RITU KUMAR | PAYAL SINGHAL | SANGEETA BOOCHRA | ASHIMA LEENA | AHILYA | SATYA PAUL | SHAZE | AZA | RINA DHAKA | GLOBAL DESI | ZARIIN |
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Dresses | Dresses | Designer Piece | Kurtas & Kurtis | Kadda | Sarees | Jewellery | Ethnic Wear | Designer | Women's Shoes | Sportswear |
Kurtas | Western Wear | Jewellery | Salwar Suits | BangleSet | Printed Sarees | Earnings | Sarees | Dress Material | Jewellery | Sports & Shoes |
Jackets | Tops | Bangles | Tops | Pendants | EmbellishSarees | Bangles & Bracelets | Kurtas & Kurtis | DesignerSaree | Fashion Jewellery | Gold jewellery |
Tops | Ethnic Wear | Coin & Bars | Leh Cholis | Kadda | Handbags & Clut | Rings | Salwar Suits | Blouses | Bridal Set | Pumps & Pee |
Skirts | Salwar Suits | Earings | Western Wear | Acessories | Bags & Luggage | Jewellery Sets | Chunnis & Dupattas | Gowns | Jeans | Spectacle |
Jumpsuits | Sarees | Chains | Dresses | Earings | Top-Handle Bags | Sunglasses | Bottom Wear | T-Shirts & Shirts | Jeans & Jeggings | Nightwear |
Friday, July 31, 2020
यूं ही नहीं बन गईं प्रियंका चोपड़ा स्टाइल क्वीन, एक बार इतनी बड़ी गलती से लिया था सबक July 31, 2020 at 07:04PM
बर्थडे सेलिब्रेशन के बाद कियारा आडवाणी से ज्यादा हुई थी उनकी सफेद ड्रेस की चर्चा, 3.50 लाख का पर्स भी हुआ था वायरल July 30, 2020 at 11:58PM
Thursday, July 30, 2020
इस बार 'कचरे के डिब्बे’ नहीं, 'पत्ता गोभी' पर आया मलाइका अरोड़ा का दिल July 30, 2020 at 08:18PM
सारा अली खान ने सौतेली मां करीना कपूर से मिलने के लिए पहना बेहद सस्ता कुर्ता, इतने में आप भी ला सकती हैं घर July 30, 2020 at 06:04PM
Marc Jacobs On Self-Expression And Being “Perfectly Imperfect”
“It’s always been hard to tell my story because my story always changes, and it’s always about really honoring all of these impulses rather than having this strict signature [style],” Marc Jacobs tells me. “The one thing that I am consistently doing is being inconsistent. I am consistently inconsistent. So that’s like saying, ‘I am perfectly imperfect. I am perfect as I am.’”
We’re on a video call to talk about the designer’s newest chapter, a fragrance called Perfect, but our conversation quickly evolves into one about self-expression and creativity in fashion. “I think designers could be different if they encouraged more style and passion and more individuality rather than conforming,” he says. “Acknowledging and appreciating people who celebrate their individuality and who are free to express themselves and tell their stories instead of saying, ‘This is what you should aspire to,’ or ‘That is what you should aspire to, and that is the ideal.’”
With the new fragrance, Jacobs is looking to amplify the message of individualism, and redefine what “perfect” means. Fifteen years ago, the designer got a tattoo with the word on his right wrist: “I look at it every day to remind me that I am perfect as I am.” He also points to the I Ching saying “I am a perfect being, in a perfect world, where everything that happens benefits me completely,” as inspiration. “I am in a state of becoming and a state of being always, and whatever that state is, is perfect,” he says of what he takes away from the message. “It’s the way it’s meant to be, it’s the way I am meant to be. And I don’t aspire to any model of perfection because as I am, in this moment, in this world, it’s perfect.”
