The trouble with the haircuts is that they’re as insistent with “IT MUST BE SHORT” as the girls are to save their hair. And the cuts they do are almost all the same Business Woman 101 haircut. I think that’s why so many of them are so reluctant. They might be businesslike and professional, but they’re not very feminine a lot of the time.
Well honestly my wife floats my boat if she were wearing a burlap sack, So i guess the answer is yes
I don’t know- I’ve seen plenty of women walk away with longer, layered, pretty hair. Very few people look good with hair halfway down their back. But. . .
That said, I think Nick was 100% to blame for the awful hair styles on all of the girls in previous seasons. I don’t get the praise for him at all- everything looked the same on everybody. Just like Carmindy’s makeup- somehow that woman puts black eyeshadow on someone and it still comes out beige.
I never got Nick’s hate for long hair, and I totally agree that Carmindy (which I always want to put a ! on the end of) does the same makeup on everyone.
A classic example would be Helium Girl. What you want to say to Helium Girl, in terms of makeup, is “Here, have some SPF 15 tinted moisturizer, a blush that you can also sweep across your eyelids, a little mascara, and some tinted lip balm.” That’s a makeup routine that Helium Girl could manage, and there’s nothing wrong with it. The point is to make people look better than they currently look, not to make them glamazons (speaking as a bit of a glamazon).
That said, I don’t think they push dresses and blazers hard enough. A dress is the single simplest way to get dressed in the morning. It doesn’t have to be “dressy”, it’s all about how you accessorize it. I live in dresses all summer long, and in winter, a sweater dress and warm tights are way easier to wear your weatherproof boots in than dress pants. And nothing makes you look more pulled together than a great jacket. Wear it with pants, wear it with jeans, wear it over a dress, and it makes an outfit.
I agree that I think they are pretty good with letting individuals be individuals. My peeve is that they always let the person shop alone the first day, then help them the second day - I guess it makes better television, but have a heart, guys - if they could do it on their own, they would have by now. Telling someone to go look for a brown blazer isn’t anywhere near enough help.
I think I recall the woman who wouldn’t cut her hair, and she pissed me off - you VOLUNTEERED for this show. Suck it up, buttercup. The older Texas woman with the Tammy Faye do was annoying, too - she let them cut it, and wanted her Tammy Faye do back. I guess there’s a reason that people walk around 30 years out of style and think they look good.
I’ve seen some harsh criticism of this show for being shallow, but the transformation almost all of the make-overs go through is a little amazing. It’s long been a psychological fact that when you look better, you feel better. The women (and occasional guy) who come through the other end and look really good are almost universally crying with happiness at the end of it.
The thing that slays me about Carmindy is that ninety percent of the time, she’s wearing something that resembles a swimsuit cover-up. Those aren’t clothes, woman!
WAG: If he actually said what he felt, probably something like, “I accept what you’re doing but damn, you could look hot if you change everything about your appearance and I’d really like it if you tried at least some of those changes,” she’d get really offended and it’d cause major issues. It’s like the Nuclear Option version of “how do I look in this?”
Side note: Carmindy’s “5-Minute Face” book is pretty awesome. It’s maybe closer to 10 minutes if you want to be real about it, but she offers great advice for all ages and skin tones, and shows a variety of customization for different looks.
I wonder if that has something to do with timing. For me, dresses are theoretically simple. But in practice, they’re really hard to fit right and dresses that aren’t what WNTW calls “I give up” dresses require tailoring. Same with even semi-fitted blazers. If the makeover people have fit issues, there’s only so many times that you can say “well, this will look ok after we’ve completely reworked the entire thing” before you begin to lose credibility. In earlier seasons, they used to pin people into their clothing for the next-to-final reveal, and it looked awful.
You’re right, Nick was the one that was so insistent upon really short (though I agree it wasn’t ALWAYS that way, it just seemed it was pretty often). I certainly agree with styling hair, but it doesn’t all need to be chin length and that seemed to be his niche. I do like the black guy, is Ron his name? I haven’t watched any of the new season yet. I’m looking forward to helium girl, I have her TiVoed I think. 
Anyway, I think he’s nicer and more willing to compromise on what he thinks the girl should have with what she wants and thinks looks good on here. But like a few other posters have mentioned, I could be empathizing because I don’t look good AT ALL with short hair and I’ve definitely seen more than a few on that show that also didn’t look pretty with hair as short as Nick insisted upon cutting it.
