I am a Gay Man and I don't care about fashion!
Did I shock you? Thought so. Oh, I think fashion is great, I just don't think about it that much for myself. I want to be clean, I want it to fit and I want to cover up everything that needs to be covered on a person (which, for the most part ie everything below the neck, thanks very much. What I do not care about is being told that the boot-cut jeans I got on sale are hopelessly unfashionable and that I cannot be seen anywhere about without skinny-leg ones. Or that the lapel on my jacket is 3/4 of an inch too wide, condemning me to wander the Earth, pitied but shunned. I don't care that green is over and orange is the new black.
Which brings me to Bravo's new series "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style"
Gaia had an interesting blog Sunday on the subject, in which she states: the rest of the show was much more about emotional manipulation, both of the show's subject and of the viewers than about fashion, style or Tim Gunn.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I'll go even further: I like Tim Gunn. I don't like the show. It seems to be even more than emotional manipulation and cheap, staged "events" (how convenient is it that the make-over recipient just happened to have a camera crew with her when she received the phone call telling her she is the one being chosen!?!). Why is it that there's this weird veneer of "The Swan", perhaps one of the most repellent series ever aired? Why are they asking us to swallow the idea that there is something life-changing and important about this? Even more important is the question I want to ask all of these shows; how is the poor woman going to keep it up? Those $500 highlights? The $300 jeans? The $500 dresses? Did they ever think that perhaps most people lounge around in cheap clothing because they can't afford better? Salon recently wrote an article about the shrinking middle class on television. Even if some of these women are indeed train wrecks, would it kill them to take one of them to TJ Maxx and tell her what's flattering there?
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Tom, you wouldn't believe at the hate mail I got because of my post. Apparently, I'm a fat, frumpy, suburban bore who's trying to build my career (!) on Tim Gunn's stylish back.
I'm highly amused.
really? Geesh, some people have nothing to do! I thought you were kind!
I'm with you Tom. No idea who the Gunn bloke is, and not about to google the twerp...
Tim Gunn is actually a gent, and deserves a better show.
I couldn't agree more. Although I have become addicted to the show for the rare snippet of sound advice, I can't imagine that any of the subjects are able to keep up with the suggestions. Quick confession: I chopped my hair after watching a few episodes and seeing how quickly a hairstyle can change your entire image. (So I guess that means I like the show? Even, a teensy bit?) It is undoubtely staged and ultimately cruel to the poor victims. "We can't want you to succeed more than you do" my keister!
more like "we are desperate for ratings and tie-ins so we will wedge you into whatever the advertisers are peddling no matter how badly it plays into your real life..."
OMG, I HATE skinny-leg jeans. I actually love clothes but despise trends. Pick things that look good in general (boot-cut jeans, thanks), and eschew things that look like crap five minutes after they go "out of style." It's just a way to get us to spend money, folks. Don't confuse fashion with virtue, or even art.
As for reality shows, does anyone still think there's anything real about them? I've been a complete cynic ever since I heard about Disney and that lemming "documentary."
Post a Comment