This mindset extends to the fragrance campaign which sees Lila Moss — a model and the daughter of Kate Moss who has appeared in Marc Jacobs campaigns in the past — alongside 42 other models and individuals who were handpicked by Jacobs through an open social media casting call. “People submitted these videos of them talking about what the word ‘perfect’ meant to them,” he says. “We then called in a bunch of people, and I got to meet them, and I found that there were certain people that I immediately related to, that I had good banter with and I appreciated what they brought. Like, they walked into the studio, and I was like, ‘You’re perfect as you are. I want you to be a part of this story.’” According to Jacobs, there was no one quality that drew him to the group selected: “What was exciting to me was that they were each very unique in their own way with the qualities they brought in.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Alek Wek (@msalekwek) on Jul 15, 2020 at 10:08pm PDT
For the styling of the campaign, which took three days, Jacobs and his team went into the fashion archives. “We pulled some clothes from past collections that we thought were colorful, and then we also picked a rack of our vintage archive, clothes that we always looked at and always go back to, like the slip dresses,” he says. Alongside stylist Katie Grand, he then let the models pick the type of looks they wanted to wear. “There was just this huge, huge wardrobe room, and it was like kids in a candy store. Everybody just gravitated towards what they wanted. Alek Wek went directly for this, like, fluid jumpsuit from the ‘70s collection we did many years ago,” he says. “[Precious Lee] wanted to wear the mesh sequin dress that Miley [Cyrus] wore to the Met [Gala in 2013]. Everybody just did their own thing, and it was great. It was just very alive with that desire to express oneself and to feel good about oneself as you are.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by PRECIOUS LEE (@preciousleexoxo) on Jul 17, 2020 at 10:51am PDT
When it came to the bottle design, Jacobs used a process not unlike one for a fashion look. “I wanted some attributes of a classic fragrance bottle, but I wanted it to be chopped up, and I wanted it to become more of an eccentric and charming representation of a classic bottle,” he says. The final design is a dome-like bottle with a crystal-cut cap featuring a collection of mismatched charms ranging from a domino piece to a bow and banana. For the latter, Jacobs also went into the archives and dug through a box of charms left over in the design room. “We just kind of got some clay and an old, classic fragrance stopper, and we put a big clump of clay, and I started shoving random things,” he says. “I was just rummaging through the box, and there was, like, a heart locket, and then the blocks with the ‘MJ.’” They were all just kind of things that may have some meaning to me, but they were really a very instinctive, in-the-moment collage of bits and pieces of things that I just had at hand that I wanted to use to make this bottle cap.” He calls the process “very organic and instinctive,” adding that “there was a lot of love and a lot of instinct and a lot of whim that went into it, and I think that’s where it gets its charm.”
It indeed feels like it has the Marc Jacobs touch; a whimsy, irreverent quality that is simultaneously a rejection of tradition and an ode to it — something that often comes up in Jacobs’ fashion work. “The idea of looking at something and wanting to change it or tweak it, it’s just in my nature. I like to actually make things, and I like to design things, and I like to re-design things, and I like re-envision things. And there’s a part of me that loves these sort of steady classics, and I like fucking with them, and I like tweaking them and playing with them. I like creating something new and bringing old things together, and mixing them up. That’s kind of the approach that I’ve worked with since forever,” he says. “It’s just always been a mishmash of different impulses and instincts, and I feel like this is the most current version of that thinking.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Marc Jacobs (@themarcjacobs) on Jul 15, 2020 at 8:01am PDT
That indeed translates to the campaign, which includes a video and a collage of portraits and vignettes showcasing the individuality of the large cast. “No one person is perfect in this — they’re all perfect. It’s not about any individual, it’s about the collective,” he says. “I feel like it expresses self-expression and creativity, and it validates this idea of style and individuality, and I think that’s something that fashion has missed for many, many years. It’s always like, ‘Oh, if you want to belong, you have to look like this, you have to be like this,’ and I just feel like this is a project where we said, ‘No.’”
Yet, again, it seems like we aren’t talking about fragrance anymore.
