From PEOPLE Magazine
Click to enlarge
They haven't sorted through each other's jewelry boxes since the fateful eve when 14-year-old Wendy lost big sister Carnie's favorite earrings. But the ex-bandmates (in the now-defunct Wilson Phillips) still share a strong sense of style. "If I were her weight, we'd probably wear the exact same things," claims Carnie, 27, who will flaunt funky fabrics—"I like velvet and satin and rayon"—on her syndicated talk show, Carnie, debuting this fall. "Something has to feel good on my body," she explains, "or I won't wear it." Taller and slimmer Wendy favors skintight Betsey Johnson dresses because, she says matter-of-factly, "I like to show my curves." These California girls, daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson, both have wild streaks. Wendy, 25, frequently changes her hair color ("I'm daring, I want to personify everything"), and Carnie flips over odd accessories ("I used to have a necklace with baby doll heads"). Their exuberance about clothes began when they were kids. "We were always excited to go to parties," recalls Carnie. "We'd put on our dresses and our little Mary Janes. We were stuck together like glue." A bond no lost earring can ever undo.
Phylicia Rashad & Debbie Allen
Whirling across the sand like Scheherazade, Phylicia Rashad fingers her flowing silk robe. "Clothing, to me," she says, "is art." The wardrobe of her choreographer baby sister paints a different picture: "I can dress w-a-a-a-y down, chile!" Debbie Allen says.
Performers, obviously. But siblings, too—with salt-and-pepper tastes that date back to their Houston girlhoods. "Debbie would play in the dirt wearing a skirt and blouse," says Rashad, 47. "She was always Miss Fashion Plate." But not without some unwitting help. "We shared clothes—although Phylicia didn't know it," confesses Allen, 45. "The moment she hit the door, I was in her closet!"
Today, Allen, wife of former L.A. Laker Norm Nixon and the mother of a young son and daughter, is partial to platform shoes and wacky clothes she saved from the '70s. Her New York-based sister, married to sports commentator Ahmad Rashad and also mother to a daughter and a son, opts for the ethereal, ethnic look. But they see eye to eye where it counts. "We're best friends," says Allen. Adds Rashad: "And we like to look good."
Nicholle & Heather Tom
Nicholle's first nod to her big sister's fashion supremacy was back in the fourth grade. "I put on my mom's red lipstick because I wanted to do what Heather was doing," says Nicholle, 17, who plays high-spirited Maggie Sheffield on CBS's The Nanny. "I got it all over my face." That was then. "Now she has a really unique fashion sense," says Heather, 19, who plays seductive Victoria Newman Howard on CBS's The Young and the Restless. While Heather goes for classic clothes "that aren't out of style next month—I live in white shirts," Nicholle favors flowery Betsey Johnson numbers and futuristic minis. "I want to dress for fun," she explains. The sisters, who live 15 miles from each other in L.A., rarely share clothes, especially since Heather "has more of a body, and I'm more of a string bean," says the 5'9" Nicholle. But recently the curvy 5'7" Heather had to hand over a prized vintage dress. "I wanted to wear it so badly," she says. "But it only fit my thumb."
Joely & Tricia Leigh Fisher
When Joely Fisher arrived at her sister Tricia's Beverly Hills home one recent morning, Tricia answered the door in pajamas—a pair of Joely's pajamas. "I didn't even remember I'd borrowed them," says Tricia, 25. But it's the exception—not the rule—when these two swap clothes. Even as children, the daughters of actress Connie Stevens and crooner Eddie Fisher took opposite style paths. "Tricia was a tomboy," says Joely, 26. "And I was a girly-girl." In adolescence, while Joely scoured Mom's closets for tailored basics in pastel colors, Tricia rummaged in Connie's old costume trunks for cast-off bell-bottoms. "Mom would say, 'Look crisp,' " remembers Tricia, "and I'd say, 'I'm not a potato chip!' "
As adults, both chose acting careers (Joely costars as Paige on ABC's Ellen, and Tricia has just wrapped her sixth film), but they still run on different fashion tracks. Joely is a Barney's girl who hauls suitcases when she travels; Tricia haunts thrift shops and totes only a backpack on trips. It seems miraculous, then, that each sister owns a pair of red patent leather shoes—until Tricia displays her strappy sandals and Joely her clunky loafers. The point, says Joely with sisterly pride, is that "we're both fashion victims."
