What Not To Wear

We all have our guilty pleasures. One of mine is a reality television show.

I LOVE “What Not To Wear” on the TLC cable network.
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/whatnottowear/whatnottowear.html

For the uninitiated, WNTW follows the untiring work of two fashion “stylists,” Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, as they ambush nominated fashion victims, secretly videotape their fashion faux pas, expose them to an unforgiving 360 degree mirror, trash their existing wardrobes and then whisk them to New York where, after being given a set of strict fashion rules divined for their specific body and figure types, the fashion miscreants are given a VISA card with $5,000 to buy a whole new wardrobe. The makeover includes a session with a top-notch hair stylist and a professional makeup artist. All of this transformation takes place over the course of a week.

At first blush, this has the elements of a lot of reality shows – humiliation, transformation. But I LOVE this show, because it is the best coaching metaphor EVER.

360 degree mirror? Hello? What else is this torture but a version of the 360 review that is found throughout corporate America? The ambush and the “secret footage” provide the perfect compliment, giving friends and co-workers given permission to voice their honest opinions in a safe environment, while the nominee is forced to face how she (and yes, most of the nominees are women) is perceived by the rest of the world.

Those multiple views strip away every self delusional lie: “it’s not THAT short; THAT tight; THAT long; THAT loose; THAT bland; THAT bright; THAT low-cut; THAT sexy; THAT old, THAT worn; THAT torn; THAT inappropriate; THAT awful.”

Stacy and Clinton are there to reinforce – “Yes, it’s really THAT BAD.”

After this forced, public introspection, the two stylists then show the participants clothing options that better suit their body types, profession, life style and age. Sometimes this requires gently getting people to accept that their bodies have changed. Sometimes it means acknowledging that times have changed – what worked in the 1990’s no longer applies in the new millennium.

Every episode has a happy ending. The participants learn that their clothes can reveal more about who they are than the words that come out of their mouths. They reflect on why they clung so hard to their old image, and the possibilities of the new. They learn the rewards of change, and the sense of accomplishment that can come from the simple act of taking a risk.

A lot of people would be willing to trade their old image for a makeover and a free shopping trip to New York. I’d guess most of the participants on “What Not To Wear” would say their experience was worth a lot more.

New wardrobe? $5,000. New Self awareness? Priceless.