She has gone from an everyday woman to a stylish superstar singer in less than five years. Now Adele’s stylist, Gaelle Paul, is spilling her secrets.
Gaelle reveals the size 16 star’s number one style rule is to always hit the red carpet in the right undies.
“She always wears Spanx on the red carpet,” says Gaelle. “Good underwear is really important, it smoothes you out.”
Adele herself has admitted to wearing numerous pairs of Spanx at the same time. “I had three or four pairs of Spanx on that night,” Adele said of the 2012 Grammy Awards.
“I actually had another dress made for the Grammys and I ended up passing out in it. I had a corset on, so I was like, ‘I can’t wear that’. So I ended up wearing [this dress] on short notice”
Although she wore multiple pairs of Spanx under her stunning custom Giorgio Armani gown, Adele says she always takes off a couple of pairs to sing.
She also loves a bargain, despite being the world’s sixth richest star. Before she was famous, she used to rummage through op shop bargain bins for a vintage find – now, Gaelle does it for her.
“I get clothes for her from Camden Lock. There’s one store owner there who goes to car boot sales and picks out stuff that’s right for her,” Gaelle says.
While many think Adele always opts for black clothing because it’s the “safe” option, Gaelle reveals it’s really linked to her idol Johnny Cash.
“Adele always wants to wear black because she loves Johnny Cash and he wore black,” she explains.
“She also loves June Carter Cash because she and Johnny were so much in love and they had this wonderful marriage. Sometimes she’ll look at herself in the mirror and say, ‘Oh, I look like her, Gaelle!’”
While Gaelle’s job seems fun, she certainly has some difficult moments, especially when top fashion houses come calling to create one-off gowns for a big event.
“One designer wanted Adele in this tight mesh mermaid dress, tight to the ankles with a little slit,” said Gaelle. “I was horrified.”
Instead, Gaelle picks the outfits she thinks Adele, 25, will like and gets them made to order before the star picks her favourite.
While most women envy Adele’s endless dress offers, they don’t always go to plan.
Her Burberry crystal-encrusted Oscars dress weighed an incredible 14kg and she needed two security personnel to guard it.
“That dress was pretty scary,” Gaelle said. “But once she’d chosen it, she had to wear it.”
While many may think it would be easier to style slimmer celebs, Gaelle says none of them have the same confidence as Adele.
“Adele is really OK with how she looks. I don’t think she ever lacked confidence,” Gaelle says.
“She doesn’t have that insecurity that a lot of other people I dress have.”
