Taking advice from the pros: Stacy and Clinton find their best looks

NEW YORK (AP) -- When you pick apart other people's wardrobes for a living, you had better know what looks good on you.
Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, hosts of cable television's "What Not To Wear," acknowledge it took a while to find the looks that worked best for them.
"I'm not afraid to ask advice," says Kelly, 35.
"I have a pretty small frame. I'm tall but not broad-shouldered. I'm a string bean," he says. "For many years I wore shirts that were too big. I looked like I was wearing my dad's shirt as a smock in art class."
He now favors clothes by European designers because they usually use a slimmer cut. And, he says, he is obsessed with a proper fit.
"Shoulder seams are my big pet peeve. I look at all my shirts and make sure the seams are exactly on my shoulders, otherwise they look droopy. I'm long but not large. All men think they're larges. It's a macho thing."
London, 35, says she has taken some of her own advice and her wardrobe has gotten a little more exciting without going too far.
"During the first season I wore a lot of black. It was a safe choice, but it has been an adventure to find out what colors work for me," she explains. "I had to learn how to wear color and pattern that reads well on camera but doesn't make me look like a drape."
Pretty in pink
Pink is one of her best colors, London, a dark brunette with long hair, says, and she recently started wearing blue, emerald green, plums and burgundy. She receives many compliments when she has a tan and wears yellow.
Because of her petite frame and larger bust, London says she avoids spaghetti straps, halter tops and backless shirts.
"It's much harder for women to take advice from another woman if they can't respect her style," she explains.
Like most savvy fashionistas these days, London makes an effort to mix designer pieces with less-expensive basics. Her favorite trick is to pair special -- and probably costly -- stilettos with an otherwise simple look.
While Kelly can get away with rotating shirts, trousers and jackets in various combinations, London says she feels pressured to wear something different every day.
The show's budget doesn't allow for four different outfits per show, though, so she says her on-screen wardrobe includes her own clothes, clothes bought by TLC, clothes bought then returned, and loaners from designers and retailers.
If she were going to give Kelly a makeover, what would she recommend?
"Clinton always looks good ... but I think we should see Clinton in a colored shoe."
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