The Ray Report: Tracee Ellis Ross Covers Vibe Vixen

Fashion icon (in my eyes), Tracee Ellis Ross sits down with Vibe Vixen this month to spill about her new show on BET,  her style vs. the style of her Girlfriends character Joan Clayton and relationship advice!

VV: Let’s talk about your style. Before when we spoke, you mentioned that some of the pieces from Girlfriends would find their way into Carla’s wardrobe. What’s the inspiration? Do you work with designers or find things out and about?
Tracee: It’s stuff that’s been found out and about. The way I went about Joan and Carla is I always ask myself who this woman is. Every once in a while people say Carla is so much like Joan, and I’m like, People, Tracee plays both people. So what you’re seeing that’s the same between Carla and Joan is not Carla being like Joan, but it’s Tracee. Tracee was Joan and Tracee is Carla. It’s so funny people don’t understand that, it makes me laugh.

VV: I think it’s because we got so used to you as Joan.
Tracee: You know Joan more than you know Tracee. That’s a good thing; it means I’m a great actor [Laughs]. But they are very different women. Joan was very neurotic and afraid. She did not have a lot of faith, and she was trying to have a lot more control over her life. It was a lot harder, there were a lot more suits, it was a little less flowy. Carla has a lot more faith, she has a lot more acceptance of herself and she has the support of a husband that accepts her as she is—which was Joan’s exact struggle. So Carla’s clothes are a lot softer, there are a lot less suits, there is a lot more movement and whimsy in her clothing.

VV: What are some of the difference in the way Tracee dresses versus Carla and Joan?
Tracee: I am different than both of those ladies. I dress sexier than Carla, meaning I wear more form-fitting clothes. I have a little more edge to the way I dress than both of the ladies, and I dress down way more than both of those ladies. My regular attire is sweat pants or skinny jeans, and I’m the queen of the blazer. I will dress a look up by putting on a blazer. I’ll throw on a really great looking jacket with some sneakers and a pair of jeans. I love a bag. I have a collection of bags that I love.

In my real life, I’m always wearing lipstick. I wear lipstick when I work out. I don’t wear foundation, I really don’t wear any makeup, but I love lipstick.

VV: Do you have any favorites?
Tracee: Right now I’m really hooked on Damned from NARS, and I’m always a Ruby W00 fan. There’s a Ruby Woo in my car, my purse and my home. Right now I have a collection of vintage t-shirts that’s making me so happy. A girlfriend of mind found these two great Diana Ross t-shirts, and it started a thing. Now I hunt for them!

VV: A lot of our readers are young women who are single, and there’s been a lot of discussion about Black women being single and doomed. What kind of advice would you give them?
Tracee: Well, I never give advice. All I would say is there’s no method to this madness of life. No one has all the answers; no one is you. I don’t have all of the answers, but listen to yourself. Know yourself. Discover what works for you. You never know when things happen and how they happen, but an openness and willingness to be curious about your life and what it is that you really want and what package it’s going to come in is the journey.

Check out her entire interview over at Vibe Vixen!