Last week, on her 53rd birthday, Vanessa Williams premiered V. by Vanessa, her inaugural fashion venture on the Evine home shopping network. Vanessa has always had an interest in couture. With fashion savvy roles such as Wilhelmina Slater on Ugly Betty and Renee Perry on Desperate Housewives, she says companies have been approaching her for years to start a line. She designed V. by Vanessa based on her style philosophy, which she calls “Urban Camouflage”. In addition to attractive, well-priced pieces that represents her style, Vanessa, wanted to conceal problem areas that time creates for most women.

“This collection is a combination of me as a professional, me as a mother, and me as what I wear for comfort around the house,” she tells PeopleStyle of the line, which she named after her lifelong signature, a single V and a period. “It’s your urban look, it’s your suburban look, it’s your casual look, and it’s your glam look, all in one.” What does that translate to? An 18-piece debut that includes jumpsuits, blousy caftans, stretch skirts, and rouched tops—all for $100 or less.

But for Williams, she also wanted her line to act as a problem solver, “particularly for women who are 40 and up,” she says. “My friends and I complain about bra fat and loose arms. We’ve got a couple areas that we want to cover. Gone are the days when you’re 20 and you can just wear a little spaghetti strap thing and everything’s up and perky by itself. I’ve gone through my 30s, 40s, 50s and my body keeps changing with every decade. Yes, I’ve got bra fat and love handles. It’s a constant struggle. So, my view is don’t give up the fight, keep it moving, embrace where your body is going, and then dress accordingly.”

[From PeopleStyle]

I cannot put too fine a point on this: bra fat sucks. I have a daily struggle with trying to turn it into some kind of cleavage. Vanessa says she doesn’t want women to disappear under a bunch of fabric to hide problem areas and it looks like she has used form and drape to our advantage here. These first pieces are pretty basic but many of the silhouettes I wear so I like it. Since Vanessa said this line is a reflection of how she dresses, can I buy the gorgeous blue dress below and pretend I look just like her? V. by Vanessa is off to a good start; many items sold out and overall exceeded sale expectations by 10%. More pieces will be released in both April and May.

It does seems like once you hit a certain position in Hollywood you are required to launch either a clothing line, a perfume or a lifestyle brand doesn’t it?

Photo Credit: Evine Home Shopping Network, WENN Photos and Getty Images