Vanna White, on the set of Wheel of Fortune.Carol Kaelson/CBS
On June 7, Pat Sajak’s final turn as host of Wheel of Fortune will air. When Sajak announced he would be retiring last summer, fans flocked to social media to lament and vent. In the matter of hours, a group of online Wheel Watchers – a.k.a. members of the show’s 26-million viewers – had Wheel of Fortune trending on X. NBC’s succession plan to install Ryan Seacrest as host generated some debate, but what people really wanted to know was the fate of Sajak’s co-star Vanna White.
“Everyone wants Vanna to stay on the show and work forever – she’s capital ‘I’ Iconic,” says celebrity fashion stylist Brad Goreski. “She’s probably the most accessible style icon in TV history.”
White, who famously reveals the letters on the giant puzzle board of the show, is so embedded into our cultural fabric that Merriam-Webster dictionary has proclaimed her a verb (to “Vanna White” means to gesture toward something with one’s hand in a dramatic way).
Hours after Sajak’s retirement reveal, #justiceforVanna was trending on X, ahead of all three Wheel of Fortune, Sajak and Seacrest hashtags. A week later, Business Insider ran an op-ed declaring White the overlooked, natural front-runner for the hosting job. In September, White agreed to resume her letter-lighting duties with Seacrest taking the job as Wheel host. She signed a two-year contract extension with NBC.
For four decades, White has remained a constant in living rooms, her aesthetic offering an apolitical elegance that has transcended grunge, punk, athleisure, minimalism and oversized normcore.
Goreski credits White with being a big part of developing his taste for glitz – a sensibility which pilots his red-carpet choices for Hollywood clients such as Demi Moore, Kaley Cuoco and Rashida Jones. “There were no blogs or live-streaming of fashion shows when I was figuring out what I wanted to do in life when I was growing up in Port Perry,” Goreski says. “Magazines and Fashion Television helped me learn about high fashion but Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune – that was my version of a red carpet.”
White’s sparkly, lacy and sometimes vibrant work wardrobe countered the edgiest trends coming off of European runways in the 80s, 90s and 2000s. With a costume design team that included Phil Wayne (formerly of Dolly Parton’s camp), Artemis Jafari (who worked with P!nk) and Kathi Nishimoto (who celebrates her 28th year on Wheel this year), White’s on-air clothing ranged from upscale mall outfits (think pre-Zara halter dresses or satin and rhinestone midis), cocktail gowns and Dynasty-esque evening wear. The rare pant suits or odd outfit of separates occasionally appeared as well.
Goreski says this decades-long strategy, focused on curating Hollywood glamour, allowed White to have a reach that was teachable and adaptable. “She’s always been this easier gateway to style, an accessible bridge to shimmering or form-fitting, beautiful retail looks that everyday women could understand,” he says. “Seeing her as a kid made me want to dress women on TV because she was so happy,” Goreski says. “The way Vanna presents herself is as someone who looks her best at work every day. That sense of pride is rare and infectious. And for years she’s been doing it in heels!”
For Julie Armstrong, a costumer who hosts a fashion pop culture/fashion history podcast called Lasting Looks, Vanna White is the “ultimate underrated fashion icon for millennials.” Armstrong’s TikTok account, which has garnered more than 2.2 million likes, includes posts on White’s fashion evolution over the 41 seasons of Wheel of Fortune she’s appeared on.
White, a South Carolina-born model and former student at the Atlanta School of Fashion, was prompted to go for the hosting gig when actress Janet Jones (who would later marry Wayne Gretzky) implored White to audition for show creator Merv Griffin against more than 200 others. Armstrong’s clips include White’s first episode – she wore an off-the-shoulder deep lavender gown – plus footage of her fittings with American designer Bob Mackie (who calls White “the fashion goddess of the world and America’s sweetheart”). Together Mackie and White launched a Wheel of Fortune clothing collection in 2020, which was available on the Home Shopping Network.
While taking a break during a taping of Wheel of Fortune on Jan. 25, White spoke to her live audience during an impromptu question and answer period and labelled Mackie and her team of fashion designers and costumers “my secret weapons.”
“I’ve worn nearly 8,000 outfits on the show but I don’t keep any,” she revealed to a gasping crowd at Sony Pictures Studios in Burbank. “Where would I wear any of this stuff? To a New Year’s Eve party maybe,” she said. “Most of these are samples so they go back to the designer, but the majority of the jewellery and shoes are mine.”
Pol’ Atteu and Patrik Simpson with Vanna White.Courtesy of Pol’ Atteu and Patrik Simpson
Aside from Bob Mackie, White also collaborates with celebrity Beverly Hills-based fashion designer Pol’ Atteu. Previously known for dressing the late Anna Nicole Smith (she is buried in one of his creations), Betty White and Vanderpump Rules alum Scheana Shay, Atteu has his own podcast (Undressed) and stars in the Amazon Prime series Gown and Out in Beverly Hills with his partner, Patrik Simpson. “All the women I knew watched Wheel of Fortune for one reason only – to see what Vanna was going to wear. Women would see what she wore and hunt for similar things to wear to proms, weddings, birthdays and big parties. There were no reality shows. No Amazon. You didn’t have any Housewives series. For more than 20 years, they only had Vanna.”
While Atteu understood White’s influence, he was overwhelmed to discover the power she had over North American retail. When he was asked to create 10 dresses for her to wear on Wheel over two weeks, what followed was what Atteu calls “sheer and utter lunacy.”
“We struck the jackpot with ‘60027,’” he says, remembering the item number of the dress he created for White. “Vanna was in this green panné velvet with chiffon underlay with a sweetheart neck underneath and a short little skirt with a slit up in the back. It had long sleeves with a high collar and my boutique, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel and Holt Renfrew all had it up in our windows. It was the first time I sold more than one million of one dress.” When Atteu was asked to return to the show to make more dresses, he sold another dress more than a million times. “Now she’s a dear friend and we text,” he says. “She changed my life.”
Polaroids of gowns created for White by Atteu.Courtesy of Pol’ Atteu and Patrik Simpson
White’s money-making charm (it was reported in Fortune that she previously received a salary of USD$3-million for 48 days of work a year on Wheel) continues to thrive. The Wheel of Fortune x Laura Geller Beauty Limited Edition Collection – which includes Big Money Red cream lipstick, a Prize-Winning Eyes shadow palette and a Spackle Skin Perfecting Primer in Million Bucks – has been sold out since it was released last fall. And Lion Brand Yarn company seized the opportunity to work with Vanna on textile products such as “Vanna’s Glamour” and “Vanna’s Sequins” after she was booked on The Tonight Show and said she was as an avid crocheter.
In 1986, the LA Times famously coined the phrase “Vanna Mania” long before there were legions of brash TikTok fashion influencers. And arguably, White’s subtler approach and high glam philosophy has maintained an enduring Vannaissance that will overshadow even Seacrest.