Lauren Holly looked just as hot as she did in her Mary Swanson days yesterday at Toronto’s Templar Hotel (side note: can you believe it’s been 20 years since Dumb and Dumber?)
The actress was in town for the launch of her new collection for Le Chateau, Lauren’s Closet. We know what you’re thinking: you haven’t shopped at Le Chateau since high school, right? Well, it’s not what it used to be.
Apparently all it takes is a fresh (and famous) set of eyes from someone who didn’t grow up with the Canadian brand to put it back on our radar. Lauren discovered and fell in love with Le Chateau on the set of her upcoming film After the Ball, which Lauren calls “a Cinderella movie in the world of fashion.” The company was designing the wardrobe.
#Laurenscloset (available this September in nationwide Le Chateau locations) is curated based on her go-tos and, just like any female’s closet, includes a little bit of everything. It’s designed for busy multi-taskers, with pieces that work from the office to the wine bar along with red carpet-worthy gowns. It’s filled with things like sequined dresses, jumpsuits, skinny pants, little black jackets and blazers, over-the-knee boots, day dresses and coats. And the accessories…
We caught up with Lauren over a glass of wine to discuss the collaboration and, of course, Dumb and Dumber.
She kind of makes us want to rediscover Le Chateau:
“I didn’t know the brand as an American. On my first day on set of After the Ball, I was like, ‘I like these clothes. They’re comfortable and they really fit my hips and my boobs’ – all the important things. I mentioned to my girlfriends here and they were kind of surprised. Their whole lives were chronicled by their Le Chateau outfits, from school dances and proms to weddings. I heard that at one point it was pretty much clubwear, but that’s not what I was seeing at all, or what I loved about it.”
When they approached me to select this collection, I basically pulled everything I like in my closet and said ‘let’s do this’.
And she won us over with her Kardashian slam:
“When the collection was coming to be, it was around the time of the whole Kardashian wedding, which was just nauseating to me. The amount of money spent and wasted, the over-the-top factor of it and how far removed they are from what everyone is going through in the world around them, really bothers me. I mean,
$1 million on a wall of flowers that are just going to die the next day? I’m proud to say that everything in the collection is totally accessible.”
Her clothing’s selected for a busy lifestyle:
“I’m multiple personalities when I’m getting dressed. I am a mom, and for my job I’m always working on set or doing press, commuting between Toronto and Vancouver; I travel so much. My forte is not choosing outfits. I need to be able to grocery shop, show up at a press event, then arrive at a party and look hot. A lot of the pieces in the collection all work together.”
She loves Canada as much as we do:
“I’m a permanent resident as opposed to a Canadian citizen, despite what Wikipedia says. It’s actually better because this means I actually pay taxes like any other contributing member of society. I grew up in upstate New York and on a clear day you could probably see my house from the top of the CN Tower. So Canada is in my DNA – the weather, the trees, it’s how I grew up. My three boys are dual citizens but I wanted to raise them here.”
“It’s hard to explain without talking bad about the US, but people are just a little bit nicer, more laidback, welcoming, and more open-minded in Canada.”
She can confirm a cameo in Dumb and Dumber To:
“What I’m allowed to say, is that I make an appearance. But it’s kind of unusual because, really, would Mary Swanson want to hang out with those guys over the past 20 years? I don’t think so…”
But her heart (like ours) remains with the original.
“I love that movie. I love everything about it. I love people talking to me about it. I feel really fortunate that I have such an iconic movie under my belt and that it’s lasted. It was such a wonderful experience, the making of it. I was already in love with Jim, we were living together and the whole crew was so fun… we were laughing all the time. Everything about it is great, so I kind of hope Dumb and Dumber To doesn’t take away from the original.”
And she’s kind of the coolest mom for being Mary Swanson.
“Oh, my boys have seen it. Yeah, they love it. Now that they’re getting a little bit older, they think it’s kind of cool, so they act a little cool about it.”
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