Tina Knowles Talks Cache, Destiny's Child, and Solange's Wedding

Yahoo Style sat down with Tina Knowles to talk about her new gig collaborating with clothing line Caché, crop tops, Destiny’s Child, Solange’s wedding, and what’s up next for the 60-year-old super mom.

Yahoo Style: Tell us about your latest curated collection with Cache.
Tina Knowles: I’ve been a customer of Caché for years and I think they do a really great job of aspirational fashions at an affordable price. So I’m just really happy to curate this collection. I think they have some amazing things. And I think it’s a great place to shop for the holidays. It’s mostly party dresses, cocktail dresses, and evening dresses.

YS: Do you have any rules for holiday party dressing? Things you should or shouldn’t do?
TK: I think that some of the mistakes that people make with holiday dressing is that they do too much. If you have on a sequin dress, a beaded dress, then you don’t need all the stones and rhinestonea. I think you should keep it pretty simple.

YS: There are some looks with bare midriffs. So that’s quite a holiday look.
TK: I picked out 24 pieces including accessories. Crop tops are really trending and [the one I chose] looks like something that came off a runway that cost thousands and thousands of dollars; but it’s not going to break the bank.

Photography Jon Shoer

YS: What were some of your other favorite pieces from the collection?
TK: I love the leather dresses. Some of the pieces you can wear from day to night, which is my favorite thing during the holidays. After work you can throw on some more accessories and change your evening bag and shoes and you’re good to go to a holiday party.

YS: So just judging by your outfit today, which is Caché, you’re not wearing that many accessories. You’re basically wearing a red lip.
TK: That is my go-to accessory (red lips).

YS: So you say you’ve been shopping at Caché for years. But what was 21-year-old Tina wearing on a typical day?
TK: Twenty-one-year-old Tina was wearing bellbottoms and definitely midriff tops. That was my thing. And sky-high platform shoes and a big huge Afro.

YS: What about 31-year-old Tina?
TK: Thirty-one-year-old Tina was probably in … what was that era? The ‘80s? The biggest shoulder pads ever in life. I look back at those pictures and my jacket could have fit a big football player. The ’80s was not my favorite.

YS: I feel like you love a coordinated outfit. You love something that you can rehash in a few different ways.
TK: In my mind with fashion, I feel as though you can do things that will look good on everyone. And that’s my favorite because I don’t like to leave anyone out. I try to pick things that will look flattering on all women.

YS: When your children were younger, you were in beauty. When did you make the switch to fashion?
TK: I was in a singing group when I was in high school, The Veltones, and I thought I was Diana Ross. I wanted to be Diana Ross really badly. As I went on I became a makeup artist, I modeled, I did hair. I did everything at the time that I didn’t know would come in very handy later on with Destiny’s Child. I got started doing their clothes because the luggage was lost and I was always working and consulting with the stylists. The stylists had sent over some clothes for them to wear on this big MTV Spring Break show down in Jamaica and they didn’t come.
I had seen some camouflage pants and shirts for men at a flea market so I went back and got those and cut them up and made some skirts and tops and made these outfits. And Wyclef Jean came over because I asked to borrow some of his cream and khaki type pants for Kelly [Rowland]. He came over and was like ‘Yo, this is hot. Who styled you all?’ And he said ‘You should style them all the time.’ And that’s how it started happening because the girls really liked what I did. And they became kind of famous for camouflage.

YS: Who was the pickiest about their outfits in the group?
TK: The girls were really easy and they each had things they liked to show. Kelly had great arms and a great midriff. Beyoncé had great legs so we would show her legs. Michelle didn’t like her legs so we always had her in pants. I just tried to do what they wanted and what they liked. None of them were really picky.

YS: Advice you gave your daughters growing up?
TK: You know it’s funny because my daughters were very different. Beyoncé was tomboy-ish when she was younger. Then she went through a phase were she started to wear jeans and baggy Tommy Hilfiger. But Solange wore the craziest stuff in the world. She would put on a fur coat with some cowboy boots and a tutu. The girls would call me on Saturday at the salon and Beyoncé would be like: ‘Mom, she has on the craziest thing.’ I’m like, ‘That’s OK, that’s her style.’ I was really easygoing about it. I think [Solange] is a style icon now.

Photography Jon Shoer

YS: Solange was wearing the most classic, elegant outfit for her wedding. Were you involved in that process?
TK: Humberto [Leon] from Kenzo sent her some sketches and she sent the sketches to me and Beyoncé and Kelly and we all chimed in on what our favorites were; and ultimately she decided. They were all beautiful but she knew what she wanted. She’s very precise about what she likes.

YS: And even pre-wedding, the rehearsal dinner?
TK: Friday night she had a movie night and they did a documentary about their relationship and they showed Mahogany. Then on Saturday night they had a rehearsal dinner. On Sunday she rode to the ceremony and wore the gown and afterwards she put on another one for the parade. And then she changed again. It’s your weekend — why not do it big?

YS: I want to hear about what you wore because there is a picture that Beyoncé posted on Instagram that last time I checked had 600,000 likes.
TK: I was wearing Roland Mouret. Solange actually helped me find the dress. I got it for an art event that she had a couple of weeks ago and then I decided since it was off-white that I would just save it for the wedding.

YS: Did every single person abide by the all-white rule?
TK: Oh absolutely! At the wedding they probably would have been turned away if they didn’t. But the other nights were beige and cream. If you saw the venue that it was in, it was just fitting that it be white.

YS: Where did the idea of an all-white wedding come from?
TK: Well that’s kind of a tradition. Beyoncé had all white. Kelly’s had all white. Solange has had all white. It’s a family tradition.

YS: There were so many outfits. I am trying to get it straight.
TS: Afterwards she put on another jumpsuit that had a different type of neckline. They had a bounce bus. A bounce bus is part of New Orleans culture. It’s the most fun thing you can do. They take all the guts of the bus out and then they put benches in them and decorate them and they have lights like a disco. And you actually ride on the bus and they play this music and you dance and hold on to the top of the bus. And you all go through the streets and get drinks at every stop through windows on the bus. And you can see everybody but they can’t see you. So you’re just dancing and jammin’. She had four bounce buses so everyone is just partying and having a good time.

YS: You recently spoke about how you’ve lived the last few years of your life.
TK: I spent a lot of time being unselfish but at this point I am a little selfish. It means that my life has evolved around everybody else and now it’s about me for the first time. It’s all about Tina now. Life isn’t over when you’re 60. You can still be fly and have a good time. And you can start over and just have a great life.