, in magazines, on television… they’re NOT REAL. They’ve been airbrushed. That hair was brought in by a stylist and he took it home in a plastic bag. It’s all imaginary. So stop comparing yourselves to things that just aren’t real. It’s ruining you. You are beautiful the way you are and it’s time you started believing it.”

That, ladies, is exactly what I’m talking about. We’ve got to stop saying we hate things about ourselves and we’ve got to start saying we love things about ourselves. Because the sooner we start doing that, the sooner we’ll start actually believing it.

What about you? Which trends that I shared did you like the most? Any particular look that you loved or you’d want to try? Are you a Clinton Kelly fan? Did you love his words of wisdom as much as I did? Sound off in the comments!

I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere has provided me with compensation for this post for the Macy’s Clinton Kelly event. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own!