Larisa Oleynik Up Close

Up Close with Larisa Oleynik

UP CLOSE

Alright already I know it's been a while and you guys are going CRAZY waiting for news about Larisa but the wait is over! Up Close is back, bigger and better than ever with the latest info on Larisa. If you can handle it, we're ready to bring you all the facts all the figures and all the inside scoop that you simply can't get anywhere else.

We caught up with Larisa recently and she was ready, willing, and more than able, glass of milk in hand, to fill us in on everything that's been going on in her life.

In this month's special feature we are gonna delve deep inside Larisa's closet to give you the 411 on Larisa's sense of style PLUS for all you fashion conscious guys we are ready to reveal what it is that Larisa notices about the opposite sex!

But before we get started we have some incredible news to report:

LARISA'S MOM SHOCKED TO DISCOVER SIGNS OF CARPET IN LARISA'S ROOM!!

You heard right folks, in a major development that even Celebrity Sightings finds hard to believe, we have it on excellent authority that a wide expanse of soft carpet has mysteriously appeared between the walls of Larisa's room! The cause for this amazing once in a lifetime event... LARISA TIDIED UP!!

Now if you knew Larisa like CS does, you wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that from time to time things can get a little out of control when it comes to organizing her shoes, her clothes, her CD's and her magazines. Heh heh!

Like most teenagers, Larisa is often in a rush and sometimes things tend to end up where they fall, like on the floor! Clothes get hung up on anything that looks like a hook (read bedposts, windows and door handles), shoes and socks mysteriously vanish into thin air (or is that under the bed) and as for CD's, tapes and magazines, well we thought that they would just automatically tidy themselves up didn't you? :)

Anyway as luck would have it on the day that CS hung out with Larisa, things were pretty calm. She was hanging out in Adidas sweats, having just thought about working out to an Elle Macpherson tape, she had a clear run to the closet and this is what we found!

THE WONDER (WHY) YEARS!

EXCLUSIVE SNAPSHOT!
How about this for the all-time cutest ever picture of Larisa. In case you are wondering this is her on her FIRST day of 1st Grade. Awwwwww!

"As a child my mom was really smart about my clothes."

Instead of just letting Larisa wear anything that she wanted and rather than picking everything for her to wear, Lorraine would select a few different outfits that looked nice on her daughter. She would then let Larisa pick from them which kind of made her 'think' that she was making her own choices. As you can see from this utlra-mega-hugely exclusive picture of Larisa the plan worked. Good work there Mom!

"When I first started Alex Mack I had horrible horrible style. It was all because up until 7th grade I was just used to wearing a uniform, so I was still kind of figuring out what was up." She laughs, "then I started on the show and at first I didn't really understand what was going on with what they were giving me to wear. It was all thrift store stuff which now I've come to absolutely love!"

"When I first started Alex Mack I had horrible horrible style."

So it was during her time on Alex Mack that Larisa really started to notice clothes and began to develop what has become her own very individual sense of style. As she told us, "it was all about being around other people outside of my school, everyone dressed differently and they all had their own look".

In fact as time went on Larisa started to have more and more influence on the "Alex" look and she managed to snag more than a few of the clothes that she was into. "There were times on the show when I was bored and would look through all the clothes and put some outfits together and I would ask Laura Slakley our costume designer to see if it was ok. She would normally change it around a little bit and then say 'yeah that's great, fine you can wear that'. Towards the end of the show she would let me either borrow' some of the clothes that I liked or sell them to me really cheap, so I still wear lots of the clothes that people saw me wearing on the show."

Everyone can remember a certain piece of clothing that they loved when they were young. For Larisa the first thing that she can ever remember wearing to death was a pink sweater with white bunnies on it and we managed to track down an original picture of it!!

So how does Larisa describe her own style?

When she was eight or nine she remembers being all about spandex, neon and big hair, ( it was the early 90's after all) but these days her style has changed radically.

