Myha'la's Celebrity Traitors Outfits: How to Dress Against Type
Myha'la is best known as Harper Stern in Industry, a character who'd sell you out before her coffee went cold. So she walked into Ardross Castle with a problem...
Myha'la is best known as Harper Stern in Industry, a character who'd sell you out before her coffee went cold. So she walked into Ardross Castle with a problem nobody else in The Celebrity Traitors had: half the room already had her down as a liar. Her fix was the wardrobe. Before the series started she told PinkNews she had very deliberately planned her looks so people would see her rather than the character, down to the jewellery and a different hairstyle.
“I decided to make everything lighter, gentle, feminine.”
— Myha'la, speaking to The Telegraph
Myha'la's castle palette
Taken from her two most-photographed looks.
Tweed grey
#8C8C86
Ribbon black
#1A1A1A
Blush lace
#EBD3CC
Oatmeal knit
#D8C3A5
Marl grey
#9A9A9A
Heart-pendant gold
#C9A24A
Why Myha'la dressed against type
Harper does sharp tailoring and a permanent glare. Myha'la went the other way. She told the Telegraph's Laura Craik that her castle clothes were all soft, knitted and cosy, with no shoulder pads and no suiting of any kind. It didn't save her, to be fair. She was the second player banished at the round table, a Faithful sent home after a wink at Richard E Grant (a Traitor, as it turned out) drew suspicion. The idea is still a good one, and it works away from reality TV too. If people expect one thing from you, dressing a few degrees softer or sharper than that changes how they read you before you've said anything.
The bow-covered tweed jacket and pink lace skirt
This is the look that explains the whole plan. A grey tweed jacket with a round neck and frayed cream edges, then dozens of little black ribbon bows stitched across the collar, the front and the cuffs. Underneath, a pale pink lace skirt and a fine chain. It's the most structured thing she wore, but the bows take all the bite out of it, and the result looks more like a favourite aunt at a winter wedding than anyone who runs a trading desk. You don't need the exact jacket. A short grey textured one does most of the work, and the skirt can be the soft part.
Shop short grey jackets
Shop the soft layers
Her own line was no suiting, so this is mostly knitwear, plus the two small things that made the outfits look considered rather than cosy for the sake of it.
How to dress against type
How to borrow Myha'la's castle style
Start from what people expect
If you're known for sharp blazers at work, a cardigan on a Friday will get noticed. Go a few degrees softer and leave the rest of your style where it is.
One sweet detail per outfit
Bows on the jacket, or lace on the skirt, or a heart on a chain. She used them sparingly and kept everything around them plain.
Pick texture over structure
Tweed, bouclé and fluffy knits all look soft from across a room, even when the shape underneath is quite neat.
Button the cardigan up
Done up to the neck, it becomes the top and looks deliberate. Worn open, it just looks like the castle was cold.
Myha'la's stay at Ardross was short and the wardrobe didn't win her the game. I'd still put it among the smartest plans in the castle this series, because she thought about what everyone else would read into it before she packed. Knitwear prices and sizes move quickly in October, so if you've had your eye on a cardigan, don't leave it sitting in your basket for a week.