Style Double Shot: Kristen Bell and The Power of Knowing Yourself

We will stipulate up front that the title of this post is more than a bit grandiose, but hear us out.

Kristen Bell attends the 2016 Baby2Baby Gala at 3LABS in Culver City, California in David Koma.

We don’t tend to feature Miss Kristen a lot ’round these parts. To be fair, we’re seeing a whole lot of her lately because she has a new TV show that’s doing well. But even so, we can recall plenty of times passing her over when it came time to select topics and posts for the day. But because we’re seeing more of her now, we’re noticing something about her style. We’ve always been aware that her style was a bit “middle of the road,” which tends not to inspire scintillating or hilarious commentary. But what we used to see as a weak point or drawback looks considerably less so the more we see of her.

Case in point: The above look is cute and we have no real critiques or suggested changes. It’s not Vogue-cover chic or eye-poppingly gorgeous, but it’s pretty and stylish and she looks really good. That’s her style secret. It’s the only style secret that really matters: Knowing what works for you and sticking with it.

We have long maintained that celebrities have good reason to want to keep their style fresh, updated and constantly evolving. We still believe that. But we’re starting to come around on the idea that certain celebs do well to maintain a constant and largely unchanging image. Not to disparage anyone’s career choices (especially since they’re all making more money than us), but this approach tends to work best for middle-of-the-road TV stars like Kristen. She’s not a movie star on an awards track or a pop star with a new album, look and message to sell. She’s your good friend Kristen, who always looks cute.

Kristen Bell attends The Grove Christmas with Seth MacFarlane Presented by Citi at The Grove in Los Angeles, California in Self-Portrait.

Almost always.

We’re at the point where we instantly recoil from black lace. And to be honest, we think that top borders on frumpy in shape and style. But even this makes a certain sort of approachable sense for her. First, she’s kicking off Christmas at The Grove, and we can’t think of a more middle-of-the-road celebrity appearance than that. Second, it’s got a certain style to it that she tends to wear well. The pants look great. The top looks better than it probably should on her. She knows what works for her and she seems to know what kind of image she wants to sell. And in all our years of red-carpet-watching, we can’t recall any style disasters on her C.V.

She’s doing alright.

But the pearl ankle straps are kinda heinous.

Style Credits:
First Look: David Koma Black Embroidered Dress from the Spring 2016 Collection | Edie Parker Clutch | Christian Louboutin Pumps
Second Look: Self-Portrait Lace Embroidered Top from the Fall 2016 Collection paired with Burgundy Trousers from the Resort 2017 Collection | Stella Luna Pumps

[Photo Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images, Phillip Faraone/Getty Images, Charley Gallay/Getty Images, IMAXTree]

• Baby2Baby Gala
• Christian Louboutin
• David Koma
• Edie Parker
• Galas
• Kristen Bell
• Red Carpet
• Self-Portrait
• Stella Luna