VINTAGE VIBES

"I have tons of Dickie's style pants, Dickie's and Ben Davis that you can get at Kmart (she giggles) and I have lots of old cords I have no new pants at all... I am also a sweater freak and I love old vintage cardigans. I just got this red plain red cardigan that's really cute."

Larisa also rifled through her closets to spill the beans on her favorite colors.

"I just had a simple black dress but it was one of the very first times that I actually spent time doing my make-up and I felt very grown up."

"I don't really have a major preference for colors, I have about 5 black sweaters that I wear religiously, I seem to wear a lot of blue but I don't have a lot of orange things... that's not the most flattering color for me." She describes her look as something between a casual-punky-swing-type-vintage style.

"What I have is some new stuff and some vintage stuff and I like to throw it all together. I don't think it looks good if you just have all of the same thing. Also I have loads of shirts from the concerts I go to. I have at least four Dance Hall Crashers T-shirts and it's totally rad now 'cause they have so many more 'girl' things. Before it was all just X-large T-shirts for the guys but now there is so much more of a choice. If you want to find out more about her recent mad adventures on the concert tour make sure you check out Event Update.

GLAM GIRL!

When she's home from school or kicking back at the weekend you're likely to find her pulling on Adidas sweatpants and an old T-shirt. But it's not always about casual cords and band T-shirts, Larisa also loves to get dressed up in some of the most stunning dresses, and CS has already brought you some great shots of her at Hollywood events. We asked her about when she felt the MOST glamorous.

"Well, at the Kids Choice this year I had a lot of fun. The hair and make-up people, Luke O'Conner and Michael Johnstone, know me pretty well now so they kind of glammed me up and let me have a little 50's do and wear my red lipstick". She laughs "and I thought I looked pretty good. I had another dress picked out originally which happened to be a lot more expensive, but the day before I was shopping in Macys's, (yes Larisa does go to the mall too) and I saw this other dress which I thought was the cutest thing ever.

"...so they kind of glammed me up and let me have a little 50's do and wear my red lipstick..."

The other time that I felt totally glam was when I went to my winter formal last year. No one from my school had ever seen me dressed up like that before. A lot of the older people who I went with all thought of me as a little girl who always wore torn pants and stuff like that. I just had a simple black dress but it was one of the very first times that I actually spent time doing my make-up and I felt very grown up."

GET YOURSELVES A GRUNGY STYLISH SKATEBOARD LOOK!

OK so now for all the guys who like to dress to impress, this is the moment you've all been waiting for. Larisa told us exactly what it is that she looks for and notices in the opposite sex and you might be surprised because you don't have to be rich or flashy to catch this girl's eye.

Now if you're up to date with the cute boys currently on the charts in Larisa's List you may have an idea of what it is that turns her head, but here it is guys, in her own words.

"Well I love little skater-boys and punk boys, I love it when guys look like that, but not too punk, I don't like scary punk., It doesn't really matter WHAT it is, as long as they have their own sense of what is cool."

"What I do notice at the shows, that I love, is when the guys really get into the ska thing."

Where does she see most of the cool guys? At the concerts of course!

"What I do notice at the shows that I love, is when the guys really get into the ska thing. They wear the pants with the suspenders and the two tone suits and the hats and stuff like that, I think that's awesome."

Larisa also told CS about a certain member of a certain band (Editors Note: We are sworn to secrecy about his true identity, so no emails please!) who she always thinks looks great. She said, "I think he is super-cute, he always wears long baggy long shorts with his little boxers hanging out and thick socks with DC shoes. I love DC shoes and little black and white shoes and stuff but honestly I don't care what type of clothes a guy wears as long as he puts it together well."

So now you know guys, it's not money or cars or expensive presents that are going to get you this girls attention. It's much more about being an individual and not trying too hard!

For now why not jump into the new Event Update and see and hear all about Larisa's latest prom and come back here next month to find out much more about the designer labels she loves, the people who influenced her style and the fashion rules at school!