Maiysha Simpson

When the call goes out that O is shooting a holiday dress story, the fashion closet gets flooded—we mean flooded—with choices. We search for the most flattering looks for every body type, then bring in real women to test them out. Go behind the scenes to find out how we put the rest of a shoot together, and prepare to be inspired!

Before stepping on set for her first shot of the day, Maiysha Simpson is a vision (in curlers) wearing Rickie Freeman Teri Jon.
Karen Duffy

Our (very) pregnant model, Karen Duffy, gets curl maintenance from Neil Grupp and stylist George Ortiz. We love this Calvin Klein brocade dress on her—it’s not maternity wear, but is just poufy enough to pass the bump test!
Flirty dress

Sixty-year-old Angelika Schubert impresses the crew with her beauty and round-the-clock geniality. She models in a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress that shows off her waist without baring too much skin.
Michael Edwards

Mid-shoot, photographer Michael Edwards takes a peek at his last round. He’s a regular on the O fashion set because he knows how to bring out the supermodel within all real women.
Small chest dress

O fashion writer Kathy Weissman interviews Glori Illames about how her everyday style differs from the high-glam cocktail dress she wore for the shoot.
Sonia Nikki and Kate Moodie

Regular O contributors, set designer Sonia Nikki and stylist Kate Moodie, take a break to catch up.
Behind the scenes

Maiysha gets tied up in a bow, and we wonder if she can lose the dress for the opening shot. In fact, every O fashion story starts out with two concepts. What works makes it onto the pages.
Hip-flattering dress

What doesn’t work is equally as imaginative. Set design assistant Anthony Cecilia lends his shoulders to the idea, but no matter how big the bow is, it’s not going to work for our pages.
Big red dress

We opt for a big red dress instead, and ask for more than a little confidence on Maiysha’s part. She and Kate wait for direction on this last shot; it will be the very first photo in the story.