In InStyle’s March issue, on newsstands now, cover girl Kerry Washington talks about juggling fame, a new husband, a newer baby, and (of course) dishes on all things fashion. She also introduces us to her other, less scandalous, alter ego: “Red-Carpet Kerry.”
“I mean I studied! I didn’t know anything about fashion,” she tells us.
“Why would I know how to pronounce Hermès as a kid in the Bronx? I really immersed myself and learned as much as I could.”Even so, that doesn’t mean her wardrobe is all designer, all the time. (In fact, she showed up to our photo shoot in a pair of $39 MIA flats.) “In my personal life, I still wear a lot of jeans and sneakers. I take fashion pretty casually,” she shares. “To me, it’s like a grown-up art project. Instead of coloring in my coloring book, I choose what I’m going to wear on the red carpet.”
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While the Scandal star’s style is incredible on the hit show, Washington reveals that her own sartorial sense is much different than that of her character Olivia Pope. “Red-Carpet Kerry wears a lot more color and pattern than Olivia does. She makes bold choices,” she says. “When I was pregnant, I showed up at the SAG Awards in a bare-midriff gown by Prada. I know some people were going to hate it, but I thought it was supercute and really fun.”
PHOTOS: Kerry Washington’s 10 Best Red Carpet Looks
Watch the video above from our cover shoot with Washington, where we get her take on some of her best red carpet looks, from the “sweet and naughty” head-to-toe Louis Vuitton look she donned at the Django Unchained premiere in 2013, to the “scandalous” Prada crop top and skirt she wore while pregnant at the 2014 SAG Awards.
To read her full interview, pick up the March InStyle, available on newsstands and for digital download now.
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