Bozoma Saint John Made Her Own Rules of Dressing for the C-Suite

How the latest 'Real Housewife of Beverly Hills' dresses for everything from the board room to the silver screen.

"The way we get dressed every morning is as personal as it gets. There are outfit repeaters, vintage treasure hunters, and even emotional dressers. But while everyone loves a good fashion trend, here at InStyle, we're interested in the deeper stuff, too: the way jewelry makes us feel, the way a beloved coat can spark joy on a cold day, the way a pair of shoes can pull a whole look together. How I Get Dressed unpacks fashion routines, rituals, and go-tos—straight from the fashion tastemakers we love."

Bozoma Saint John knows how to stand on business and look good while doing it. After all, Forbes named her the #1 most influential Chief Marketing Officer of 2021, recognizing her 25-year-long career leading boardrooms and closing deals as CMO at companies like Apple, Netflix, Uber, PepsiCo, and Endeavor. All the while, she never once downplayed her confidence and bold style to fit the corporate mold.

By bold style, we mean a massive wardrobe of out-of-this-world custom creations, sky-high heels, statement-making jewelry, and boldly-colored power suits—with not a gloomy gray in sight. "The job should not dictate who is in it and what they dress like because the job description was made for someone who's probably not you," Saint John tells InStyle.

"People saw me as a Black woman, a unicorn in a space filled with people who didn't look like me, and so then I realized that, like, oh, well, if they're still going to see me as 'other' anyway—I might as well just show up as myself." After years of shaking up the marketing industry, she's taking on the Black beauty industry with the launch of her own brand, Eve by Boz, a hair and beauty line dedicated to celebrating Black women, their rich culture, and their powerful stories.

Saint John will also be showing up as her authentic self on the upcoming 14th season of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as a full-time cast member. But don't think for a second that joining the long-running reality TV show is going to change a single thing about her demeanor or dress.

"I'm here to put on a show," she says, "whether in the boardroom or on T.V." Take, for instance, her debut scheme where she walks onto our screens in a creamy confection of a gown and a shrug made from clouds of tulle so large that she needs her assistant to help her out of her limo.

That's just the kind of razzle dazzle that's sure to have Bravoholics, business insiders, and fashion lovers alike tuned in. Below, learn more about her stellar style, how she actually hates shopping, and why red lipstick is her secret weapon. This is Bozoma Saint John's How I Get Dressed.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Her Personal Style

"I want to be the person who walks in a room and people say, oh my god, what does she have on? They can be shocked, impressed, or even, oh my god, 'I'm actually kind of offended.' I really don't care what the reaction is—I want the question asked.

I am intentional about clothes and how I get dressed. I'm intentional about the designers I support. I'm intentional about where the clothes are made, about the color, about the fit, and about how they make me feel."

On What to Wear to an Interview

"You know that phrase that people say, 'Dress for the job you want?' I hate that phrase with a passion because I'm like, 'No, you should dress for the person that you are and want to be.'"

Her Shopping Habits

"'I'm gonna whisper this. I don't really like to shop shop in a traditional sense. I don't wake up on a Saturday like, 'You know what? Let me hit Rodeo, or let me go to the mall.' I'm not one of those girls. That is why I have a lot of things custom-made. I like to design. I like to think about ways in which something is going to fit me better. And so I have two ways of doing it. One, I have a great tailor in LA, and two, the couture designers I work with will make things for me."

On Her Favorite Designers

"There's such incredible work coming out of West Africa. And perhaps you would think that it's only going to be like African print or something, but these artists are working with all kinds of textiles. And they're creating incredibly detailed fabric because their craft has always been that way, you know?

"You walk into a department store or a designer boutique and spend a ton on a dress, but then I'm like, 'Why not have it custom-made instead?' Last New Year, instead of buying something off the rack, I wore a custom gold dress by West African designer Mimmy Yeboah that was individually beaded in a pattern. And then there were additional gold jewels and accouterments threaded into the dress. The talent from West African designers is outrageous."

Who Inspires Her Style

"Florence Griffith Joyner. You know, the world-renowned, still record-holding sprinter? When Flojo stepped on that track, homegirl had her big hair, literally mere inches from falling onto the track. Her nails were long as hell, and chains were hanging from her neck. She redefined what it meant to show up in those spaces. And for me, it's like, 'Why wouldn't I do that? Why can't I do that?' Yeah, a C-suite executive probably shouldn't show up, you know, with her midriff out. But I do it constantly."

On What She Always Wears to Feel Confident

"Early in my career, a very well-intentioned woman mentor had advised me never to wear red lipstick or red nail polish in the boardroom or meetings, or the office in general, because it would signal to other people that I'm too bold. I took that advice because, of course, like most young executives, I wanted to succeed, and I didn't want anybody to judge me based on a lipstick color.

"But what I didn't realize was that taking off the lipstick—very much like taking off anything in my wardrobe that makes me feel great—dimmed me. All of a sudden, I didn't feel as vibrant. And I know that sounds probably so superficial, but we're talking about being dressed and how that makes you feel, and red lipstick made me feel confident. That little change actually really affected the way I saw myself and the way I felt, even going into meetings. So the red lipstick came back, the nail color came back, the designs came back,  all the things came back, and I was alive again."