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Marc Jacobs Is Back With A New Brand
एक से बढ़कर एक हैं जाह्नवी कपूर के ये साड़ी लुक्स, रक्षाबंधन पर खास दिखने के लिए करें ट्राई July 30, 2020 at 02:36AM
छोटी सी डेनिम फ्रॉक पहन, प्रियंका चोपड़ा ने दिखाया अपना क्यूट साइड July 29, 2020 at 08:59PM
हाथों में मेहंदी-लाल चूड़ा और मांग में सिंदूर भरकर जब शादी के तुरंत बाद काम पर निकल गईं प्रियंका चोपड़ा July 29, 2020 at 08:40PM
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
जब होने वाली सास नीता अंबानी के कहने पर राधिका मर्चेंट ने पहनी साड़ी July 29, 2020 at 06:14PM
इस रक्षाबंधन, बॉलिवुड के इन स्टाइलिश भाई-बहनों से लें स्टाइल इंस्परेशन July 29, 2020 at 12:01AM
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
रणबीर कपूर के लिए बदला आलिया भट्ट का स्टाइल, कभी सूट तो कभी साड़ी में आ रही हैं नजर July 28, 2020 at 07:59PM
जब लाल जोड़े में कटरीना कैफ को देख बढ़ी विक्की कौशल की धड़कनें, तो शर्म से लाल हो गए थे एक्टर July 28, 2020 at 05:47PM
How NIENMORE Is Helping Women In Juárez, One Tie-Dye Dress At A Time
In the Mexican city of Juárez — located south of El Paso, Texas — violence is rampant. Nearly 1,500 homicides occurred in 2019, and over 64 occurred in the first 26 days of 2020 alone, according to NPR. According to the Seattle Times, gender-based homicide is also prevalent here, with 31 of the 1,006 victims of gender-based homicides reported by the Mexican government in 2019 occurring in the Juárez area. Many cases of gender-based homicide go unreported every year in Juárez, a city that Vice referred to as the “epicenter of femicide.” It was in that first month of the year that 26-year-old artist and activist Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre of Juárez was shot and killed while riding her bike home. Her death sparked city-wide protests against femicide and violence, ranging from rape to kidnapping, toward women. At the gatherings, protesters chanted the phrase, “ni una mas,” which translates to “not one more.”
The all-female team at NIENMORE — a saying that blends Spanish, Norwegian, and English words to say “not one more” — is also fighting for an end to violence against women in Juárez. Since 2017, the founders — artists Jane Terrazas and Lise Bjorne Linnert and Human Rights activist Veronica Corchado — have utilized garment production as a means to improve conditions for women. “The main idea was to create a safe space, better conditions in fair-trade employment, and personal and economical development for women,” Terrazas says. “We cannot eradicate violence, but we can create conditions that give women opportunities.”
According to Terrazas, the situation in Juárez, a city long plagued by drug-related violence, “has not changed in the last 25 years,” with women continuing to face violence and uncertainty. “We live in a country that is going through a period of social decomposition and corruption at all levels of government, so much so that justice and respect for our rights as women cannot be accessed,” Terrazas says. There is also the exploitation of women in the factories — that is, if they can even find jobs there to support themselves and their families. “It is a cultural problem rooted and perpetuated by many factors,” Terrazas says. “One of them is due to the construction of toxic masculinity [in the workplace, which is] sustained by the same behavior in culture and education.” She points back to the government as another factor.
The women working at NIENMORE aren’t immune to these inequalities. But, according to Terrazas, the NIENMORE studio often doubles as an escape from the violence in Juárez. “You can feel a community atmosphere, mutual support, relaxation, everything flows in harmony, slow but with a healthy spirit,” Terrazas explains. At their office and studio, the NIENMORE team — which along with Terrazas, Bjorne Linnert, and Corchado, includes 10 other Juárez-based women — merges activism, fashion, and art by producing garments “conceived to create awareness, fairness, and hope,” according to the brand’s mission statement. Their goal is to create a sustainable method of producing clothing that will grant female workers with a fair income stream, while also providing them with the skills and confidence they need to achieve “long-term financial independence.”
