Colette LeClair is on a busy NYC sidewalk struggling to weave three unwieldy full-size suitcases through a throng of business-lunchers, tourists, and delivery people. It’s awkward. It’s clunky. And yet, in her houndstooth jumpsuit and faux-fur-collar coat, she looks fabulous doing it. The scene is reminiscent of the high-low advertisements where women wear gowns and jewels to the laundromat because they have nothing left to put on for laundry day.
Thing is, Colette’s not on her way to do laundry, and she actually has plenty to wear, much of which is stuffed into those three suitcases. And while most of those pieces are pretty glamorous-looking, they happen to be super inexpensive too. In just a year and a half blogging as @Colette.Prime, Colette has amassed more than 25,000 followers—not because she plays coy for the camera like other fashionistas, smiling shyly while looking away and spinning in a patterned maxidress, but because the *only* clothes she ever wears on her feed (and IRL) come from Amazon. (By the way, she was on her way to this photo shoot with that luggage, and all the clothes you see here are pieces she actually owns from the major online retailer.)
Now, she earns a living sharing her insights with her growing fan base on the amazing, truly high-quality, nice-fitting things you can find—if you know where and how to look—on the retailer’s site.
“I wore Amazon clothes when I was in college at Clemson, and I wore Amazon suits to my job interviews,” the 27-year-old Virginia native tells me during our interview at SixtyLES downtown. “I wore Amazon to work every day as an accountant in San Francisco.” (Colette quit that accounting gig in December, when she decided to make fashion blogging her full-time thing.)
Colette’s obsession started because the closest mall to Clemson was 30 minutes away, and it was just too damn far for the then-student. “I had a very small budget, a Prime membership, and a computer. That meant I could get cheapish things shipped for free, which was better than Forever 21 and other online stores could offer,” she says. “It worked and I could afford it—I was like, ‘This is fun and I’m broke.’”
Colette’s growing number of followers is proof that people are more keen to shop for clothing on Amazon than they were even a few years ago. “Everyone was always like, ‘Oh, weird that you buy clothes there, but you look pretty cute,’” she says.
While she’s an “influencer,” she doesn’t act the same way other bloggers with high Instagram follower counts do. She does post cool snaps in dreamy duds, but that’s where the similarities end.
For one, her vibe is totally different from other fashion bloggers.
No Instagram husbands here—Colette plays with lighting and photography all on her own and uses a tripod to snap her photos. And she’s not afraid of color: While many fashionistas cool down and flatten the tones in their pics, Colette wears neons and in-your-face reds, and she takes pictures in unexpected outside locations and inside on colorful backgrounds. The result is more editorial photo shoot, less “candid” street shot.
And she actually ~talks~ to the people who slide into her DMs.
Colette’s fans are more like clients, coming to her with questions only she can address. “I’ll get requests like, ‘Hey! Can you shop for me for this wedding I have coming up? I need the dress to be under $50 and red,’” she says. “So I’ll spend four hours finding them 10 dresses in their size. They may or may not buy one, but they’ll tell all their friends.”
Also, she doesn’t make money the same way.
Other Insta-famous personalities get paid to promote things in their feeds or on their Stories, or maybe they make appearances or participate in partnerships with various brands. Colette, however, is part of the Amazon Influencer program, meaning she gets a small percentage of whatever items end up in your Amazon cart if you follow her link to get there. All those DMs? Also part of her cut. That means she’s motivated to find things her fans will actually want to click through and buy—even if they’re not necessarily her vibe—rather than just post pretty pics, hoping you’ll engage with her by dropping *fire* emojis in the comments.
Although she won’t disclose how much money she earns, Colette says she waited to become a full-time blogger until she knew she could cover her living costs with the check she receives from the retailer for all those post-click purchases. Amazon also sends a gift card every month for new clothes, which helps offset work expenses.
She keeps a running categorized shopping site on Amazon constantly up to date too.
On it, she highlights her favorite pieces and groups them by type, destination, or occasion, so even the masses—who are less into DMing and more into lurking—can get in on the affordable action.
Obviously, although she tries to answer each and every personal message, she can’t possibly respond to everyone. In fact, she’s typically able to get back to only about half of them, and that’s with spending roughly 20 hours a week shopping for followers and responding to DMs. Thankfully, most people’s inquiries—for floor-length gowns, resort wear, coats, graduation dresses, and more—can be answered through her page, to which she is always adding.
Basically, she puts in the damn hours.
“I have been doing this for a long time, so by now, I have a list of about 40 brands [which you can see on her site] that are my go-tos—they’ve consistently delivered cute stuff,” Colette says.
She’ll search the site with those in mind, and if she can’t find the thing her follower needs from one of her vetted labels, she’ll start searching keywords individually.
