A few years ago, Gretchen Rossi was a real estate agent. Now she's a brand, as well as one of Bravo's Real Housewives of Orange County.Fans often ask her about her hair and skin care.
"That's where the inspiration behind the makeup line came from," she says of www.gretchenchristine.com. "It was truly my fans. I always loved makeup and quite frankly always something I thought in the back of my mind would be fun to do."
Still, Rossi acknowledges that she is not always camera-ready.
"I can't tell you how many times I run out in Juicy Couture and no makeup and hair pulled back," she says. "If I am going to Target or the grocery store, I don't need to look like I am going on camera."
Rossi wears 7 For all Mankind and J Brand Jeans.
"I don't really wear casual shirts," she says. "I do, however, have every Juicy Couture sweatsuit ever made. I am not kidding. It is ridiculous, seriously. I may need to go to therapy for it. I have a master bedroom walk-in closet. That closet holds my Juicy Couture. I had to turn another bedroom into a closet."
Rossi has plenty of everything - coats, hats and shoes.
"Louboutin is my favorite," she says. "Every time I walk in I just have a mad love affair with all the shoes. I say all the time, 'I will be back.' "
Rossi carries high-end purses from Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Versace.
"I was able to afford those, honestly, when I was a very successful real estate agent," she says.
Selling her own line of handbags was another result of fans asking, she says.
"I started to feel the sadness in my heart that my fans could never afford that," Rossi says of the purses that cost thousands of dollars. "I love to give my fans what they ask for, so that really just came about."
Credit: Zap2It (Jacqueline Cutler)