You’re right, Nick was the one that was so insistent upon really short (though I agree it wasn’t ALWAYS that way, it just seemed it was pretty often). I certainly agree with styling hair, but it doesn’t all need to be chin length and that seemed to be his niche. I do like the black guy, is Ron his name? I haven’t watched any of the new season yet. I’m looking forward to helium girl, I have her TiVoed I think.
Anyway, I think he’s nicer and more willing to compromise on what he thinks the girl should have with what she wants and thinks looks good on here. But like a few other posters have mentioned, I could be empathizing because I don’t look good AT ALL with short hair and I’ve definitely seen more than a few on that show that also didn’t look pretty with hair as short as Nick insisted upon cutting it.
You’re right about Carmondy too, though she’s such a sweetie I’d miss her if she were gone.
CanvasShoes, the black guy is Ted Gibson. He also appeared in a few eps of Real Housewives of DC on Bravo.
Thanks and shoot, I have no idea how I ended up double posting, sorry all! I’m not usually THAT mouse-clumsy.
(oh and CarmIndy, for some reason I thought she spelled it with an O).
Did you see it last night? One of the most amazing transformations I’ve seen, at least as far as hair and makeup go. She started out wearing pajamas, so clothes-wise, she had nowhere to go but up.
What was the thing Stacy shared about her skin splitting open? My husband was inconsiderately hacking up a lung right then and I missed it. It sure was weird about this girl being so hung up on scars that didn’t even show.
That’s something I like about the show - it can really give you some insight into other people’s neuroses. You see gorgeous women on the show all the time who think they’re ugly, and people with one less than perfect body part (which still isn’t too bad) who focus ONLY on it, and ignore the rest of their healthy body.
I have so many issues with WNTW, yet I compulsively watch the damn show like a train wreck. Some of the advice is very good and I have used a lot of their rules when shopping. However, my list of grievances:
The shopping is always in New York. I have two issues with this.
A. Styles differ regionally. What is new and hip and trendy in NY right now will not hit my tertiary market for at least 5 years. I would stand out as being overdressed and uppity if I shopped from a primary market that’s on the cutting (bleeding) edge of fashion. The pieces I’d select from the NY shopping trip would then look really stupid when contrasted and possibly paired with the less-hip items I’d be able to find in my lame tertiary market as I tried to supplement my wardrobe later on. $5K sounds like a lot, but when you pay $300 for a blazer or a pair of shoes, that WNTW money dwindles quickly. I’m gonna need a lot more stuff once I get back.
B. The fabric weights found in NY would not be appropriate for my Florida climate. That’s why I’d prefer shopping in Florida, or at least in the South, where clothing tends to be lightweight and summery clothes are more available year round. I can buy shorts or flip-flops 365 days in the year. Imagine if they sent me up there in September, when it’s still 90 and blazing outside here, but all I could find in the NY stores were winter coats, boots, and heavy sweaters? I challenge Clinton and Stacy to conduct the shopping trips in people’s own hometowns. Sometimes my fashion choices might not be the most flattering or attractive, but it’s what I could find that fit, without having to drive five hours to Atlanta to shop in a “real” city (with real city prices, I might add). They snort with derision about how people don’t know how to shop, but they have obviously never tried to find a well-tailored blazer in, oh, I dunno… Shelby, Ohio. If your shopping options are Walmart and Target, you are going to be limited in how trendy and cool your clothes will look. If Clinton and Stacy are so awesome at dressing people, then do it out of Walmart in Podunk, Tennessee. *Then *I’ll think they know some magic fashion tricks.
Their disdain for discount stores and bargain-hunting is suspicious to me. What’s wrong with the clearance rack? What’s wrong with Marshall’s or TJ Maxx? Yes, you have to look harder to find quality and good fit, but you pay approximately 300% less. Everyone knows that retail markup is highway robbery. I was raised to believe that paying full price for clothing is foolish and poor money management. I would sooner gnaw my own foot off before I’d buy one $300 pair of shoes when I could get 10 $30 pairs and have that many wardrobe options. It doesn’t make economic sense to shop the way they try to force people to shop. I’ve seen many contestants on the show break down in tears because the waste of money is painful to them. Some of them have had trouble feeding their kids and don’t want to bring themselves to spend good money (upwards of $250 on a skirt or a jacket) that could feed their kid for a week. Again, Clinton and Stacy seem to have a disconnect from how real flyover zone people think and live. They live in their little NY fashion bubble and are probably not hurtin’ for lunch money, so they cannot relate to what a terrible feeling it is to be made to “waste” money on a non-necessity. $5K would pay my mortgage for about six months. It’s tough to hand that over and only get ten outfits back and think about your kid going without meat for the next month.