As for the clothing itself, NIENMORE hand makes everything from huipiles, which are cap-sleeved tunics traditional to Mexico and other Central American countries, to face masks and dresses made using plant-based dyes. All NIENMORE garments are produced using a slow fashion model, which the organization chose in an effort to “oppose the exploitation of workers in the hundreds of assembly factories located in Juárez.” According to the brand, one garment can take up to 60 hours to dye. Every worker in NIENMORE’s studio is taught each step in the production process, rather than making one person focus on the same tedious stitch or pattern for hours on end, as is done in many factories. That way, they’ll have a greater depth of knowledge into the craft as a whole.
In the last few months, NIENMORE has focused its attention more directly on helping their employees become entrepreneurs by encouraging them to train other women in their neighborhoods the crafts that they’ve learned from their time with NIENMORE. “I think the difference between the factory model and NIENMORE is that this project allows for the working women to be the owners of the means of production,” Terrazas says.
Despite the stylish hand-dyed selection, NIENMORE was never about clothes, nor do the founders want it to be considered a fashion brand. “The main objective is to foster personal and economic empowerment in a group of women who live in vulnerable conditions,” Terrazas says. And while gender-based violence in Juarez will likely continue until something is done by those in power, NIENMORE will continue to do its part in offering women opportunities and a safe space.
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How Women In Mexico Are Striking Against Femicide
करीना कपूर की सिंपल सी दिखती इस ड्रेस को लेने की चाहत, बिगाड़ सकती है आपका बजट July 27, 2020 at 09:14PM
पति अभिषेक के लिए पहले 'करवा चौथ' पर कुछ ऐसे तैयार हुई थीं ऐश्वर्या राय बच्चन, देखने वालों की लग गई थी भीड़ July 27, 2020 at 08:00PM
Monday, July 27, 2020
साउथ के बड़े स्टार नितिन ने की शाही अंदाज में शादी, लाल शेरवानी और कांजीवरम साड़ी में ऐसे लग रहे थे दूल्हा-दुल्हन July 27, 2020 at 06:31PM
जब 'बॉयफ्रेंड' की मां को इंप्रेस करने के लिए तारा सुतरिया ने पहनी उसके पसंद की साड़ी July 27, 2020 at 05:50PM
Birkenstock Just Launched A New Style — & No, It’s Not A Clog
Four months after releasing a fashion-forward line of sandals in collaboration with NY-based label Proenza Schouler, German footwear brand Birkenstock is back with another new launch. On Monday, the brand most known for its Boston clogs and Arizona sandals introduced the Birkenstock Bend sneaker, its latest foray into the sneaker market.
The Bend sneaker comes in two styles, high and low-top, and a number of colorways, including black, silver, and a shade of mustard yellow that we can’t wait to wear once summer (and its accompanying high temperatures) turns to fall. In addition to a new outer look, the Bend sneakers also include a polyurethane and cork midsole that aids in shock absorption, as well as a flexible leather lining that forms to your foot shape for maximum comfort.
Birkenstocks are continuing to be a summer mainstay. In addition to its recent Proenza Schouler collab, which saw a new wave of interest from consumers, the brand has also partnered with Rick Owens, Opening Ceremony, and Valentino in the past few years. Kanye West sported a pair on the cover GQ just this May, while models Gigi Hadid to Kendall Jenner have taken to wearing them in between Fashion Week shows. Combined with the fact that the comfort and functionality of Birkenstocks make them an ideal fit for quarantine, and you can see why these sandals have (yet again) become one of summer’s most popular shoes. Now, with the new Bend sneaker, the brand can take you into the fall season, too.
Shop both the high- and low-top versions of Birkenstock’s new Bend sneakers starting today on Birkenstock.com.
