Wanda Knight's fashion sense is so well known at the Cincinnati Bell Yellow Pages (Berry Co.)that someone dressed up as the telephone ad sales representative this past Halloween, according to her nominator and marketing manager, Valerie Schmidt.

        “She is a complete package,” Ms. Schmidt says of the former high school homecoming queen from Hamilton. Ms. Knight, 44, toured five years as a jazz and R&B singer and has worked as a caterer, floral designer and cosmetics retailer.

Wanda Knight shows her Real Style. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        Shopping philosophy: Better to buy it and not need it rather than need it and not buy it.

        You can be found shopping at: Saks to Wal-Mart and everywhere in between. I try to shop at least three times a week.

        Signature style: My glasses. The more unusual the better. I have 13 frames, from rhinestone to leopard, purple, silver and gold to match outfits.

        Earliest fashion memory: When I was about 9 or 10, at Easter, my parents bought me a mint green dress with pleated butterfly sleeves and purple polka dots all over it. I loved it. In high school, I designed three outfits for the Fashion Design Institute of Fashion Merchandising in California and won a scholarship.

        You wouldn't be caught dead in: Gym shoes and a nylon jogging suit or shorts.

        Favorite designers: David Dart, Donna Karan, Oscar De La Renta. I like David Dart because I am full-figured and his cuts are very flattering.

        Best bargain: I bought diamond and pearl earrings for $2.64 at a Detroit consignment shop, took them to a jeweler who appraised them at $950 and offered me $1,100 on the spot.

        If you had big bucks you'd buy: Fur coats — maybe chinchilla to go with those I have from Fettner-Friedman.

        Favorite finishing touch: Jewelry, the bigger the better.

        You can never have enough: Shoes. I have so many I use a bedroom as a closet. I travel a lot, and I never go anywhere without picking up a pair.

       Send nominations to Joy Kraft: c/o Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax; 768-8330; jkraft@enquirer.com. Include their name, age, daytime phone and why they should be featured.
       

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