If you’ve been in a bit of a TV slump lately from Monday until you stress watch another episode of Game of Thrones on Sunday night, all of that is about to change thanks to the Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce which returns to Bravo Thursday for the premiere of its fourth season. And hopefully with its return will also come some satisfying answers to a few lingering questions we still have left over from last season, namely, are things heating up between Jo and Albert? Will Abby and Barbara actually launch ‘Lady Parts?’ And, perhaps most importantly, will Phoebe wind up choosing JD or Gemma? PeopleStyle spoke with the actress who plays Phoebe, Beau Garrett, and while she didn’t share any top secret plot points with us, she did answer a few of our burning questions about her days as a model, how she gets and maintains those effortless beachy waves, and everything about her style both on the show, on the red carpet and IRL.
Just like her character on the show, it turns out Garrett also used to be a model, she says, “I modeled from 14 to 21 or so, that was such a kind of strange and interesting time those years but it wasn’t sustainable for me, and acting just kind of naturally happens.” She adds that while the two are completely different professions, it “was a pretty smooth transition” as she was totally prepared for the nomadic lifestyle and sporadic, odd hour work schedule. “I have always kinda been uprooted since I started working because you live out of your suitcase, you travel where the work is, it’s not normal hours, its like you are working with a lot of different people all the time and I think that that was really similar,” she explains. “I think it would be really hard to go to like a 9 to 5 or in an office all day long, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, at least this is like a normal kind of transition”
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But in terms of advice for upcoming models today, she says, “maintain a balanced life, for your mental health. It’s such a tough business, and it’s so based on things out of your control, you have to have other things in your life that mean something to you, it cant be the be all end all.”
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As for her character’s style on the show, which she describes as “colorful, flowy and comfortable,” Garrett says that in season four we’re going to see Phoebe, “getting more comfortable in her skin.” And so likewise her style it going to, “become more at ease and not trying so hard.” She adds, “I think she is dressing less for men and more for herself, which is kind of a beautiful thing. She’s becoming more comfortable and casual. And she also started wearing a lot more earrings.”
Garrett says her character’s look is also a reflection of where she’s at currently, explaining, “you know money isn’t coming in the way it used to and she’s got to figure out how she is going to make money, so I think she is trying to finally make use of her closet in ways that she might not have before.”
Garrett also praises the show’s wardrobe stylist, Cynthia Summers, as someone who, “has taught me to like function.” She goes on, “I’m a very earthy dresser, so I like things that are neutral colored, very simple. I literally wear out clothes to death. I don’t like to change much. I like to keep things really easy. I also dress for comfort. And Phoebe is much more like, she pushes things a little bit to the edge in regard to color, in regard to style, and comfortability, and I really never did that. So for me, I learned a lot about going out on a limb and doing things you might not usually. I also used to never wear earrings until I met Phoebe. Now I wear earrings all the time.” Though she confesses, “I also just got my ears pierced like two years ago.”
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Another one of her character’s signatures is her amazing hair, which Garrett claims, “I don’t do anything to it. I’ve destroyed it now with the amount of times its been ironed and blow dried.” But aside from trying to give her a break from hot tools every now and then, she admits her big secret is probiotics. “I’m obsessed with those. I don’t like to take the pills, I’m obsessed with gummies, a company called Smarty Pants. I eat their probiotics everyday and it makes me super happy.” Aside from providing her strands with the right nutrients from the inside out, she also tackles things from the outside in with Rahua shampoo. She says, “I love it more than anything. It’s the best shampoo.” And when she’s not working, Beau is just as lackadaisical with getting her strands trimmed as the rest of us, saying, “Now I have to more often because I have to keep it a certain length for like 8 months, but I will go like two years, and I’m like, whoops!”
Getting into costume to play Phoebe is not second-nature for the actress, but she says red carpets still make her feel very weird. “I try to have a great team of people around me that make me feel really beautiful and that’s really all you can do because it’s the weirdest thing in the world,” she says. “I mean like to have your picture taken is so strange, so however you can bring people around you that make you feel great, I just try to do that.” She says no matter what, however, there is one thing that never fails to make her feel instantly stylish, “My Chloé boots. I’ll just wear them totally naked, and just walk around and feel like I am the coolest person ever.”
Tune in to Bravo Thursday’s at 10 pm ET for season 4 of Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.
Are you excited for the return of the show? What do you hope to see happen this season? Sound off below!
–with reporting by Lindy Segal