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Bye Birkenstocks: Meet The New "Ugly" Sandal
पहले तो मलाइका अरोड़ा ने पहनी हद से ज्यादा बोल्ड ड्रेस, फिर एक्स सासू मां के गाने पर थिरकाए कदम, देखें VIDEO July 26, 2020 at 11:53PM
बेहद खास थी समांथा अक्किनेनी की सगाई की साड़ी, सुनहरे धागों से यूं उकेरी गई थी पूरी लव स्टोरी July 26, 2020 at 11:52PM
Sunday, July 26, 2020
जब ट्रोल्स के साथ मिलकर कियारा आडवाणी ने अपने ही कपड़ों का उड़ाया मजाक July 26, 2020 at 08:25PM
जैसी ननद वैसी भाभी! जब लॉकडाउन में करीना कपूर को पहनने पड़ गए सोहा अली खान के कपड़े July 26, 2020 at 07:25PM
जब दिशा पाटनी से टाइगर की बहन कृष्णा श्रॉफ ने मांग ली उनकी सबसे फेवरेट ड्रेस July 26, 2020 at 05:52PM
Saturday, July 25, 2020
दिशा पाटनी ने इंस्टाग्राम पर शेयर की दिलकश तस्वीरें, बोल्ड नेकलाइन ड्रेस में आईं नजर July 24, 2020 at 11:00PM
फ्रेंच डिजाइनर के कपड़े और इटैलियन लेदर की सैंडल, जानें प्रियंका चोपड़ा ने इस लुक पर कितना किया खर्च July 24, 2020 at 10:00PM
रणवीर सिंह ने जब फोटोशूट के लिए उतार दिए थे पूरे कपड़े, सोशल मीडिया पर तस्वीर आते ही हुआ था यह हाल July 24, 2020 at 08:33PM
Friday, July 24, 2020
VIDEO: हिना खान ने बताया था कैसे टीवी ऐक्टर्स को 'नीचा' दिखाते हैं बड़े डिजाइनर्स, 'वे हमें कपड़े देने से मना कर देते हैं' July 24, 2020 at 06:03PM
The CFDA Is Launching A Digital Platform In Preparation For NYFW
Last week, a fashion week deck from IMG, the management company that oversees NYFW: The Shows, revealed its plans for September’s shows, including new health and safety precautions for attendees and employees and livestream capabilities. Now, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is releasing some plans of their own.
On Friday, the CFDA unveiled a new platform called RUNWAY360, which was developed by NY-based design studio DE-YAN to offer American fashion designers a “one-stop-shop” option for showcasing their collections as the pandemic continues to sweep the globe.
“This transformational time in fashion requires innovative business tools,” Steven Kolb, President and CEO of the CFDA, said in a press release. The portal is set to launch in line with September’s shortened show schedule — NYFW will take place from September 14 to September 16, pending an additional day on September 17 — but will be available for designers, retailers, and press to use throughout the year to help with market week (for which the CFDA has partnered with a wholesale e-commerce platform NuOrder), as well as virtual press appointments. NuOrder’s partnership will also include services designed to support “rising talents and designers of color,” according to the press release.
“RUNWAY360 is more than a response to social distancing and restricted travel,” Kolb explained. “The digital platform will help designers faced with short-term needs caused by COVID-19 and support future market weeks including live fashion shows.” Of the portal’s many capabilities are AR/VR, e-commerce shopping features, 360-degree views of collections, and live streaming. It will also allow for easy social media integration and make press kits easier to share and more interactive.
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Looking Back On What Not To Wear, The Show That Taught Us How To Get Dressed & So Much More
If you, like us, have spent the last ten or so years devouring reality television like it’s your job — or even if you identify as more of a casual, catch-it-while-channel-surfing kind of viewer — there’s a good chance you have a piece of fashion advice from What Not To Wear embedded somewhere in your brain. Whether you still find yourself abiding by it a full seven years after the show went off the air or chose to ignore it all along is another matter, of course, but the fact is, few makeover shows have managed to permeate the cultural consciousness like WNTW did. For millennials who associate the show with their own first attempts to define their style, as well as for older watchers drawn to this new brand of television that reflected their own lifestyles, concerns, and insecurities, it remains an undeniable touchstone. In the annals of reality television, it can also be credited with helping spawn a potent genre of tough-love, feel-good, self-improvement-focused programming that today includes the likes of Queer Eye and Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. Looking back at WNTW is an exercise not just in TV history or sartorial nostalgia (low-rise jeans abound!), but in tracing how those of us who were raised on it have come to understand the importance of well-cultivated personal style, self-actualization, and deciding how much we want to care about the way the world perceives us.
