Clinton Kelly and Stacy London are again collectively, and if that assertion doesn’t excite you, it could possibly solely be as a result of you might have by no means seen “What Not to Wear,” the collection they co-hosted from 2003 to 2013 on TLC. (There isn’t any different doable rationalization.)
Premiering simply six months earlier than “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” as “Queer Eye” was recognized then, it revamped its ill-dressed “contributors” with the kind of delicate brutality one associates with the nice Zen masters, a course of from which they emerged stylishly clad and spiritually free. Garments made the lady (and every now and then a person), however the level was that everybody’s already stunning, if solely we all know how one can present it. (I doubt we watched all 345 episodes on this home, however a pair hundred, fairly probably; I made it a degree to interview the hosts in 2010, in the beginning of their eighth season, as a result of I needed to.)
London and Kelly’s new collection, “Wear Whatever the F You Want,” premiering Tuesday on Prime Video, is a distinct kind of journey to an analogous finish. “We finally get to do it right this time,” says Kelly, that means that they’re in “the business not of judging so much,” however of letting the visitor cleared the path.
Within the former collection, contributors — typically joyful, or at the very least not sad, with how they dressed however unable to see themselves as others noticed them — have been elected by mates and households to obtain a makeover; it was a kind of an intervention. The “What Not To Wear” system concerned secret footage, ambushes, a “360 degree mirror” wherein the topic was required to clarify her previous wardrobe, quickly to be discarded endlessly. Feelings may run excessive; there was resistance; there have been arguments. There have been “rules.”
Right here, the contributors have put themselves ahead, or have been recruited by no matter means exhibits like this are populated. They’re actively looking for change; they know what they need however don’t know how one can get it.
Stacy London and Clinton Kelly with a makeover visitor on “Wear Whatever the F You Want.”
(Prime Video)
For the file:
4:50 p.m. April 28, 2025An earlier model of this evaluation mentioned the participant named Alan is transitioning male to feminine. The participant is transitioning feminine to male.
Every has a fantasy ideally suited. (“Age appropriate” isn’t a phrase you’ll hear right here, however “comfort zone,” as in leaving it, comes up repeatedly.) We meet Selena, a goth “content creator” with inexperienced streaks in her hair, a razor blade earring and a spiked choker, who wish to look extra approachable, like Alicia Silverstone in “Clueless.” Naomi, an Amish runaway turned unique dancer turned mother, has returned to dressing in sacks and bonnets since gaining some weight after being pregnant (extra a case of dysmorphia, one would say, than an goal evaluation) and is aiming for “country glitz and glam,” à la Dolly Parton. Alan, transitioning feminine to male, needs one thing “ambiguous” to precise components of each genders. Patrick, a long-haired “brewery dad” in overalls, a Inexperienced Day T-shirt and Crocs, hopes to unleash his internal “punk rock god.” Most cancers survivor Freedom seems to be a “powerhouse diva.” And so forth, over eight, otherwise flavored, entertaining episodes.
London and Kelly have been briefed prematurely — there are dossiers — in order that when the topic arrives on the “Wardrobe Warehouse,” a room stuffed with promising togs and equipment awaits them. The thought is to work collectively, with the visitor main the way in which: “We can be supportive, we can be cheerleaders, we can be guardrails so you don’t go off the cliff but get what you want,” says Kelly, until it was London; they’re a kind of two-headed creature. The hosts specific opinions — they may clarify what doesn’t work solely after the shopper expresses their very own doubts — and can present their delight after they love an outfit (“Awesome!” “Adorable.”), however don’t argue. (“If you’re not feeling it, that’s a no for us.”)
The place “What Not to Wear” was a five-day course of, “Wear Whatever the F” has been streamlined and compacted into an eventful, environment friendly 48 hours, together with a gap dialog; a go-wild “style session”; a phase wherein they’re despatched out to “pressure test” a fantasy outfit in a social setting; and a second fashion session wherein a extra refined, however nonetheless expressive, hopefully sustainable look is created. In the middle of all this, we get an excellent image of every shopper, their household background, formative traumas, hopes and desires. Midway by every episode, a buddy visits to provide the stylists extra perspective. Hair and make-up full the image. As in “What Not To Wear,” the episode ends with the reworked topic returning house, to the amazement of their family members. It’s a joyous second.
Whereas the makeovers are participating, transferring and enjoyable — who doesn’t love a Cinderella story? — the primary draw of the collection are the fairy godparents. Fortunately collectively once more after a dozen years, London and Kelly are the shadow topics of the present, like detectives in a procedural. Every episode begins with them strolling arm in arm on a New York avenue, speaking about this or that — what sort of canine they’d be, their first huge style buy, what they might eat if they might solely select one factor endlessly, how London is so chilly she will be able to’t really feel her face.
“They’re like our reality TV parents,” says “visionary artist” Akemi, who wish to look as psychedelic as her work, says to visiting buddy, Taj, they usually do certainly look upon the youthful topics with a form of parental fondness. On the “pressure test” occasions, they lurk close by, observing, however generally taking part — Kelly will pole and line dance; London will get a tattoo. Of their mid-fifties now, they may have just a few issues to say about children today, their slang and such; they snort at Burning Man, to which they’ve by no means been and can by no means go. (“I don’t like dust,” says London. “I don’t like porta-potties,” says Kelly.)
They’re both having an excellent time — with a lot laughter and banter, and maybe a tear or two when a butterfly emerges from the cocoon — or else they’re wonderful actors. I select to consider the previous.
