Rachel Bilson is a television actor born and raised in LA, California. While she has taken on many roles over the years, one of her best known is playing Summer Roberts on The O.C. Since her rise to fame, Bilson has taken on a variety of television roles and movie roles such as The Last Kiss. She has also been known for her interest in fashion, even when she embraces the more daring style choices that she made in the early 2000s.
Rachel Bilson’s shot to fame with her role in ‘The O.C.’
The O.C. was the first major role for Bilson. Before taking it on, she had a few guest appearances in television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 8 Simple Rules, That 70’s Show, and MADtv. Once Bilson took on the role of Summer Roberts, she became a household name.
On the show, that character of Summer wasn’t originally supposed to be a starring role. She was only written into a few episodes. However, the popularity of the character with fans turned Bilson into a regular cast member.
Her character is pretty, popular, and superficial on the surface. However, once more of her past was revealed, viewers found the character was a lot deeper and had a secret passion for protecting animals from lab testing, leading to her taking in her own rescued bunny. Bilson played the role of Summer for all 92 episodes of the series.
Since The O.C. ended, Bilson continues to act and has had major starring roles in shows such as Heart of Dixie, Nashville, and Take Two.
Bilson was known for making strong fashion choices
Outside of her work on television, the one aspect of her life that fans and audiences took a deep look at was her fashion choices. Specifically, she decided to wear dresses over jeans, and for a while, that became somewhat of a trend. Although Bilson recognizes this was a fashion choice coming from someone young, she’s “okay with it” and isn’t “horrified” by her past fashion choices, according to an interview with InStyle.
That doesn’t mean that every style choice Bilson made in the early 2000s was seen as out there or controversial in some way. When it came to red carpet events, Bilson was often applauded for her dress choices and presented elegant, sophisticated style mixed in with a bit of fun.
How fashion has transformed for Rachel Bilson today
Bilson isn’t just a consumer of fashion—she has also worked on the design side of fashion. She partnered with DKNY in 2008 to create a line of clothing for juniors called Edie Rose, named after her grandmother and her child’s great-grandmother. She chose the brand collaboration because she thought DKNY presented an effortless, simple style like what she had herself.
The fashion line included fifteen basic sportswear pieces that came in a predominantly monochrome palette, with only pops of yellow to set off the basic style. The yellow pop was an homage to one of Bilson’s favorite scarves that she owned. After her work with DKNY, Bilson has also served as a spokesperson for ShoeMint and an ambassador for Chanel.
Although today she admits that most of the line she wouldn’t wear herself, she does see that it was a product of its time when it comes to young fashion. Bilson is still looking at comfortable fashion in basic colors and patterns when she styles her outfits for day-to-day wear or a night out.
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