An American spinoff of a British show of the same name, WNTW was co-produced by TLC and BBC, and was helmed, for all but the first season, by stylists Stacy London and Clinton Kelly (London co-hosted the first season alongside Wayne Scot Lucas). The format is deceptively simple: contributors (that’s WNTW-speak for makeover subjects) are secretly nominated by friends or family members, ambushed by the show’s production crew, and offered a $5,000 shopping spree and a free trip to New York City — if they agree to let Kelly and London pick apart their entire wardrobes on national television, of course. Shopping, hair and makeup, and a turn in a harrowing 360-degree mirrored room ensue. And, though it may sound cliche, somewhere along the way, most contributors admit that, even if they lost a lot of their clothes, along the way, they found themselves.
Megan Slankard, who was featured on WNTW’s second season in 2004, says that the show helped her build real confidence, and that, in between takes, producers took her to do things like eat cupcakes and look at Les Paul guitars. A young musician who has since released three studio albums, the premise of Slankard’s episode was that her ultra-casual style — she wore rainbow toe socks and cartoon character T-shirts on stage — was holding her back from being taken seriously by the recording industry. “I never really felt comfortable in my clothes,” she explains. “I always hated shopping. I had scoliosis, and I had to wear a back brace in high school. I was so humiliated; I didn’t wear clothes that fit me. And then when I got out of that, I wore clothes that still didn’t fit me.” Ultimately, Slankard says of the show: “It felt like, ‘We’re not just taking you to go change who you are, we’re taking you to go see who you are, and along the way, we’re going to have some fun.’”
As with other shows of its era, not everything that happened on WNTW would pass muster in today’s cultural climate. While the show did feature a range of body types, there tended to be a lot of talk about finding clothes that are “flattering.” There was also often a desire to feminize women contributors with more traditionally masculine aesthetic sensibilities, cover up women who showed a lot of skin, and instruct older women to dress more “age-appropriately.” Part of the point of the show was to push people, stylistically, in a new direction, thereby unlocking some aspect of themselves they hadn’t previously been in touch with. In doing that, though, it implied that there was something wrong with the way the person was before. And that implication could be damaging not just to the contributors, but to those watching at home. It’s hard to know how WNTW would look today. In early 2019, TLC announced plans to reboot the show this year, but a representative for the network recently told Refinery29 that she didn’t have “any information to share” on whether or not it’s still in the works post-coronavirus.
The line between cruel and constructive critique — particularly when speaking about any aspect of someone’s self-presentation — is crucial to navigate appropriately, and that goes double when the critique is being recorded and monetized. According to those who experienced it first-hand, WNTW really worked to stay on the right side of that equation, which is no small feat, especially when you consider what the day’s counterprogramming was: The Swan, a grisly, plastic surgery-obsessed makeover gauntlet, ran for two seasons in 2004. Bridalplasty (2010 – 2011) centered on brides-to-be, while 10 Years Younger (2004 – 2011) saw contestants standing in a glass box while strangers tried to guess their age. Other reality shows, many of which still exist today, arguably exploit subjects’ mental health conditions and medical problems.
“We had people who confided in us, who trusted us. And I think we took that responsibility really seriously,” London tells us. “The most incredible thing about ‘makeovers’ — or whatever you want to call them — is the transformation process. Because transformation is hope.”
