ABC’s “The Bachelor” is back — and Colton Underwood is hoping to find love. But before his romantic journey begins, the former NFL player has to look the part. That’s where Cary Fetman comes in. The longtime stylist has valuable insights about what works fashionwise.
Plus, the wardrobe guru, who has worked with your favorite bachelors and bachelorettes for 17 years, revealed some on-set style secrets that may come as a surprise.
1. Colton is a “shoe whore.”
“Colton’s sneaker and boot game is amongst the top. He doesn’t care if you put him in the same shirt every day as long as he can change his sneakers. His shoes [filled] a suitcase. The girls were the only people I had this many shoes for,” said Fetman, revealing that Underwood’s collection of shoes outweighed season 14 “Bachelorette” Becca Kufrin’s.
Underwood made sure to keep his footwear on-point for his season — from Air Jordan to Bruno Magli.
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2. Colton has more than 250 pairs of shoes in his collection, and he’s a size 14.
“Coming into this, I took a lot of pride in my own fashion. I’m a firm believer in look good, play good,” Underwood told FN. “I have more than 250 pairs of shoes. My favorite brand now is To Boot New York. They’re comfortable and have my size. Size 14 doesn’t come often in dress shoes. ”
3. Season 13 “Bachelorette” Rachel Lindsay was also obsessed with shoes.
Fetman said, “Shoes were her thing. She probably had 1.5 times the amount than most girls had.”
4. The contestants are not professionally styled.
“I don’t touch the contestants until the very end,” said the costumer. “I used to love going in the night before just to see the differences between the girls who would bring full trunks like they were going out to Europe in the 1930s versus the girl with one suitcase. I always though that was fun. Now I just like being a fan.”
5. The “Bachelor” needs about 92 complete looks for the season.
Meanwhile, the “Bachelorette” needs 118.
6. Fittings take three days and sometimes 14 hours at a time.
The wardrobe guru said suits were not custom-made for Underwood, but they may as well have been, as everything was altered and tailored due to his large build.
“For the fittings, there are literally racks and racks and racks. It takes three days,” said Fetman. “The first day is just trying on everything, and we will try it on again before we alter. The next two days are spent standing in front of a mirror for eight, 12 and sometimes 14 hours.”
7. Michelle Money had one of Fetman’s all-time favorite looks.
Contestant Michelle Money, from “The Bachelor” season 15, wowed when she first appeared out of the limo in 2011.
Fetman said this was when he used to visit the girls to see what they were wearing. He explained, “She had a dress that was completely sheer with a feather pattern, and when she walked, the skirt just swept behind her and all you saw were legs, and it was cut low. It was the most dangerous dress you can wear. I said to her, ‘Tomorrow, if you wear that dress, you are going to be the talk. Everybody will be either loving you or making fun of you. There’s no in between.'”
He continued, “And she walked out of the car in that dress, and you could hear the gasps. We were in the driveway. She stole the show. Sometimes you need to take a chance with fashion and actually feel great. Michelle is still to this day one of my favorite looks that has ever come out of that car.”
8. The wardrobe is not all designer clothes.
Said the stylist, “It’s a mix. I like part-fantasy so the audience sees something that’s part of a fun dream, and I love to mix that with Zara, J.Crew or Old Navy, [for example]. You don’t have to wear a designer for every [scene]. I don’t care what the label is. I care what it looks like on you.”
“The Bachelor” airs 8 p.m. ET Monday on ABC.
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