“The thing about dressing other people is that you can live vicariously through them,” says stylist Erica Cloud, whose impressive client roster includes Kacey Musgraves, Awkwafina, Laura Dern, Eugene and Dan Levy, and more. Take for instance, the voluminous gold Simone Rocha set Awkwafina wore to the recent Hollywood premiere of The Little Mermaid. “It's so architectural and artistic,” she explains. “I absolutely loved it, but I don’t have somewhere to wear it.” Good thing her clients do. Cloud’s behind-the-scenes lifestyle entails a different kind of wardrobe. “If you see me daily, I'm probably in a pair of black jeans, boots, and a vintage sweatshirt,” she laughs.
“I want each person to tell their own story,” she explains of her approach to styling, “not to necessarily have my stamp on it.” Her mark of a job well done is that her involvement disappears—at least on the surface. “My job is to hopefully elevate their personal style,” she says of her clients. In the case of the Musgraves, Cloud has worked with the beloved country singer to translate the energy behind “Golden Hour” into a wardrobe of ensembles—think modernized versions of rich ‘70s aesthetic tropes and, of course, “all of these golden hour colors,” she jokes. “What people don't realize is that when they see an image or they hear a song and it makes them think of something, it's because it's been curated that way. It should be subconscious,” she says. “Hopefully.” As a stylist, Cloud knows the power of fashion better than most.
In antithesis to the jewels and sequins she deals in, the things that make the stylist’s own heart flutter are a great quality sweater or a perfectly-cut vintage Levi. “And then don't even get me started on my jacket collection,” she laughs. “I have two full closets of jackets.” When we visited said closets, Cloud donned her favorite pair of black Mother cropped flare jeans, her wear-everywhere zipper boots by The Row, and a 15-year-old men’s J.Crew sweater. The creative exalts Holly Golightly’s iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s LBD above most modern design, yet is admittedly drawn to the men’s section by its lack of “bells and whistles.” Cloud explains, “We don't always need a pucker sleeve or a dart somewhere, just a clean line.” Of the boots, she jokes that she would wear them with anything—"anything ever, including a bathing suit. Just kidding, but it's my favorite, favorite shoe.” When Cloud needs to add a bit of flair to her pseudo uniform—sometimes it’s blue jeans instead of black—she opts for a Western boot. “I just feel like that's where the kink comes—in a good way.”
“It's funny because I wouldn't say I had anything else early Western in my closet,” she continues. “I have an old YSL suede trench coat—I don't wear them together though.” If the statement isn’t coming from her footwear, Cloud’s outerwear is likely doing the talking. “Oh my God, that's my favorite,” she muses when I bring up the leopard print Saint Laurent coat stealing my attention from her closet. Yet another piece of menswear, this one she snagged at the outlet store in Italy. You can layer it, push the sleeves up, and wear it on its own. She continues to list the ubiquitous sartorial possibilities. That plus the funky footwear, jeans, and a t-shirt no longer seem so simple. “And I need red lipstick,” Cloud adds. “That's the one other accessory that makes me feel like, ‘Okay, I'm put together.’”
Other notable finds include Loewe’s now iconic hand-print shirt and a studded Dries Van Noten turtleneck. Cloud pauses to tell me about the wonders of the archival room within the LA Dries Van Noten store. “It feels like you're treasure hunting.” There, she’s made many purchases, including a pair of red lace print opera-length nylon gloves. Her most notable treasure hunt find is one you may have seen before—the iconic Tom Ford for Gucci red velvet suit Gwyneth Paltrow has now worn twice. Once at the 1996 VMAs, and another time at last year’s Gucci “Love Parade” fashion show in 2021. At the latter venue, Cloud showed up in the same look. She quickly donned a friend’s coat—would you want to twin with GP?
Cloud’s greatest mark of success is that her own aesthetic inclinations disappear from the ensembles of her clients. She doesn’t want you to know that she was there. But every now and then there’s a slight overlap. Amidst her rather minimal closet, something metallic, rainbow, and pleated catches my eye. It’s the same Rosie Assoulin dress she put Kacey Musgraves in for the “High Horse” music video. “I just had to own it after that,” she muses. “That's the complete opposite of a little black dress,” she muses. “You just feel like a magical unicorn when you wear it.”