Tamera & Tia Mowry
One likes bright colors, the other likes, well, bright colors. One loves hats, the other, uh, the other loves hats too. One...oh, forget it. "We've been dressing alike since we were born," says Tamera, who along with her identical twin, Tia, stars in the WB network sitcom Sister, Sister. "In junior high, kids would say, 'Oh, that's babyish,' but we think it's cool." Best friends who finish each other's sentences, the Mowrys, 17, make joint fashion decisions. "Sometimes we'll say, 'Let's do casual today,' " explains Tia. "It depends on how we feel." The 12th graders, who live in Van Nuys, Calif., with their parents and brothers Tahj, 9, and Tavior, 2, are usually in the mood for shopping. "They insist on buying the same clothes," says their mom and manager, Darlene, "though they might experiment with different colors of a single garment." There are two ways to tell the twins apart. Tamera has a beauty mark on her left cheek, and Tia's the tidy one with the well-organized closet. Not that they tussle over stray socks. "We only argue about serious things," says Tamera, "like if I get a stain on something and say it's not mine."
Brittany & Cynthia Daniel
In a third-grade mutiny against their parents, identical twins Brittany and Cynthia Daniel issued an ultimatum: no more matching outfits—ever! Curiously, though, the two girls continued to have the same taste in clothes. "The worst thing," says Cynthia, "was being late for high school because of fighting over who would get to wear what."
But now that the Gainesville, Fla., natives have turned 19, moved to L.A. and begun their second season as the Wakefield twins on the syndicated TV series Sweet Valley High, they have finally declared their fashion independence. Brittany, the conservative sister, likes buttoned-down Ralph Lauren. Cynthia, happiest in vintage jeans, says she's "into a more baggy, alternative look." Still, the two cemented their fashion bond with tattoos on their left big toes. Cynthia's reads "C + B"; Brittany's, "B + C." Of course, not everybody sees their feet. Brittany likes platform sneakers. Cynthia wears motorcycle boots. "Shoes make the outfit," she says.
The Lennon Sisters
Sweetly harmonizing in chiffon dresses, they drifted through the champagne bubbles of The Lawrence Welk Show—-and won the hearts of Middle America. Then, in the mid-'60s, the young Lennon Sisters faced a fashion crisis. "Miniskirts came in," remembers Kathy, 52, "and Mr. Welk wouldn't let us wear them."
But when they left the old-fashioned bandleader's show in 1968, the songbirds spread their wings. "We all wore miniskirts," says Kathy. "Of course, we had the underpants to match. We wore hip-huggers and anything that was in."
"And the shoes with the clear plastic heels," chimes in Dee Dee, 55. "Like the ones Elton John put fish in."
"We thought we were so mod," adds Janet, 49, with a laugh.
Their style certainly has evolved. Today, in 12 weekly shows at the 2,300-seat Champagne Theatre in Branson, Mo., the Lennons wear dangling earrings and beaded gowns by Ret Turner, who has also designed for Cher and Ann-Margret. During their Cabaret number, they pare down to corset costumes. "It shows we've got legs," says Peggy, 54.
Offstage, the four never dress alike. "Dee Dee has a clean, classic, Cheryl Tiegs look," says their brother Dan Lennon, 45, fifth oldest of the 11 Lennon siblings. Kathy, with her weakness for Donna Karan, "is the fanciest—the real clotheshorse of the group." Janet, who hates dressing up, "wears big fisherman sweaters over shorts," he continues, and Peggy, who just lost 50 pounds and is the only grandmother of the four, "likes sportswear, but she's the one whose looks have changed the most."
The Lennons, who are all married and have 17 kids among them, buy "really good clothes that we'll have forever," says Peggy. "But we know we can go to Wal-Mart to pick up some skirts and blouses." It's a style suited to the Ozarks, where "you can get away with jeans almost anywhere," says Kathy. "You never have to worry here. Whatever you're wearing is fine."
Ashley & Mary-Kate Olsen
Much as they loved their eight years playing Michelle Tanner on the recently canceled Full House, the Olsen twins, now 9, weren't wild about her wardrobe. "Ugly," says Ashley—a critique echoed by Mary-Kate. "I hated some of the clothes," she confesses. "They were not my style." Which, like her sister's, is more casual than Michelle's: lots of T-shirts, shorts, overalls and jeans. "I never wear dresses," explains Mary-Kate. "They're not comfortable." The picky pixie does like trendy duds that match, while her older (by three minutes) sister opts for anything soft and fuzzy. "We don't borrow each other's clothes," says Ashley. Indeed, the San Fernando Valley fourth graders have dressed differently "since they could talk," says their father, Dave. One thing they would both like to do is get their ears pierced, though their folks have put that idea on hold. They'd also like to cut their hair, which now hangs past their shoulders. Says Ashley, sensibly: "Too many knots."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
