A lot goes into a Bachelorette lead rocking a nearly-naked ensemble throughout the dating show.
“Gabby [Windey’s outfits] were my most scary [sic] of all because I was always so afraid,” series stylist Cary Fetman said on the Wednesday, May 20, episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, referring to Windey’s plunging garments that often featured high-cut slits. “There’s a person, I found out, at Warner Brothers [and] works for us … he goes in and every nipple, every too much side cleavage, [he covers].”
Fetman, 67, added, “We have people who are very very precise about what can be shown on ABC. [They are] the nipple police, the sideboob police, and I am always [cautious].”
Considering the Bachelor Nation franchise usually airs during primetime on ABC, the show must adhere to broadcast standards regarding nudity.
“They actually hired somebody that would have to color in every single [shot],” Fetman said. “I mean, every frame they would have to color in.”
The Bachelorette oftentimes edits a black box over any revealing garments.
“Gabby’s was the most naked,” the stylist said of Windey’s joint season with Rachel Recchia. “I thought, ‘If I don’t get fired after this season.’”
Fetman has curated the Bachelorettes’ wardrobe throughout the show’s tenure, making sure each leading lady feels confident on her dates.
“He’s good at like, ‘OK, sometimes we get a little too far off the trail.’ He’ll pull us back in, but he still lets us have creative freedom,” former lead Charity Lawson recalled on Wednesday. “For me, I appreciate it ‘cause I’m like, ‘The last thing I can do is not feel good on a date or do anything and be looking crazy.’”
Fetman, for his part, stressed that he never wanted to “push” outfits on the leads that made them feel uncomfortable.
“Now if I think you’re making a mistake, you know I’ll keep you in that mirror going, ‘OK, do you like it better like this or do you like it better like that?’” he explained. “I’m not the one going on a date. I’m not the one going on TV.”
Fetman most recently helped dress Taylor Frankie Paul for The Bachelorette season 22, which was pulled from broadcast amid her ongoing domestic violence scandal. (Paul, 31, has denied the accusations and has not been charged by local Utah police.)
“Taylor had told me … she didn’t want any of the Bachelor kind of looks. She didn’t want to be shiny, she didn’t want to be sequin [or wear] crystals and things like that,” Fetman said. “So, we had a lot of plain dresses and different things.”
