Eleven years after the TLC show What Not To Wear aired its final episode, hosts Stacy London and Clinton Kelly’s new show will finally acknowledge what we knew all along: Everyone should feel free to Wear Whatever the F You Want.
London and Kelly are teaming up again for the first time in a decade for the Amazon Prime Video series Wear Whatever the F You Want. The first eight-episode season promises to undo all the rigid fashion “rules” they touted on the original series in favor of a more modern, inclusive model.
Let’s be honest, What Not To Wear was kind of toxic
For ten years between 2003 and 2013, “regular” women everywhere lived in fear of being blindsided by London and Kelly and the What Not To Wear crew. I’m only sort of joking!
The TLC show ran for 12 seasons, and during that time no frumpy, middle-aged nobody was ever truly safe from public scrutiny. On What Not To Wear, the participant’s friends and families secretly signed them up to have them ambushed in a public place, all so two snarky co-hosts could tell them how terrible they look. London and Kelly then pawed through the clothes the clients have accumulated for their entire adult lives and declared everything to be hideous, outdated, or unflattering … sometimes all three at once.
It didn’t matter how attached the participant was to that bomber jacket or those old Doc Martens, out they went with yesterday’s trash. These items were almost always replaced with “business casual” slacks, skinny jeans, fitted blazers, and point-toed shoes. Out with the unique personality; in with the twin sets and pearls.
In other words, get in your box and stay there, ladies!
In retrospect, the original program was not just incredibly cruel, but it forced its participants (most of whom were women) into societal norms in which we don’t all fit. London and Kelly were the original fat-shamers, and one of their most frequent criticisms was that clothing wasn’t feminine or fitted enough. “You look like a boy!” they’d crow. “I can’t even tell if you’re a woman under there!” they’d admonish.
After replacing clients’ wardrobe with boring but frightfully expensive “basics,” the participant’s hair and makeup is also given the boilerplate treatment so they look like everybody else. (You wanted the Jennifer Aniston Friends bob, correct?) Nine times out of ten, the subjects looked downright miserable at the end of the makeover, probably because the “improvements” actually removed everything about them that made them them.
A new era of self-love and acceptance
Things are different in 2024, and we’ve spent the past decade learning about body-shaming, gender non-conformity, ageism, and using body modifications and art as a form of self expression. If Kelly and London are to be believed, they have noticed the changes as well, and are determined to take individual style into consideration and not squish everyone into the same boxes.
In a joint statement, London and Kelly wrote, “The world has changed a lot since the run of What Not to Wear, and, thankfully, so have we. These days, we have zero interest in telling people what to do, based on society’s norms—because there are no more norms! However, style is still an important form of communication, and we’re excited to show new clients how to align their personal messaging with their life goals. It’s time to celebrate individual style, not prescribe it.”
Here, here! We couldn’t agree more. The press release goes on to call Wear Whatever the F You Want a “transformation show” that helps clients “live out their fashion fantasy” and “find their style truth in the journey of a lifetime.”
Both of the hosts also serve as executive producers for the series, as do Sandy Varo Jarrell, Suzanne Rauscher, Justin Rae Barnes, and Janelle Couture. Barnes will serve as showrunner. and All3Media’s Bright Spot Content and Amazon MGM Studios produce.
There is no official trailer or air date for Wear Whatever the F You Want, but we will update you as more information becomes available.
Published: Aug 27, 2024 01:26 pm