Upcoming Performer LA Stylist Bethany Winters

The very stylish Bethany Winters will be performing with us in our upcoming show and we couldn’t be more nervous about what to wear, I mean excited! All joking aside Bethany is more than stylish, read her interview to get her advice on how to chase your kids while looking good and why she stopped blogging.

While that is totally up for discussion, especially these days, I’m flattered. I still find it to be a daily challenge; I’ve always said that I can easily dress everyone else on the planet but myself. I know it sounds simple, but a good pair of jeans; buy a dark wash, that wont show dirt, in a style that flatters your figure. Yoga pants have sort of become the new mom jeans, and I have to admit it’s a ‘trend’ I loathe. If you’re going to the gym, that’s one thing, but it’s truly no harder to throw on a pair of jeans. I’m also a huge fan of tunics. I like cotton or chambray ones from J. Crew, the shirt kind with a collar – they somehow make me feel more pulled together than say, a tee shirt would. Pair them with ballet flats (I swear by Yosi Samra and own several colors) or flat riding boots, add accessories and you can easily go from the park to pick up without feeling so shlubby. Never underestimate a good accessory. You might not have time to shower, but with a great bag or scarf no one will ever know but you.

2. How has your fashion sense changed since becoming a mom?

Bethany with her beautiful boys.

It’s changed in a number of ways.

When I had my first son, I went from being on set and in meetings all the time to legitimately forgetting to brush my teeth. My whole world was fashion and then the next day it wasn’t. It was the complete opposite; I was disgusting and realized fairly quickly that I needed to run a little recon to reinvent how fashion was going to fit into my life. I have to admit that it was pretty ‘meh’ for a while since I lived in my maternity clothes until my son was a good four months old…okay, six. After that it just sort of evolved (thank God) and I founded my blog L.A. Stylist Mom since I thought there was no way I can be alone in this. I embraced wash and wear fashion more, stopped ironing and dry cleaning as much and found a way to feel somewhat attractive with poop in my hair. It’s a tough gig, motherhood and fashion, but the two can co-exist. Having two sons, my kid asked me the other day, “How come I had to get a fashion mom? Why couldn’t I get a sports mom?” I’ll still dress up at night and for client meetings, but with that “DONTTOUCHMETHESEPANTSARESILK!!!” caveat that I think all moms have.

3. You are a well-known blogger and you stopped blogging, correct? What was your decision to stop?

I’ve been a stylist for 15 years and that’s always where my heart has been. I started L.A. Stylist Mom during a very long bed rest, both during and after my second pregnancy. As I mentioned, although mired in the industry for years, I too had a tough time reconciling my new position as a parent with my former ‘dry clean only’ life. My blog served as a platform to help others who also struggled, as well as to provide a creative outlet and temporary ‘career’ as it were, until I could ultimately go back to styling in real life. When I started there were only one or two other fashion blogs for moms and my decision to stop did not come easily. If I’m anything it’s brutally honest, and as I began to lose enthusiasm, I felt that that came through in my writing, curating, post-quality, etc. Not only was it unfair to me, it wasn’t fair to my readers. The only way I can really describe it is like wearing a shirt that’s too small. It had served its purpose and I had outgrown it, plain and simple. I think that any successes that I enjoyed while blogging, were a direct result of what I put into it and I could feel that waning. That said, the friendships and connections that blogging has afforded me are mind blowing…MIND BLOWING. I’ve met some of my very best friends to this day and forged business relationships that never would have otherwise happened. I miss her sometimes L.A. Stylist Mom…

I love L.A. so much, like it’s a part of me – we have the same birthday! How weird that I know that, right? I’m an east coast girl (Baltimore by way of Connecticut) and grew up with a very New England-y, formal, dress-for-dinner-sensibility. I’ve been a Cali girl for 20 years now and I truly cannot imagine being anything else. L.A. style is in my blood, so much so that I sometimes worry that I wont remember how to ‘do’ anything else. L.A. women have an ease and confidence about them, while not trying too hard. I love inherent Los Angeles street style; not over-produced hipster stuff, but teenage girls in The Valley, or groups of kids at the beach. That’s where real fashion starts, in the streets, and L.A. has never left me wanting more in the people watching department. That said, it’s definitely evolved in the past decade as far as having it’s fair share of ‘legitimate’ designers. People are always comparing L.A. to N.Y. fashion-wise, as if L.A. is sub-par. What I think people don’t understand is that we’re not trying to be N.Y, nor would we want to. It’s not a competition, we’re just ourselves and I love that.

Don’t miss hearing and seeing Bethany at our upcoming show.