Before the stylist! Tulisa, Cheryl, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian: Celebrity style icons as you’ve never seen them before…

Posted by Gilly Ferguson on 09 October 2012 17:48 Comments

BREAKING NEWS The world’s most revered style icons have a secret – one which we’re about to blow wide open…

Granted, that sounds a tad dramatic - but how refreshing is it to finally FINALLY realise that good style doesn’t come naturally. Even to the likes of Blake Lively, Cheryl Cole and co.

Sienna Miller, Olivia Palermo, Kim Kardashian, Victoria and David Beckham - in fact any celeb who’s ever topped a Best Dressed poll in their lifetime - has suffered at the hands of bad fashion in the past...

…Then been scooped up by a celebrity stylist or five.

Meaning there’s hope for the rest of us too!

heatworld have scoured the stars photo albums (the internet) for shots of them pre-stylist, to a time where they didn’t have a personal shopper, hair stylist, waxist and manicurist to hand.

And these pics are brilliant. So brilliant, you’ll want to grab their stylist, and (air) kiss them all over.

Admire them as they are now (chic). By all means steal their style – but from now on in, do it safe in the knowledge that you’re not born with good style – you pay for it. Mainly in Zara.

Here’s presenting Cheryl Cole, Alexa Chung, Kate Bosworth, Gary Barlow, Harry Styles and more style icons, as you’ve never seen them before aka:

Style icons: Now and THEN…

Gallery

Before she became a style super power, Kim favoured leather bombers, baggy jeans and, err, labradors. Only then, they weren't worn ironically.

Fusilli hair and gold boots... to The X Factor. How far Tulisa has come.

Jeez what the hell happened to Jessica Biel

Chanel, Justin Timberlake and Louis Vuitton luvvie Jessica Biel hasn't always had it so good. Before she become right proper famous, her style was more rag doll than fahbulous, doll.

Nicole DontchaWishYourGirlfriendWasHotLikeMe Scherzinger

Um, not really. We prefer friends who are more fash', than flash. Sorry Nicole.

Look! Lively! Wearing something that doesn't make the world weep with jealousy

Judging by the hand on her butt, someone liked Lively's pre-Chanel wardrobe though. See Blake looking fit (in a fashion sense)here.

It's everyone's favourite high street style icon, Fearne Cotton!

No, seriously, it is. In the days before she cottoned on to the whole 'mixing Mulberry with own-line Very.co.uk thing'.

These ones aside, there are no words. We can but stare, then steal her red carpet style instead...

Before Claire Danes became the Juliet to Leonardo Di Caprio's Romeo and the ball buster to Damien (baby mouth) Lewis in Homeland, Claire dressed like this.

Then she probably met a stylist and the rest, as they say, is fahbulous.

Giving it some serious welly on Popstars: The Rivals. And giving us the wardrobe willies.

Proving that no matter how stylish you are, no one can pull off refuse sack chic.

The Mr & Mrs of fashion have dropped some serious closet clangers in the past. She may be an award-winning fashion designer now, but dear God Victoria what are you doing with Scott from 5ive's hair? AND WHAT ARE THOSE SHOES!?*

And yes, we're pretty sure we owned a similar pair too...

Say it ain't so, Olivia Palermo wasn't born a perfect Park Avenue princess, effortlessly mixing Zara with Tibi and Topshop with Burberry!?

Before becoming the face of Dior and bagging manfriend Ashton (face of phwoar) Kutcher, Mila favoured choker necklaces. It's around this point that you may want to start thinking about airkissing her stylist.

Rihanna in non-edgy. non-leather style shock!

She still looks pretty good though, even without a stylist.

[Strops off to the next celebrity picture...]

The haute fashion may be bad, but she still looks hawt.

About time you got a stylist, sister (NB sorry if that's mean, we just wanted to shoehorn some lyrics in for fun). Alas, Christina's style has largely been on the skids ever since her bottled genie days.

Emma Watson's definitely a style icon though

...Though less so here, but she was a wee whipper snapper so all is forgiven...

Loving the moves though GB. He cuts a much more stylish shape on The X Factor nowadays, thanks mainly to his love of D&G suits... and the Creme de la Mer facials he has pre-show week on week too (hello swanky)...

Sienna Miller in pre style icon SHOCKER!

She still makes heatworld swoon.

They're coming back! Hurrah! Fingers crossed this time they'll bring stylists! Though we'd love to see Cheryl's contemporary take on the leather swim cap...

Zut alors! It's face of Christian Dior, Natalie Portman

She may be a natural beauty but, judging by this frock, the whole 'style icon' part kicked in later in her career...

This picture of Khloe Kardashian makes our hearts smile

And not just because our parents trussed us up in velvet dresses and scrunchies back in the day too. Did yours? Please say they did...

International style crush she may be, but in the pre-stylist Blue Crush days? Hmm, not so much.

Keira Knightley in fashion, err, fright(ley)

Her incredible abs have turned us to rhyme, badly. Great they may be, but how is anyone meant to get anything done when Keira's flashing some bad fashion? Thankfully she's nailed rec carpet chic ever since.

If you don't have all day - just read this:

It's Sarah Harding, rocking a pair of shell suit trews. See, bad fashion even happens to style icons. Thank the stylists, thank all the stylists.