Wear (and Be Entertained by) Whatever the F You Want
By Nancy Colasurdo
“Just try shit on.”
When Clinton Kelly said this on a recent episode of the brand new show he hosts with Stacy London, Wear Whatever the F You Want, I immediately began nodding my head.
First, because it was an over-simplification of what this uber talented pair excels at, and they said it with a wink and a nod, but second because it can be true.
Sure, it’s way more challenging to take risks and put combinations together without the discerning eyes of Stacy and Clinton, but as one who finds it immensely relaxing and creative to play with new combinations in my own closet, those four words hold a lot of power.
Just try shit on.
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I’ve been a professional life coach since 2002 and that training has served as a useful complement to my journalism background. Back when London and Kelly were hosting the highly successful What Not to Wear, I was an avid watcher and gaining useful tools to bring to my coaching clients – listen, enhance what’s already there, raise their awareness of their own magic, be a partner in self-actualization.
Probably my favorite WNTW episode featured Sunny, a darling natural beauty who wore fairy wings for attention. In her reveal, the hosts could only gasp at her transformation. I believe Stacy said something to the effect of, “You look so French!” Oui, oui. Chic, Hepburn-esque, confident. It was TV gold.
Why this memory? Why now?
Last week I began the first in a series of coaching group Zoom sessions. After opening with check-ins on how my clients’ journaling is going and what author Julia Cameron calls “artist dates” (i.e., exposing themselves to culture, art, creative ventures), I posed a question for discussion: One month from now, would you like something to be different about your life?
Much to my delight, the answer was immediate – how they are showing up in the world physically. This meant eating/exercising, but also how they were dressing. Yessssss.
I had already been planning to check out London and Kelly’s new show, Wear Whatever the F You Want, but this felt like a welcome directive to do so. Admittedly I was skeptical about how they could improve on the original, but I’m now three episodes in and I can clearly see where there was room for evolution.
One could look at both of these shows as purely entertainment and leave it at that, but I can’t. The observer of culture in me is titillated by Wear Whatever the F You Want. Stacy and Clinton have read the room … or, the country … and responded with keen emotional intelligence.
Look, the show isn’t about politics, per se, but if Kamala Harris was in the White House, it would read “yay, finally” and “ahhh, acceptance is trending.” Instead, there is a Grifting Goon/Felon running our country and he is trying to shut down any lifestyle or cultural celebration that isn’t about whiteness, heterosexuality, conformity.
So when client Patrick puts himself in London and Kelly’s hands to bring his punk rock god fantasy to life, it feels delicious but a tad rebellious. I am self-conscious in my entertainment picks lately, wondering why it feels so good but irreverent to honor diversity. Then I realize, duh. It’s literally what our government is trying to squash – what the ‘D’ stands for in DEI.
Meanwhile, charming Patrick undergoes what he calls “not just a style change but a life change.” And off to the party at the tattoo parlor they go. It’s exhilarating.
What the hosts are doing here is sociological. The desire-for-change stories drive the show, but it’s the approachable vibe they cultivate that makes it shine. There’s still the Stacy and Clinton sass (thank god), but with a pointedly kinder edge. Their style sense is so innate at this point you could almost forget the amount of vision and talent it takes to fill a wardrobe warehouse with clothes and accessories that are essentially a tailor-made playground for a lucky client.
The concept of the show is to fulfill a fantasy for the client out of the gate, but then evaluate it, road test it, and modify it so it will work in the client’s real life.
“The second wardrobe pull is a melding of fantasy and reality,” Kelly says.
Yes, it says, go out on a limb. Reel it in. Get crazy. Take risks.
London calls it a cha-cha, “two steps forward, one back.” Much like Patrick in episode two, you see the girly girl and the powerhouse diva in episodes one and three, respectively, start feeling their power with each new try-on.
Many years ago when I interviewed London for a Fox Business column, she gasped when I told her that trying on a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress made me feel like I was meeting myself for the first time. So heady, both to remember that moment but also to share it with London and know she got it at a soul level.
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As the news appalls and embarrasses us almost every day and we seek out diversions to alleviate our anxiety, I am all in on this show. It corresponds so beautifully with my mission to put my best self out there, but also shepherd my clients through their desire to do the same.
Sometimes I watch fashion programming on QVC and I’m moved to jump off my couch and try on new combos in my closet. Designers like Isaac Mizrahi, Dennis Basso, Nicole Miller, and (yes) London get me thinking of new ways to wear things I already own.
So go ahead. Do it.
Just try shit on.
No telling where it could take you.