Alice Carey - Advanced Style Icon

Alice Carey, Writer, Featured Style Muse, Advanced Style

Meet your new source of inspiration. She's got a cheeky, cropped, orange 'do and a menswear-inspired, go-to summer ensemble. But, Alice Carey is not your conventional It Girl. From picking up her first lessons in glamour by observing Broadway producers in the '60s to becoming one of the most recognizable faces on the site Advanced Style, Carey is a a seasoned style star whose sense of adventure never wanes.

The Irish-American writer and regular contributor to The Huffington Post is a self-proclaimed "thrift-store gal" who's created a signature style that's fine-tuned but still eclectic. We spoke to her about how she pulls together her looks, and how she'd want to dress if she were a millennial today. Break out the pink hair dye — Carey's answer is not for the faint of heart.

AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT

The greatest style lesson I've ever learned:
"My mother worked as a maid to a famous Broadway producer on Park Avenue in the '60s. As I went to the house everyday after school to "help out," I was privileged to see stylish women who accessorized their outfits. Dresses complemented jewelry, earrings, shoes, hairstyle, etc. I still believe this, and I do it every day. Accessories are important."

My constant source of style inspiration:
"The past."

My first major, big-ticket style purchase:
"In the '70s, I bought a salmon-colored cashmere coat with a wrap-around belt from Bendel’s, when Bendel’s was Bendel’s and Gerry Stutz ran the store. It cost around $200 — a fortune at that time."

My style theme song:
"Not that I wear pink all the time, yet 'Think Pink' from the film Funny Face would be my theme, because its message is be daring! 'Think pink on that long, long road ahead. Think pink and your world is rosy red.'"

My three favorite places to shop:
"I’m primarily a thrift-store gal: Salvation Army and Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York, because of the designer and vintage clothes that I find there. I recently found a man’s bespoke tweed jacket made in London (circa '70s) that cost more to tailor ($40) than to buy ($15). Like all women, from Princess Diana to Margaret Thatcher, I love Marks & Spencer (U.K., Ireland, and online) for trousers and underwear and cashmere sweaters. Since I live in Ireland as well as New York, temptation is never very far away."

AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT

My definitive summer go-to outfit:
"My vintage, Brooks Brothers men’s shirts of multicolor stripes (circa '60s/'70s) that are now faded and gorgeous. I have several that I wear with skinny, black pants from Marks & Spencer."

If you were 20 years old today:
"I’d chop off all my hair and dye it pink. I’d embrace the miniskirt and white Correge boots, and wear false eyelashes. (Forgive my incorrect spelling of Correge.)
Courrèges, like a go-go boot??"

Styled by Laura Pritchard, Hair by Bethany Brill, Makeup by Tiffany Patton

Marks & Spencer black skinny pant; Brooks Brothers vintage men’s shirt; Salt Water yellow sandal; Dior vintage earrings.