Fashion Rebels

The show I most love to hate is “What Not To Wear.” I don’t hate every episode. The ones where some college graduate asks for help to transform her wardrobe into a more professional looking one, those are informative and enjoyable. The episodes I hate are the ones where women who have their own unique, if a little weird, sense of style are shamed and harassed into looking more mainstream.

One example is an episode titled, “Jezebel Jessie,” highlights of which can be found here.

Within the first 12 seconds we hear:

“In Dallas we found Jessie abusing rhinestones and shine trying to make herself look and feel young again.”

She’s then told that she looks desperate, and they have her model her clothes while they make fun of her.

Hmmm. I guess it’s ok to abuse Jessie, but not ok to abuse rhinestones. I’m just sayin’.

At the 30 second mark:

Clinton Kelly: “This dress is driving me crazy because I feel like I’ve seen it before and I can’t for the life of me think about where it is.”

Stacy London: “Yah, it’s like Dolly Parton and Stevie Nicks had a baby and they threw this up.”

Both Clinton and Stacy look pleased with themselves for their wit. I’m cringing at their cruelty. Also, I think the dress is rather neat, if for no other reason than that it is a personal expression of Jessie’s tastes. Yes, it does make her look a bit hippy, but that could be fixed while keeping her individual style.

At the 58 second mark:

Stacy: “Sexy has nothing to do with age. But appropriateness does.”

Clinton: “The thing is, you never want to appear as though you are competing with a 25 year old because the 25 year old always wins, every single time.”

I don’t know where to begin with this one. How about here:

Why, oh why do we interpret older women in revealing, or trendy, or unusual clothes as in a competition with 25 year olds? Jessie seemed like she was dressing to please herself!

This interpretation is definitely cultural, and not necessary. Spend some time in Puerto Rico and you’ll see women of all ages dressing in revealing little outfits when they go out dancing. My husband, who is South American, tells me that he loves seeing women of all ages in revealing outfits. And why not! (Another thing that I loved about Puerto Rico was that the men also dressed and moved in sexy ways! Yum! But I guess that’s not gender appropriate here in Canada. Gosh, we might think those men were gay!)

Back to Jessie.

Does she look better at the end of the clip? I don’t think so. Her pre-Stacy and Clinton wardrobe was full of unique, irreplaceable pieces that showed personality and verve. But she was abused, mocked and bribed with a shopping spree to give up her personal sense of style. The result: a middle class matron in “discrete” (minute 2:26) clothes. She became visually replaceable with other women her age. It reminds me of that feminist horror movie, “The Stepford Wives,” where women are transformed from distinct individuals into acceptable and interchangeable domestic goddesses.

Don’t get me wrong. I thought that Jessie’s “after” outfit was perfect for those times when you want to fit in and not call attention to yourself. Stacy and Clinton do a great job giving advice on picking flattering cuts, and that’s worth something. But it is still the most flattering version of a uniform. Sometimes a uniform is just the ticket. I myself often want to know how to dress that way, and wouldn’t turn down a shopping spree with Stacy and Clinton, but only if they wouldn’t make me throw out my favorite “weird” clothes.

Given that our conception of age appropriate dressing is not necessary, do we want to live in a world where women are censured with incredibly offensive labels like “mutton dressed up as lamb” when they deviate? Do we want it to be reasonable to find Susan Sarandon’s outfit at the recent Screen Actor’s Guild awards inappropriate or stunning? Either interpretation is possible, and we do have a say on what kind of culture we live in.