If you’ve ever looked for anything on Amazon, you’ve probably noticed it can be hard to search for a specific phrase and find the exact thing you want. “Once I search through pages and pages of options and actually find something good, if it is from a brand I don’t recognize, I’ll buy it myself to determine the quality before ever recommending it to a follower,” Colette says. This happens on a monthly basis, meaning she’s amassed a huuuge wardrobe. She devotes a floor of her apartment to her work, and it includes a photography studio, five clothing racks, a few dressers, and lots of shoe storage. To manage the inevitable garment overflow, she donates to a hospital in her hometown of Richmond, Virginia, and does regular giveaways on her Stories.
The quality-control aspect of her work doesn’t end with finding amazing items, by the way. If an otherwise great piece is up on her site and falls apart after a few wears, she’ll take it off her list right away and warn you about it. “I want to be able to say that a sweater lasted 10 washes, or it didn’t,” she says.
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Follow Colette’s quick-and-dirty tricks to snatch up some real good finds:
Read. The. Reviews.
Goes without saying, but on the other hand, how many of you actually do your due diligence on this front? Colette sticks to labels with four or more stars, and if something doesn’t have any or many reviews, she’ll click through the brand’s review history—that gives her a good sense of whether the line is consistent about its quality.
Check the fabric.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’m pretty good at spotting different kinds of materials,” Colette says. “If the description of the item says ‘100 percent polyester velvet’ and the picture makes it look like high-quality silk velvet, I will discount it.” That’s not a neg on polyester, FYI—she’s down for synthetic fabrics, she just doesn’t like being deliberately misled by pictures.
Look at the care instructions.
“If the brand is willing to describe the item and how to handle it, it is more likely to be trustworthy,” she says. “For example, a pair of leggings that I love reads, ‘Cool-wash your leggings with like colors and lay flat to dry. Remember not to heat dry!’ A good description like this tells me the brand cares about the item.” And following detailed instructions will keep the piece in its best condition for the longest possible time and prevent wear, like pilling, stretching out, and holes.
Anyway, you ~could~ go through this entire process to find something you need for yourself—or you could just ask her to do it for you. Pretty sure she’d be happy to help.
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Chicmay Sheer Mesh Long Dress
Vero Viva Velvet Solid Flared Pants
Onlymaker Platform Chunky High Heels
mecresh Long Tassel Dangle Earrings
etuoji Casual One Button Blazer
Hego Sexy Leather Club Dress
ANN CREEK White Studded Western Boots
Alfani Embellished Pullover Sweater
Mydio Fishnet Body Stockings
NV Leather Wide Elastic Belt
Sunlen Ruffle Hem Minidress
Aegenacess 2-Piece Beaded Barettes
UONBOX 2-Piece Purple Velvet Suit
On Colette: Mesh pink maxi look: Sheer mesh lace dress, Amazon, $10; Velvet solid casual flares, Amazon, $23; Platform chunky heels, Amazon, $50; Crystal earrings, Amazon, $14. Pink blazer with turquoise belt look: One-button blazer, Amazon, $33; Bodycon leather dress, Amazon, $65; Sleeveless ribbed turtleneck, Amazon, $22; Hornsby Western boot, Amazon, $76; Belt, B-Low the Belt. Beaded sweater and belt look: Embellished pullover sweater, Amazon, $20; Fishnet bodystocking, Amazon, $8; Wide elastic leather belt, Amazon, $15; Scrunchie, Jennifer Behr; Earrings, SVNR; Ring, APC; Shoes, Brian Atwood. Floral minidress look: Long-sleeve chiffon minidress, Amazon, $112; Semi-opaque tights, Amazon, $8; Hair accessories, Zara; Earrings, Lizzie Fortunato; Rings, Glamrocks and Astrid & Miyu; Shoes, Ann Taylor. Purple suit look: Two-piece velvet suit, Amazon, $72; Rings, Vanessa Mooney and Jen Hansen; Boots, Zara.
Photographer: Ruben Chamorro; Fashion Editor: Rachel Torgerson; Creative Director: Abby Silverman; Senior Visuals Editor + Producer: Raydene Salinas Hansen; Accessories Assistant: Camille Nzengung; Fashion Intern: Bella McKelvey; Hairstylist: Bennett Grey; Makeup Artist: Olivia Barad; Nail Artist: Kayo Higuchi; Location: Sixty Hotels + Make Believe.
Rachel Torgerson is the fashion features and lifestyle director at Cosmopolitan, overseeing fashion and lifestyle coverage online, in print, and on our various social media platforms. She has over a decade of experience in the fashion and media industries. Before landing at Cosmopolitan as a digital fashion editor in 2016, she worked at Us Weekly, The Knot, and Fitness Magazine, among others. When she's not discussing runway trends, you can definitely catch her trying out (and, in many cases, failing) a new crochet cardigan pattern or in a spirited debate about the difference between the Bridgerton books vs the Netflix series. Follow her on Instagram and TikTok: @RachelTorgs
