Katy Keene will keep you in stitches
Actress likes role of designer navigating through the New York fashion scene
Katy Keene
Thursdays, W Network/The CW
“You either know fashion or you don’t,” Vogue editor Anna Wintour once said. Luckily for Katy Keene, the Archie Comics character at the centre of the eponymous TV show, fashion comes as naturally as floral prints in springtime.
Katy’s an aspiring fashion designer in New York City, required by trade to know her plaids from her paisleys, and her seersucker from her satins.
Her portrayer, Lucy Hale, is no newbie either. Hale previously played teenage fashionista Aria Montgomery on Pretty Little Liars, and in 2014 collaborated with the youth-oriented brand Hollister.
Hale spoke to Postmedia News about Katy’s signature look, her own wardrobe must-haves and her No. 1 style don’t.
Q What have been some of your favourite Katy outfits so far?
A Some of my favourites have been exact outfits from the comics. Since Katy was created in the 1940s, getting to show off some of those designs is really cool. But I think my favourite outfit is in the season finale and it’s a dress that Katy designed. It has a big pink bow around the neck in the shape of a heart, which was handmade by our seamstresses. It’s really wild — it’s a lot — but it’s very Katy.
Q Katy sews a lot of her own clothes on the show — do you know how to sew, too?
A I know the very basics, since I wanted it to look like I knew what I was doing in the scenes. But Katy definitely understands it on a deep level, and I definitely do not.
Q How does your personal sense of style compare to Katy’s?
A Katy is a lot brighter than I am. She loves her pink-and-red palette, and she loves her sequins and hearts. I’m a bit more casual and edgier. I love that with
Katy there’s a vintage feel to everything she’s wearing and I sometimes like to do that in my personal clothing. But I’m a lot more subdued, for sure.
Q Have you ever looked back at pictures of an outfit you’ve worn and thought, “What was I thinking?”
A Yes. I actually was looking at one the other day. I don’t know what event I was at, but I was wearing a baby blue suit that just wasn’t tailored at all — it was wrinkled and pre-stylist days.
But you can’t win them all. I was young. I think it was the first year of doing Pretty Little Liars and I was still learning that maybe my pants shouldn’t be an inch longer than my shoes.
Since Katy was created in the 1940s, getting to show off some of those designs is really cool.
Q What do you think every woman should have in her wardrobe?
A A good leather jacket or vegan leather jacket — whatever works for you. A good pair of Levi jeans and the basics, like a black T-shirt and a white T-shirt. A pair of black boots, sneakers and then your staple jewelry. I have necklaces and rings I wear every day. That’s my wardrobe, my staples.
Q Any fashion trends that you think should die forever?
A I don’t get this “grandpa sneaker” trend. I bought a pair of them, and I’m just not cool enough to pull them off. I put them on and I think I’m going to look like the Hadids or Hailey Bieber, and I just don’t. I look ridiculous. For other people it totally works. But for me I just need to quit the chunky sneaker thing, because it’s just not working for me.