I Dressed Like Mrs. Prada for One Week—Here's Everything I Learned About Her, Myself, and Personal Style

At any Prada or Miu Miu show, no matter who is there, Mrs. Prada will always be the biggest celebrity. There is no “Who is that again?” when people see her. Everyone knows. And inside that honey-blonde head of hers are the blueprints of the clothing everyone wants to wear but doesn’t know yet.

I remember at the first Miu Miu show I attended, seeing celebrity after celebrity pose for photos on the runway ahead of the show. Some would elicit quiet gasps or excited taps on shoulders from those of us who arrived early, but like with most celebrity sightings, there wasn’t one in particular that held everyone’s attention. But when Mrs. Prada walked out at the end, everyone, including the celebrities in the front row, craned their necks to try to catch a glimpse. Someone sitting alongside me, whom I’d never met, nervously tapped at my knee when she saw her and said, “There she is!” whereas another couldn’t stop complaining with abject disappointment that the large structural column in front of her obstructed her view.

The thrill of seeing Miuccia Prada in person partly stems from the fact that she feels like God to those of us who pray at the altar of pleated miniskirts and ballet shoes. Mrs. Prada is like an oracle who knows what we want to wear before we do. She tells the fashion prophecy. But she also practices what she preaches. Some designers are very austere with how they dress. But Mrs. Prada is every bit a 75-year-old Italian woman. She wears dangling earrings and little gold heels. She throws a tiny sweater over her shoulders and loves a printed pencil skirt that shows a sliver of knee. She is who many of us aspire to be, a woman unbothered by the constructs of “dressing your age”; a woman whose clothing tells the story of all the life she’s already lived. You look at her and you see the Miu Miu girl, even though she is grown.

When Lauren Eggertsen, the editorial director of Who What Wear, sent me an Instagram compilation of Mrs. Prada’s best recent outfits, and said, “This is you when you’re older,” I was beyond flattered. To me, this is the supreme compliment because it suggests being seen as having a sense of personal style and self so strong that it transcends eventual aging. Mrs. Prada is everything I want to be. Yes, a Mu Miu girl for life, but also a woman who knows who she is and never goes off script from that. And so to help myself achieve this goal, I decided to dress like her for a week and see what I could learn about myself. Here's what that was.

Big Skirts Aren't Only for Big Occasions

Yes, Mrs. Prada is known for her pleated micro miniskirts, but often she is seen in skirts of the longer variety or of a more voluminous shape. I also love big skirts but put a lot of pressure into dressing them up just enough because they feel like a moment. Mrs. Prada proves that, as always, I'm probably thinking too much, and a simple T-shirt would do.

Always Wear the Pointy Heel

Something I quickly noticed while digging through old photos of Mrs. Prada's best looks was that she loves a pointy pump. She loves a classic heel!

This is something I struggled with a bit because I actually do not own many heels of this shape. They have always intimidated me and felt too stuffy for how I normally dress. I think the issue lies in the fact that I've always associated them with office jobs, of which I've never had a typical one. But Mrs. Prada proves they can be fun if you wear them with things like a ballon skirt or sweater-vest, which gives them an entirely different vibe. She wears them in a way that almost feels wrong, like she's a bookish nerd on her way to the library who decided to sex up her look a bit with a sharp heel. That wrongness is what makes them feel so right.

You Should Just Wear the Chunky Statement Necklace

Something Mrs. Prada and I have in common is a love of statement jewelry. She is often seen wearing dangling earrings or layers of pearls. She also clearly has a soft spot for a statement necklace with a lot going on. That's a look that was popular in the 2010s, until it was swapped out for more unassuming gold chains with tiny charms. But Mrs. Prada made me realize that being demure just isn't all that fun, and a chunky necklace will look good with anything, no matter how sheer and dainty and pink your dress is.

If You Have Banana Earrings, Wear the Banana Earrings

Okay, so this one is more specific, and unfortunately, I do not own any banana earrings. But this look to me perfectly encapsulates what makes Mrs. Prada so iconic. She never shies away from a little wink, a little quirk, a little WIT! She wears a pencil skirt and a bookish sweater but throws on funky pilgrim-esque shoes and banana earrings to make it all feel more alive. I took a little creative license with this look because, once again, I realized I tend to avoid some of Mrs. Prada's staples because I'm worried they're too stuffy. I need to stock up on nerdy sweaters and pencil skirts because they are the perfect anchor to wear with all my freaky shoes and funky fruit earrings (of which I have many, but I will now be investing in banana ones thanks to Mrs. P).

You Can't Go Wrong With White and Brown

I've always had an aversion to the color brown. I realize that's probably because I have very thick, long brown hair and very large brown eyes. Wearing more brown can make all of those features melt together instead of standing out.

But Mrs. Prada introduced me to an idea I hadn't considered: to wear a light-brown coat with an all-white outfit and a fun black scrunchie in your hair. This color combination soothes me. It just makes so much sense I don't know how I haven't thought of it before.

You Don't Need an LBD If You Own a LYH (Little Yellow Heel)

"Everyone should own a little black dress." Well, how about "Everyone should own a little bitchy yellow heel"?

We always praise simple staples like black dresses as the cornerstones of our wardrobes. But Mrs. Prada proved to me that you need more funny little items instead to help make all of the simple things more exciting to wear. I would have never thought to pair something so clubby with a sweater and a white button-down, but I've seen the light. The key to Mrs. P's special outfit sauce is to always look studious but also ready for a good time. That's the true Miu Miu–girl way.