Choosing the Clothes, Part 1

It might look easy, but it takes several steps and a team of people to put together a fashion lookbook. And where does it all start? With the clothes of course!

When Anna Plaks, ELLE's Senior Marketing Manager, asked me to style this lookbook the first thing we did was set up an appointment at JCPenney's showroom in midtown Manhattan. It's there that I can check everything that will be sold for Fall and pick out my favorite pieces with you in mind!

Me with racks full of JCPenney's Fall collection! Let the fun begin!

I start by looking through all the pieces before I pull out my must-haves. This is my chance to spot trends (found lots of plaid and empire waists!) and scope out which pieces represent them the best. After this once-over, I immediately go back and pull out the pieces that stood out in my mind. I like to collect my favorites and work the rest of the looks around them.

Next: Choosing the Clothes, Part 2