"My navy cashmere sweater is men's J. Crew, and I've had that for probably 15 years. I sometimes just shop in the men's department because they have less bells and whistles. We don't always need a pucker sleeve or a dart somewhere, just a clean line. And those are black Mother cropped flare jeans are my favorite cut."
"These are clearly not simple, but I absolutely love both. The Dries turtleneck, I wore when I went with Dan Levy to a show in Paris. I wore this Helmut Lang gray men's suit on top of it, but pushed up the sleeves. The shirt almost looked like gloves. It's such an amazing, versatile, layering piece because, on the flip side, you could wear it with a skirt or jeans or anything and it's like its own accessory. And the same with the Loewe."
"That look is my black Saint Laurent blazer—it's just a perfect cut—and a white Hanes t-shirt. You can buy a pack of Hanes, wash them multiple times, and they get this great texture. And then vintage Levis—I mean, there's nothing better. I like to go to the Rose Bowl with a dress or skirt on and then just try a bunch of pairs on underneath. And my Celine cowboy boots. I wish I could tell you they were some authentic boots from Boot Barn, but they're Celine and I love them."
"When Gwyneth wore that suit to the VMA's, I was obsessed. I just loved everything about it. Then cut to years later, my friend has this vintage called Aralda that's in Beachwood Canyon. She had the suit but in two different sizes—the jacket was a different size than the pants. And they both fit me. It was like finding a four-leaf clover. I wore it during COVID for Halloween, posted it, tagged Gwyneth and she commented on it. My childhood self died. But then I went to the Gucci Hollywood Boulevard show with Awkwafina and we're walking up and this woman comes up to me and she goes, 'Hi, where'd you get that suit?' And I was like, 'I bought it. It's Tom Ford Gucci.' And she looked like bewildered and walked away. And then somebody else goes, 'Hey, we might need to move you.' I was like, 'What is happening?' because in my head I was like, 'Oh, this is the perfect place to wear this suit.' Turns out, Gwyneth was sitting 10 seats down and she was wearing that suit for the first time in like 25 years. Of course I had done it to the tee with the light blue button down underneath it, put my hair back, all of it. I borrowed a camel coat from my friend so they let me keep my seat."
"I like a certain sneaker at certain times. I have this pair of Nikes that are truly the most comfortable pair of shoes ever. I got them on GOAT and then afterward I started researching them in every color."
"I would say my style is classic with a few wild cards."
"Oh my god, I have so many vintage t-shirts. I would say that's what I look for the most when I go to a flea market. When they're used, they have a perfect washed weight to them—specifically eighties or nineties ones. And they also used to cut the neck so much tighter, which I love."
"My core goes back to a perfect black dress. On some level that is probably based in my core memories from the nineties of Gwyneth or Carolyn Bessette. That's ingrained in me as a perfect look. But also it goes deeper than that because Audrey Hepburn has a little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's (I remember very specifically watching that [as a kid]). Obviously, these are staples that everybody knows, but I think for my personal body type, that looks best on me. A fitted waist and a flared skirt, for whatever reason, doesn't look good on me. I just don't necessarily feel like myself. I love a clean line."
"I remember watching Seven with Gwyneth Paltrow and I was like, 'Oh, she's so cool.' I started seeing her in magazines and her style was so of the time, too. I mean, obviously I'm not buying Calvin Klein as a teenager, but that's what was in stores and what was shaping and molding on my personal aesthetic. It wasn't like the internet existed so you'd find these tiny morsels in a magazine. I remember she wore this twin set with this blue floral skirt. I think it was Prada. And she had these platform shoes that they were also Prada. Victoria's Secret catalogs were a big thing and they did a version so I got two, a blue one and a black one. I was over the moon because they were the same style."
"Don't even get me started on my jackets. I have a two full closets of jackets."
"That's my favorite coat. It's men's. I got it at the outlets in Italy and it's like a nylon fabric that literally goes with anything. I consider leopard a neutral."
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