Melissa Rivers Brings Her Fashion Sense to the Masses

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--> Photo by Larry Busacca/E! Entertainment

Each week on Fashion Police, the show that Melissa River’s executive produces, Joan Rivers and her crew critique celebrity style. The sometimes merciless reviews of red carpet and runway haute couture brings the designs of Paris and Milan into living rooms in the good old U.S. of A.

But in a recent exclusive interview Melissa admitted that her personal style tends to come from American lines by the likes of Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. Still when talking about her current favorite pieces, she managed to give equal time. She disclosed, “My favorite dress right now is Lanvin, which is ironic. But my other favorite dress is a Michael Kors dress that I’ve had for years that is my go to perfect dress.”

She described her two top picks saying, “The Lanvin is grey, sleeveless with just a little bit of soft draping. But it’s got this really cool, pretty neckline with an edge to it. And the Michael Kors is one shoulder, black, short. Just the cut of the fabric and the way it fits on the body, there’s a little bit of ruching. It’s just been my go to dress forever.”

Hitting Melissa’s favorite list can’t be an easy task. After all she’s seen it all while covering the red carpet over the years. And she believes that people are starting to see the value in fashion. She acknowledged, “In the past it absolutely had been recognized as an art form. And then during the ‘80s and ‘90s that died down a little bit. But in the last couple of years, especially with all these wonderful exhibits at the Met and the Met Ball and people becoming much more educated about the technical side of fashion, it’s very much back as an art form. Just look at how many books there are now about different designers.”

That’s why she found it impossible to label any one designer as the most innovative in history. When the query was posed she replied, “That’s a big question. Do we want to go back to the French court? Do we want to go back to the Elizabethan era? That’s almost an impossible question to give one name to.   You’re talking to someone who was a history major in college. Just in the last 50 years, obviously Dior with the New Look. Channel. Armani. Mary Kwan.”

As for her own fashion line for Zappos, Melissa went with a much more everyday-friendly approach. The single mother of an 11-year-old son admitted designed a line that could go from work to the baseball diamond and out to dinner with a couple of quick accessory changes.

And Melissa said, most importantly, that her pieces are “all really figure flattering. I have a couple of dresses that are so complicated to wear, that I’m intimidated by them when I’m getting dressed. Or I look at them or I’ll be on the road and I’ll be like, ‘I should take a picture of it so I know how to put it on right.’  This is clothes that are not intimidating and everyone looks good in them and they feel good.”

As a result, her clothes appeal to women of all ages. She noted, “It’s really 16 to 60. There’s stuff that’s made its way into my mom’s closet and there’s stuff that’s made it’s way onto my assistant’s 16-year-old daughter. We did a really cool biker jacket this year. That literally my mom has and my assistant’s daughter has — and I have and my assistant has and half my friends are bugging me for.”

And to top it all off, Melissa acknowledged, “One of the things I was so excited about with this fall line is the hand on the sweaters. They feel so good. I’m really weird about things that are itchy.”

That's why each piece has to pass the Melissa test. She revealed, “I tried on every sample. I literally test drive every single thing.”

Despite all of the hard work, Melissa’s enjoying her latest role. “I am so excited how this last group has come out that it’s making it so much fun. This is only my second season for them so I’m super, super excited.”

On Tuesday night, Melissa will host the All Aboard… LA’s Fashion Platform at L.A. Fashion Week. The event is being sponsored by Fashion Business Inc. (F.B.I.), an organization that supports local designers through education. If you’re in Los Angeles, be sure to support the event.

Check out Melissa’s line on Zappos.com. Tune in to Fashion Police every Friday night at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. Central on E! And stay tuned for the return of Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best? on WEtv in 2013.