Something fabulous is happening on this year’s season of The Bachelorette – the stock-standard neutral suits we’re so used to seeing year after year have been ditched and replaced by hoards of funky colourful outfits.
We’ve seen leopard print, florals, bright red velvet and even a gorgeous coral sorbet colour this season, all thanks to the male contestants’ refusal to fit inside the box when it comes to their fashion choices.
So why the change?
It turns out there’s a very specific reason why you won’t see many plain black and navy suits on The Bachelorette this season, says Channel 10’s official stylist Kim Hurwitz.
“These men have outgoing and large personalities. They want to show that through their suiting as well as their everyday looks. Suit brands such as M J Bale, Peter Jackson and Politix provide so much variety in colour and print, I love to experiment with it on the show,” Kim told Now To Love.
“Plus, being the fifth season of The Bachelorette, it’s important to re-invent the wheel. If we saw navy and black suits each week on 20 plus men it would get boring and we probably wouldn’t be able to identify them from one another that well either.”
Fan-favourite Ciarran has become famous for his loud suits this season.
(Credit: Channel 10)
Remember Glenn? (It’s fine, no one does). But he does look nice in this purple velvet suit.
(Credit: Channel 10)If you thought the diva antics from the ladies on The Bachelor were bad, Kim says the men are just as picky about how they come across onscreen as the women.
“These men definitely had a strong opinion of what they wanted to wear and how they wanted to look,” she said.
“Most of the men would come up to the wardrobe room each week and tell me exactly what they felt like wearing that week. Sometimes they wanted to look a little more dapper in a three-piece suit and sometimes a little dressier in a tux. That’s when the hundreds of suits in different prints and colours came in handy!”
And yes, these suits are all supplied my Ten’s wardrobe department – only one guy brought a suit into the mansion this year, so they rely on the professionals to kit them out.
Um, how does Ciarran have better hair than me? Rude.
(Credit: Channel 10)
Ciarran took it to the next level with this leopard number!
(Credit: Channel 10)Sourcing suits for 25 guys is no mean feat, with the process starting weeks before filming begins.
“About 3 to 4 weeks before we start filming I start working on sourcing suits for The Bachelorette,” Kym explains.
“The first week, I’ll reach out to the appropriate brands to get them on board and then closer to the first fitting date with the men I’ll go and select suits from PR agencies, showrooms, stores, online, pretty much from all over Australia. I need to have around 250 suits or so for the initial fitting of all the men.
“Throughout the season we rotate through hundreds and hundreds of suits. Some brands will fit certain body types better than others, so I need a range so there is the best fit for each of them. I’d say it would be close to a 1000 suits all up!”
The suits are a mix of gifted items from brands and pieces that Kym purchases herself.
“I get a lot of interest from new brands that would like to be a part of the show because they see everyone talking about the suits online and posting about them on socials and they want to be a part of that too. It’s such a fantastic platform for suit brands to show a range of new product and trends they offer.”
This lovely summer sorbet colour is perfect for spring racing season.
(Credit: Channel 10)
Ciarran certainly wasn’t afraid to undo a LOT of his buttons, to show off his chest tattoos.
(Credit: Channel 10)Kym also styles Angie for every single date, as well as all of the cocktail parties. “That’s a lot of looks!” she said.
“I reach out to around 100 different brands both casual ones and more dressy ones and am constantly sourcing new items in, having fittings with Angie and then rotating them out as we go. I set up a wardrobe room with racks and racks of clothing and tables of jewellery in Angie’s house for the duration of the series.”
WATCH BELOW: Yvie and Angie chat about the men on The Bachelorette. Story continues after video.
Eagle-eyed Bachie fans will remember the famous maroon Politix jacket that producers love to wheel out each season on the franchise.
It was spotted on Matt Agnew this year, and has been worn by Blake Coleman on The Bachelorette in 2017, Jake Ellis in 2016 and even MAFS star Dino Hira.
The infamous maroon blazwe!
(Credit: Supplied)But Kym has revealed that Matt wasn’t actually wearing that maroon jacket.
“It actually was a new jacket in a deep purple colour that was altered in the image to make it look like the maroon one,” Kym explained.
“I wish we could re-use the noticeable jackets as some of them are my favourites and I’d love to get some more wear out of them but since I’ve been working on the series, I avoid re-using any suits other than the black and navy staples which we store in a wardrobe from each season.
“Sometimes suits can definitely look similar to one another but they might be from different brands and they could have some slight design features or a different texture that make them slightly different to something that has been worn previously.”
Case closed!