Slankard attributes WNTW’s tone to the personalities and values of Kelly, London, and others on set, like associate producer Cecily Tyler. “There was something so nurturing about it — I know that’s a weird thing to say about reality TV, and I don’t have to say that, I could say whatever I want at this point. But I have genuine love for them,” she says. “There was something special about it. And I did not feel like they were there to make a mockery out of me, which is what I feel like usual reality TV is.”
Sunny Subramanian, a season six contributor who now runs the website Vegan Beauty Review, recalls her experience similarly, revealing she was even allowed to keep a few of the items Kelly and London ostensibly made her toss: “There’s a lot of that tough love, but when the cameras aren’t rolling, they definitely were really sweet because they know it’s a big deal — there’s so much attachment through those clothes. We have memories associated. It’s almost like how certain songs bring back memories.”
It seems hard to overstate the enormous impact the show had on the aesthetics of those who participated in it. Even London, a former fashion editor for the likes of Vogue and Mademoiselle, says it made her think differently about her own sense of style. “My style evolved so much. I was a stylist, used to being behind the camera. If you look at the first few seasons, I don’t know what the hell I’m wearing,” she laughs. “It took me a good couple of seasons to apply those rules to myself, as well.” But the truly remarkable thing is how much those style lessons still resonate, all these years later, with the people who watched it at home.
The mid-to-late aughts were a weird time to develop a sense of style. Low-rise jeans, chunky highlights, and ruffled minis are trends that have aged less like fine wine and more like that questionable takeout that’s been hanging out in your fridge for four days. It was, paradoxically, a fashion-conscious time that wasn’t necessarily fashionable. The 2000s saw average Americans become increasingly aware of fashion with a capital F — the era marked the birth of street style and fashion blogging, the invention of the high-profile celebrity stylist, and the zenith of the “It bag.” Thanks to the rapid popularization of the internet, it was the first time when anyone other than glossy magazine editors and the designers who catered to them had a platform to say anything about fashion. And yet, even those who were ostensibly dressing “well” at the time look back on many ensembles (and the dark orange spray tans that underpinned many of them) and physically cringe. Inevitably, then, some of the pieces and looks touted as aspirational on the show — pointy-toed flats, boot-cut jeans, hobo bags, etc. — feel laughably dated from a 2020 vantage point. On the flip side, there are certain contributors whose original looks would likely have been more palatable by today’s style standards. One can’t help but notice, for example, that Slankard’s jeans-and-a-tee performance looks, so maligned on the show, aren’t all that different from what many of today’s young female musicians, from Maggie Rogers to Halsey to Billie Eilish, sometimes wear on stage.
And yet, somehow, many of the educational underpinnings of the show remain surprisingly timeless, even if the concept of having a set of “fashion rules” does not. The fact is, pointed shoes really do make your legs look longer, pieces that cinch at the waist will create curves, and professional tailoring really is worth it if you want your clothes to fit perfectly. Of course, these style tricks only matter if these sartorial features are things you aspire to have. And maybe you don’t — but many other people do. London says that it’s these kinds of readily applicable lessons about which people still approach her to discuss. (Yes, she still gets recognized all the time — largely thanks to her hair’s signature gray streak, she says, but also from just the sound of her voice.)
While it’s true that the concept of dos and don’ts now feels pretty dated, the reason why WNTW still feels relevant is that its underlying ethos was about more than just a set of style rules.
“I think we were the first to really depict the emotional relationship between us and our clothing,” notes London. “Between the way we feel about ourselves, and the way we dress ourselves; between how what you wear and controlling the narrative of your own visage is tantamount to how you’re doing in your life. Are you getting what you want? These are questions that nobody was really posing.”
“There’s this really strong sense [in the show] of, if you can dress better, you will be more of a success: this will be better for your personal life, it will be much better for your professional life,” agrees Dr. Misha Kavka, a professor of film, television, and media studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and the author of two books on reality television. “That sense of democratizing success, the idea of, most of you out there can’t afford or wouldn’t even know where to turn for a stylist — it basically closes the gap. It brings the stylist and the knowledge of a stylist into normal lives.”
