Celebrity Stylist Maeve Reilly Weighs in On 'Ugly' Fashion, Affordable Sneakers, and Coordinating Couples

We tend to lose it a little over a great celebrity outfit: the perfect, form-fitting dress paired with sexy strappy heels; that effortless combination of a T-shirt, baggy jeans, and statement sneakers. But, while the stars usually ends up getting all the praise in the headlines, true fashion fans know who really deserves credit: the stylist behind the scenes, who put it all together in a way that leaves us both envious and inspired.

One pro in particular who dreams up a ton of must-see looks is Maeve Reilly. She dresses icons like Hailey Bieber, Megan Fox, Ciara, and even the D'Amelio sisters, and is part of the reason why we've spent some hard-earned cash on everything from twisted halter necks to slipper shoes. But, according to Reilly, you don't need to go into debt in order to look good. To drive that point home, she's partnered with PayPal to promote the platform's new interest-free payment feature, Pay in 4.

"I've talked about smart shopping before," she tells InStyle over the phone, saying she loves to share money-saving tips with her followers, which includes the ability to break purchases between $30 to $1,500 into smaller, more manageable amounts. "I think this is a great opportunity coming out of the pandemic, for people who are maybe being conscious of their spending but really want to have an exciting new fashion moment," she says, adding that the feature is as easy to use as the already-simple PayPal checkout.

Unsurprisingly, Reilly's genius style and money-saving advice doesn't stop there. She also shared some of her best tips as we chatted, including a few inexpensive ways to boost your wardrobe, the trends she's loving for both summer and fall, and her thoughts on coordinated couple style — something her client Megan Fox now knows all about.

Get ready, because your style is about to get exponentially hotter with these tips alone.

On How to Look Good On a Budget

"I'm a big fan of mixing lower end brands with higher end brands. I do it all the time, not just in my style, but in the way my clients dress. I just think it's absolutely normal to have high and low pieces together — nobody dresses in head-to-toe designer, so I'm always looking for lower end brands to mix in. I'm a big fan of Nasty Gal. I love Joah Brown for their crop tops, tank tops and stuff. Brandy Melville I think is always a great go-to, my younger girls love it. We mix a lot."

The Pieces She Gravitates Toward When Dressing Clients

"I think it's important that all my girls feel like themselves, and I think I've done a pretty good job of dressing each of them individually — although, obviously, they all love jeans and crop tops. But, the way that they may style it would be different from one another. Anyone that works with me is essentially an edgier, cool girl, I would say. A lot of my girls are in jeans and jean shorts moving into the summer. A lot of Bottega Veneta heels and bags, and a lot of Amina Muaddi [shoes]. We're all over the place, but it all makes sense together."

On the 'Ugly' Fashion Trend (Especially When It Comes to Footwear)

"I don't know if I love that. I'm not into it, to be honest. None of my girls really are. It's just not hot. We're definitely more heels and sneakers."

Her Go-To Sneaker Picks

"I personally can't get out of Nike, and Hailey's wearing a lot of Nike. She's also wearing a lot of Superga. I personally like a Nike 1 High Top, an SB, or an Air Force 1. I have literally 30 pairs in different colors. I'm really into that right now."

On Coordinated Couple Style

"Obviously a bunch of my clients are in relationships, and the boyfriends or husbands all have their own stylists. We all just do our own separate thing and then on the day of the occasion, we make sure it makes sense together, matches in some sort of way. But I think it's mostly natural, especially the street style. We're definitely not overcomplicating or coordinating. I think it's just like, if the girl comes out of the room in bright pink and dude comes out in turquoise, someone probably should change, you know what I'm saying?

"For a red carpet, I communicate with whoever the other stylist is and we make sure that it makes sense for each other. It's usually whatever the girl's wearing and then the boy goes from there. But I have another client who he's such a fashion boy that we sometimes work backwards from his look. I think everyone's different. It's just fun. It's a fun experience. It's definitely not as over-planned as I think most people think it is."

Where She Finds Inspiration

"I'm very lucky that I get to see a lot of these collections before they come out, seeing where the designers are headed, and what is to come. When I'm looking at clothes, I'm thinking about specific clients like, 'Okay. This will be great for this one, and this will be great for that one.' I think the clothes really inspire me and dictate what we're going to do. I think the brands have a really good idea of future planning. When you get to work on editorial, obviously, you're really seeing stuff long before it's available. I think I'm looking at what designers are doing and just making it make sense for each one of my girls."

On Her Favorite Fall Trends

"I just love a coat. I'll even throw a luxury coat over sweatpants. I started a [sweats] brand called the The Local Love Club this past year and I wear it to death. I'll just put a really elevated coat over that and can get away with wearing it out to dinner. I'm excited for that. I have a couple of things coming up in the fall that I can't talk about yet, but I think people will be excited. I actually prefer to dress for fall, winter. Summer is the least exciting time because it limits your ability to put a real outfit together. You're just dealing with the element of not [wanting] to be too hot. I prefer to dress in fall, truthfully."