The Outré Outfits on Reality TV Couldn’t Be More Deliberate

Today, Dorn doesn’t watch The Bachelor (she knows “too much” about the behind-the-scenes to be able to suspend her disbelief), but, like me, she is a Love Is Blind fan and has noticed that the outfits — especially the reunion looks — have become more and more intentional with each season. “The only time they get to wear a gown is the wedding, so the reunion offers a guaranteed opportunity for a glammed-up moment,” she suggests. Consider it a last-hurrah bid for relevance. Stylist Sonja Christensen, who dresses Love Is Blind co-host Vanessa Lachey, sees the show’s increasing “glamification” as a way for contestants to outdo their predecessors. “Everyone wants to one-up the people who came before,” she says. I ask Christensen what kinds of pieces have come to define reality TV dressing. “Matching sets and a lot of crop tops,” she offers. Reality TV fashion also exists in its own kind of parallel universe, where concepts of weather, season, location or even current trends matter far less than a garment’s ability to look great from the waist up in a confessional or even a meme. “The main objective of styling, for any platform, is for the consumer to see clothing on the talent and want to buy it,” says Vladimyr Pierre-Louis, a stylist who has worked with Love & Hip Hop New York breakout Yandy Smith. Accessibility is key. “Believe it or not, the super-luxe designer pieces don’t work as well as more contemporary fashion,” he says. “They don’t want to alienate their audiences. And who’s watching these shows? It’s largely Middle America.” Still, standing out is always the goal for reality TV stars so that they can “extend their 15 minutes of fame as long as they can,” says Pierre-Louis. Ironically, this quest often results in everyone looking largely the same: bright body-con dresses (which he teasingly and accurately refers to as “Fashion Nova dresses”), rows of fake lashes and plenty of strappy heels. “Because these shows film so much, they can’t afford thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing because they don’t know what’s actually going to air,” reasons Pierre-Louis. Plus, can you imagine spending $4,000 on an evening gown only to get rejected while wearing it? Ouch. But deviating from this formula has given us one of the most memorable reality TV fashion moments of the past decade. Shortly after getting caught in the middle of “Scandoval” (a.k.a. the biggest infidelity scandal since Brangelina), when Tom Sandoval, her partner of nine years, had an affair with a co-star, Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix caused a media frenzy when she wore an orange sweatsuit printed with “1-800-BOYS-LIE” on an outing in 2023. The look came courtesy of L.A. clothing brand Boys Lie, and the subliminal messaging could not have been better suited. “These celebrities can’t really speak out; they don’t have press conferences, but they wear items on their bodies that represent their breakups or their healing process,” says Tori Robinson, co-founder of Boys Lie. “They’re saying it without saying it,” she adds, sharing that she and her co-founder, Leah O’Malley, received an email from Madix’s stylist specifically requesting the look. It was a completely different take on the “revenge dress” concept. And it worked. Is reality TV fashion stuck in sartorial permafrost? Destined to look simultaneously faddish and expected? Pierre-Louis says he’d like to see future stars take more risks: “Take chances, trust in yourself, try not to fit whatever you think the mould is.” To that end, he references Jenna Lyons, a recent-ish addition to The Real Housewives of New York City, who stuck to her signature casual-chic style on the show. “There was one reunion and she came wearing jeans, and I thought, ‘Brilliant,’” says Pierre-Louis. So, if you have big reality TV dreams (Love Is Blind began casting for its Toronto season earlier this year) but no desire to wear neon body-con, maybe there’s hope for you yet. Just imagine the attention you’d get for going against the grain. This article first appeared in FASHION’s September 2024 issue. Find out more here.