Dorinda Medley is looking a little different these days.
Following her much-discussed exit from “The Real Housewives of New York” after six seasons last summer, and amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bravo star retreated to her famed Blue Stone Manor in the Berkshires.
There, she slimmed down and swapped her sequined dresses for something a little more comfortable.
“My style in the Berkshires is a little more boho-chic,” Medley, 56, told Page Six Style. “I love a good clog. I have a very good, solid clog collection up there.”
The star told us she feels “like a new person” after losing 15 pounds, an accomplishment she credited to her Nutrisystem partnership, pilates and her beloved Dorobics — which, yes, “is a real workout.”
And when she went back through her wardrobe in NYC recently, she found that her old clothes didn’t fit — but not in the way she expected.
“I was cleaning out my closet — and of course [my daughter] Hannah was there to receive anything that was going to come out of it — and it’s not even that the stuff doesn’t fit anymore,” she explained. “All of these dresses and stuff that looked great back then … they just don’t look right anymore.”
Continued Medley, “I think it’s very important as a woman to feel comfortable in your clothes, because if you feel comfortable and confident in your clothes, it shows. And we all know that person that’s wearing something and you’re like, ‘Wait a second, that dress is wearing you.’ We’ve all seen it.”
She certainly exudes confidence in her headline-making swimsuit snaps on Instagram. In March, she took self-love to the next level by posing in a one-piece printed with photos of her own face, and in April, she showed off her svelte physique in a coral Melissa Odabash one-piece that landed her on one website’s list of 2021’s best beach bodies.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, you’ve got to be kidding me. That’s a stretch, but that’s OK,’” Medley recalled of the honor.
While the reluctant bathing beauty wears bikinis on occasion, she mainly “loves a good one-piece” for summer, and prefers to keep things simple and classic with her beauty look as well.
“I remember when I first started on ‘The Real Housewives,’ one of my makeup artists was like, ‘Let’s put in extensions, let’s do this,’ and I’ve tried it but … I kind of have my hairstyle and people know me for it,” she said, adding, “I’m very Lisa Rinna in that way.”
When it comes to makeup, Medley swears by a few tried-and-true standbys to “make it nice,” including Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Longwear Foundation ($44), Patrick Ta Major Glow Dewy Milk Mist ($38) and a Tom Ford Eye Quad Eyeshadow Palette ($88).
“I’m consistent with the colors,” she said of her go-to glam, listing bronze and mauve shades as some of her favorites. “Even when I was on the show, I don’t vary that much.”
Her skincare regimen is similarly streamlined, relying more on hydration and sleep than on pricey products.
“We make things so complicated [with skincare], but it’s just keeping it simple,” she said. “I gave myself facials for the whole pandemic.”
Beyond DIY spa days, her time in the Berkshires has allowed her to write a memoir, called — what else? — “Make It Nice.” She even recently joined TikTok, where she shares everything from makeup mini tutorials to peeks inside her covetable closet.
And while many things in Medley’s life may have changed, her approach to blocking out haters remains the same.
“You know, someone said after the ‘Housewives,’ ‘Does it bother you that people would write mean comments?’” she recalled.
“I’m like, ‘Listen, not everyone liked me before, and not everyone’s gonna like me after.’ You just do your best, hope for an overall good response and wish them well.”
