Oh, excellent. Someone opened the door for me!
Last night I was watching What Not To Wear (the American version, not the British version) as I was falling asleep. What the two brigthly-smiling, heavily unpleasant, bitchy fashion advisors do is publically humiliate a woman when introducing themselves, send her to their NY studio, make her bring all her clothes to the studio so they can throw away all the clothes while making (yet more!) humiliating snide comments. The 2 advisors then give her a debit card with $5,000 so she can shop in Manhattan for a wardobe of elegant flattering clothes. Last night's victim was a woman that just finished her PhD in psychology who would be working as a psychology professor (isn't she a little young for that, I wonder?) in Canada. They sent her out to shop in nice SoHo boutiques where the average price of a pair of slacks is $300. They insisted she wear high heels to work. They told her she shouldn't wear bulky sweaters. They admired her long legs and told her she should wear short skirts. Seems to me the advisors have been inhaling the heady fumes of the fashionista for too long.{...}
Amen!
I loathe the American version of What Not To Wear.
Stacy and Clinton are snots. There's really no way of getting around
it. And they're snotty snots to boot. Well, it's more Stacy, but
Clinton never contradicts her, so he's complicit in the snottiness.
They give off a "we can do no wrong, but you obviously have, so we're
going to show you!" attitude and it's not only condescending as hell,
but is just really, really annoying. Then when its all said and done,
they pat themselves on the back as much as they possibly can. It's "we
saved her/him from themselves! Aren't we great?"
Nope.
The problem here is that I've watched the UK version more times than I
can count, and it's so
much better. The overall premise is the same. Friends and loved ones
nominate someone for a fashion overhaul. The hosts show up and announce
that said overhaulee has been nominated for a makeover, but that they
have to show up with their entire wardrobe, agree to let the girls go
through it, they will pitch what doesn't work, and show the overhaulee
what would work. Off goes the overhaulee to shop with these
guidelines in mind. So, it's essentially the same show, only the
American version has different hosts and an extra half-hour to waste.
But once you compare and contrast the two shows you quickly realize the
American version doesn't hold a candle to the UK version. Why?
The hosts. Trinny and Susannah
host the UK version. Now, I will cop to being surprised by them. The
promos I watched showed these two English chicks handing out completely
reasonable advice whilst being somewhat snarky about it. Their tag line
was (and still is) "Your best friends won't tell you what not to wear. But we're not your best friends. And we will."
I think you can probably understand that with the seriously posh
English accents they sport, this comes off sounding a bit snotty.
What's surprising, though, is while they are a bit snarky, they also
have a good deal of tact once the hard part has passed. It's tough
love, British style. They act very much like a pair of British grannies
who wonder what's become of the girl they know and love because she's
dressing in a completely unflattering fashion. They honestly want to
see the person look great, and if that takes a bit of honesty, well, so
be it. But what's different is that they temper that honesty with
kindness and understanding, boosting the overhaulee up, gently showing
them the way, once the flaws are revealed. For them, more than half the
battle is getting their subjects to like the body they've got, working
around imperfections with sensible and flattering choices in clothes.
Once they've leaped that hurdle, well, it's all downhill. Furthermore, they're always right. I have yet to see one of their subjects look ridiculous at the end of it. They always look great.
Stacy and Clinton, however, don't give you the impression that they care at all. Oh, sure they say
they do, but it doesn't come through. It's all about fashion! What is
somewhat different with the American version is that they have little
"confessionals" in the subject's hotel room after a hard day of
shopping. And invariably, they always say something like "oh, my God, I
didn't realize how horrible I looked! God, I've got to change because I
just look like shit." This always leads me to believe that the subjects
don't believe the advice they've been given, but rather are succumbing
to peer pressure. And, of course, they US version never seems to
recommend reasonably priced items. They always send these people out to
shop at the priciest places available and that five grand they hand out
doesn't go a long ways in New York. Particularly when you're replacing
an entire wardrobe.
I was watching the American version not too long ago, and I wound up
feeling really sorry for the subject when the show was over. She was a
graphic designer in her early-thirties. She worked from her home and
was fond of big sweaters and jeans that she thought were comfortable,
if not the latest and greatest from The Gap. She'd just been chosen as
one of the fifty most eligible bachleorettes in Chicago, and as such,
her family and friends thought she should look the part. This poor girl
was just mortified that her family and friends had set her up for this.
And I mean mortified. She couldn't believe people thought she'd dressed
poorly. She took care of herself. In every "before" photo they showed
of her, she was completely made up, with full hair and makeup, and
she had her nails professionally done, which as any woman can tell you
is a wonderful thing, but is also a major pain in the ass to keep up
with. When you go down the road of the manicure, you learn quickly that
it's a trip you'll be taking weekly. They just don't last longer than
that. And it's a good hour (plus travel time) out of your schedule to
keep your hands looking pretty. Because that's essentially what
manicures are about: keeping your hands looking pretty. They are not so
much the professionally coated nails everyone thinks they're about. If
weekly manicures aren't a sign that someone cares about their
appearance, I don't know what is. Well, off she goes to New York for
the consult and Stacy and Clinton were just mean. Between them and the
subject they were literally fighting over what went in the garbage can.
The next day, of course, the subject rebelled when she went shopping.
At first she tried to stick to the rules, but she couldn't find
anything in her size at the trendy boutique they'd sent her to (she was
bigger than a size zero. go figure. most of us are.) and became
seriously frustrated and said the hell with it and went and bought
things she liked. That night she felt pretty good about herself and her
choices. The next day, however, she was intercepted by Stacy and
Clinton and they berated her for her choices. "God. What is this?
It's awful! Do you really want to be suck in 1989?. That night, sure
enough, in her hotel room, completely broken-down, she decided it was
easier to drink the kool-aid than put up a fight any longer. Once she
drank the kool-aid, she was fine and was pliable for the hair and
make-up changes, and on the whole, was happy with the overall result.
When she went home and showed herself off it was apparent that she
wasn't the same person: she'd joined the fashionista cult. Resistance,
it very much seemed, was futile. She spent hours on her hair and
makeup. Her clothes, while spiffy for New York, didn't fit in at all in
Chicago and she looked somewhat ridiculous. But she was oblivious: she
was fabulous now and that's all that mattered, yet I couldn't help but
wonder how long the changes would stick once the cameras were gone.
With Trinny and Susannah, you get the feeling they've shown their
subjects a whole new side of themselves and that the changes will
stick. With Clinton and Stacy, well, the subjects have been shamed into
changing their ways and may rebel once the cameras are gone.
Ultimately, it's the difference between persuasion and coercion, and
how one is much more effective than the other. Stacy and Clinton
coerce. Trinny and Susannah persuade. I know who I'd rather have tell
me I dress like a slob. And it's not Stacy and Clinton. It's more than
likely, I'd wind up bitchslapping that snotty little brunette. UPDATE: 09/01/2004 Fausta makes a good point in the comments section
about overhaulee selection. I would have to agree with her about how
the UK version generally chooses people who are a bit stronger. Yet,
strangely enough, they all wind up coming over to the Good Side of the
Force in the end. Hmmmmm. Could it be persuasion, rather than making someone feel bad about themselves?