Pablo Picasso once said, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist,” and perhaps that concept is part of the reason fans of WNTW responded so strongly to London and Kelly’s assertions about what looks good in a technical sense (which, it’s worth noting, were based on similar decrees set out by the hosts of the show’s original British iteration). Fashion isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone, but personal style usually is to some degree, and if there’s a way to marry those two things, well, isn’t that we all strive for when staring into our closets every morning? Indeed, were the show to make a comeback in the near future, Dr. Kavka says this would be the biggest thing it would need to place more emphasis on: “They can keep some of the language and the rules, but they’re going to much more obviously adapt those rules for everyone’s own situation, because we’re now in the era of everyone’s own truth.” London, meanwhile, says a rebooted version could benefit from spending more time in contestant’s homes and closets, getting a stronger sense of their day-to-day realities.
While Slankard says most of the clothes she got from WNTW weren’t exactly her — save for a pair of knee-high Anna Sui boots she still owns and loves — the experience started her on a journey of figuring out what her personal style looks like, both on and off stage. “I had the tools to figure it out,” she says. “I felt like, okay, I understand this now. Clothes aren’t just something you put on your body to hide your nakedness. Clothes are an expression of you, and you look good in something when you feel good in something.”
Subramanian, meanwhile, was wearing fairy wings, glittery makeup, and lots of thrifted polyester when she was on the show. In the years since, she’s reintroduced some of the sparkly eyeshadow, but has outgrown the wings and the flammable fabrics. “Some of it, you can’t bury, when it’s just who you are to the core. You make little changes here and there, but your baseline is always gonna be your baseline. But I definitely have refined and homed in on my style. I still like to play around and be flirty and fun, but I keep it less obnoxious,” she says. She also laughs when she recalls how, at a reunion party in Vegas years later, London showed up with her own eyelids shellacked in gold glitter.
Like all successful makeover shows, though, there was something deeper at play on WNTW than pure aesthetics. According to Martin Hardy, a casting director on the show’s final two seasons, the show intentionally cast women from different walks of life so that, no matter who you were, you would see yourself reflected in the WNTW canon. (That being said, the show certainly should have been more racially diverse and size-inclusive.) “It was about making sure we were having diversity across the season, and hitting these buckets that would be relatable to the audience, so they could see themselves and see fun, accessible ways to dress for their body type and their confidence,” explains Hardy, who is now the co-president of Paired Up Media, a casting service.
The core appeal of reality TV generally, and makeover shows especially, is witnessing someone else’s evolution, and contemplating the potential for our own. By learning about other people’s problems, seeing their shortcomings, understanding their ambitions, and watching them grow in a way that’s, well, real, we can think about our own potential journeys. It’s a positive kind of voyeurism that allows us to believe that maybe we, too, can improve our circumstances, should we so choose. And should we decide that, screw it, we don’t much care whether people think the way we dress is weird or old-fashioned, hey, that’s a part of the journey also.
The greatest legacy of What Not to Wear, then, isn’t the fashion tips, the mirrored dressing room, or London and Kelly’s surprisingly tender relationships with contributors. It’s that it helped teach us how to see ourselves more clearly, both as we are and as we wish to be. Through the experiences of the brave people on screen, we were able to try on imaginary identities from the comfort of our own couches. It helped us understand fashion as a language, with rules that are meant to be broken or ignored, or perhaps even remembered for years to come.
In its early days, reality TV was an easily mocked amusement that “serious” people talked about in hushed tones. Today, it’s an Emmy-awarded genre in its own right, and perhaps the most important and relevant form of entertainment in a world where we document and distribute every moment of our lives in high definition. But now, against the backdrop of anxiety-inducing headlines and societal upheaval, the previously low-stakes genre provides welcome relief (See: Hyori’s Bed & Breakfast ), cultural commentary (see: Survivor) and an examination into how the country got here (see: Vanderpump Rules). In 2020, there’s truly no escape from reality, whether it is playing out on our screens or outside our door.
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