Katie Holmes' Style Decoded: Easy Tricks to Her 25 Best Looks

Katie Holmes' Style Decoded: Easy Tricks to Her 25 Best Looks

• Katie Holmes Style: Her 25 Best Fashion Looks

  Fashion-line designer, actress, mom… Katie Holmes has mastered Hollywood’s best tricks to help her balance a busy life with effortless style. Read on to steal her most useful secrets from the red carpet and the city streets.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Show Just Enough Skin

  The classic cut, lace fabric and pretty bow of this frock might hint at a demure attitude, but when worn by Katie, there’s no denying its sex appeal. The secret? Holmes shows off the perfect 1:1 ratio of dress to skin.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Try Texture

  Holmes rarely wears prints. Instead, her outfits draw you in with texture—in this case, the intricate embroidery on her Madewell dress and luxe stitching on her Manolo Blahnik booties.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Buy Perfect-Fitting Basics

  Katie’s Marc by Marc Jacobs flared jeans fit her like a glove, hugging at the hips before flaring from mid-thigh. And her A.L.C. striped tank is equally flattering—not too loose and not too tight.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Match Your Mini-Me

  In one of her first post-split outings, Katie chose a cheery pink button-down that coordinated with her daughter’s sweet dress. It’s a match-up that says, “we’re two peas in a pod” while still allowing for individual style.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Minimize Accessories

  Katie Holmes’ signature style is all about balance. And when she chose this Grecian grey for the Tony Awards in 2010 she knew (just like Athena and Aphrodite, we imagine) that she needed minimal adornment to look utterly otherworldly.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Cinch with a Skinny Belt

  A wide belt could look bulky against this gown’s slender silhouette, but Katie’s ultra-thin cincher is delicate and understated—and lets the dress’s tailoring be the star.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Start With A White Shirt

  Selected to be the face of Ann Taylor in Spring 2011, Holmes attended a luncheon in LA wearing a miniskirt and crossbody bag from the brand—the perfect accents to a classic white button-down.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Make a Bootie Call

  Opting for on-trend booties rather than the expected pumps was Katie’s subtler take on sex-kitten dressing.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Soften Brights With Nudes

  Black heels would compete with Katie’s red dress. Opting for nude shoes instead kept her frock in focus at an event in Taipei.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Bring your Vacation Home

  Katie’s peasant blouse and woven accessories would work on the streets of Capri or Cozumel, but look equally stylish in the concrete jungle.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Choose Complementary Accessories

  The actress/designer showed off her effortless approach to fashion backstage at the Holmes & Yang spring 2013 presentation, wearing a gold necklace that picked up the hue of her metallic heels.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Go Monochromatic

  Blousy gowns can add bulk to a petite frame like Katie’s—but this monochromatic look from her signature line, Holmes & Yang, does just the opposite by cloaking her in one color head to toe. Not convinced? Just imagine how different the effect would be in a bold print.

  Photo Credit: Getty Images, Courtesy of iVillage

• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Choose Complementary Accessories

  The actress/designer showed off her effortless approach to fashion backstage at the Holmes

• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Choose Slimming Stripes

  Katie proved that horizontal stripes can be slimming—when you wear them right. Her secret? Choosing a just-right hemline that falls mid-way on the thigh. Going shorter can create a short-waisted effect, while going all the way to the knee sometimes does exactly the opposite.

  Photo Credit: Getty Images, Courtesy of iVillage

• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Modernize a Silhouette

  Thoroughly classic with a modern twist, Holmes offset the airy volume of her Holmes & Yang dress with razor-sharp T-straps from couture cobbler Alexandre Birman. The final result: balanced, contemporary elegance.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Dress Up your Leggings

  What to wear to the temple of fitness known as Soul Cycle? How about charcoal gray leggings and a cute little denim jacket…with a red tote for a splash of color—a casual look that’s anything but sloppy.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Go Bold

  The cut might be classic, but the raw edges, sheer inserts and bold color scheme of this Holmes & Yang dress make it decidedly modern.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Find Your Decade

  There’s a reason that stars still look to Old Hollywood for sartorial inspiration, and this is it. Wearing a look worthy of the silver screen, Holmes showed off her floor-sweeping Elie Saab gown—and then-hubby Tom Cruise—at the 2012 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in West Hollywood. A frame clutch and classic necklace completed the glamorous look.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Just Add Leather

  Suri’s mom hit the streets of New York in a low-key maxi dress made edgy with the addition of a black leather blazer (a piece she’s reworn more than once).

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Disguise a Belly

  Not that Katie has any flab to hide—but she still tries one of Hollywood’s most useful style tricks: choosing a dress with vertical ruching on the torso that makes sucking in the belly a practice of the past.

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• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Find Your Decade

  There

• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Just Add Leather

  Suri

• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Disguise a Belly

  Not that Katie has any flab to hide

• Katie Holmes Style Trick: Mix Your Moods

  Katie combined a lacy silk skirt with an oversized sailor