I am a gardener and a pole dancer and I live in Florida. They never put anyone in shorts. You are not allowed to buy or wear casual clothes. WTF am I supposed to wear in the yard, or to work out, if they want to throw out all my t-shirts? What do I wear to the beach, a $400 sequined ensemble? Bullshit. It’s the beach. I’m going to lay around in the dirt (sand). I want my crappy clothes for when wearing crappy clothes is appropriate. What, wash the car in those new $200 pumps? Again, bullshit. They make you throw out your entire wardrobe, but they basically only give you work clothes and maybe a couple going-out outfits. Apparently, Clinton and Stacy never lounge around in their houses eating Cheetos and watching football and they don’t know anyone who does. Everyone in their world wears tailored blouses and heels with their jeans. Nobody ever washes their car. Or plants tomatoes in their yard. Or wears a fuckin t-shirt. (There’s another horrible waste of money: throwing out the t-shirts. There is an appropriate time and place to wear one of my vast collection of concert t-shirts. Washing the car, working in the garden, working out. I don’t need to look like a fashion plate when I’m composting.)
My biggest issue is the rule about not wearing short skirts after age 35. Oh, fuck you Clinton and Stacy and the stick-leg horse you rode in on. I am 41, and (did I mention the pole dancing?) look smashing in short skirts. My legs are my best feature. Shorter skirts also draw the eye upward and give an impression of looking a bit taller, as opposed to a longer skirt that draws the eye down toward the feet. Pair with tights or sheer hose and boots or heels and I look quite professional, the skirts are very flattering to me, and nobody thinks I look like a cougar in a mid-life crisis. There’s appropriate short skirts and there’s “I’m trolling for 18-year-old boys.” And no, I would never pair an animal print with a short skirt. 
In fact, I think the rule should be no animal prints after age 35 because it just makes you look like a sad and desperate cougar prowling for young meat. Wear the short skirts, if you can get away with it. But confine the cheetah prints for your underwear. (Who doesn’t love a cheetah-print bra?)
Finally, why is the exact same dress cut and style the best for everyone? I think, after you’ve seen one season of WNTW, you’ve seen every makeover they’ve ever done. They rarely surprise me. Once they got a skinny girl who could wear just about anything straight off the rack and make it look fabulous. She got some sheath dresses and pencil skirts and rocked 'em!
I think I’m done now. Maybe not. I might be back to bitch about this show some more.
They did do some shows where they came to the women’s hometowns, but I can’t remember which towns they were.
I also have some questions about the “throwing your old clothes away” scene. Surely they don’t actually dispose of the clothes? They could at least give them to a shelter. Also, what’s to keep me from leaving stuff at home so they can’t get it?*
I would be one of the people who has issues with the spending of money. I have major problems when I’m shopping because I’m convinced the clothing manufacturers are out to fuck me over. They would be mighty surprised if they thought I was going to pay two hundred bucks for a skirt. 
I watch almost the whole show, but truthfully I’m just in it for the haircut and makeup part (well, and Clinton). I don’t know if I’m learning anything, but it sure is fun to see that transformation.
*Say, that reminds me of something from last night’s show: The atrocious sweatpants in the 360 mirror. How the hell can you defend pants with a giant butt-word on them? I really want to know…
I know, Dung Beetle. When I was 16 years old, my very first boyfriend gave me an OSU jersey (#1, Mike Lanese. He made me memorize the player that went with the number on the jersey. “If you’re gonna wear this guy’s number, I expect you to know who he is.”). Anyway, I never wear that jersey. (Except maybe on game day IF I’m not leaving the house.) But I will be damned if Clinton and Stacy are going to just throw that thing in the trash. I have other clothing items that are sentimental. Doesn’t mean I’m dumb enough to think that a football jersey is an appropriate fashion choice for the office.
Perhaps what we’re really reacting to is how patronizing this is. It’s one thing to teach people how to make better fashion choices. That’s the good thing this show does. It’s another thing to destroy your entire wardrobe so that you are forced to make the choices that WNTW makes for you. I think this show is for the people who don’t know how to make the choice or what an appropriate choice is. For those of us who have reasonable wardrobes, the idea of throwing out stuff just seems preposterous. Some of the wardrobes I’ve seen I would throw out in entirety too, but I still think there’s room in life for shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops. Unless you are Clinton or Stacy and those two must get dressed up to go take a shower.
What? They aren’t shopping at the Versace private show room, they are very clearly usually shopping at places like Anne Taylor, Nine West, Express etc. You know, mall stores. Big, chain mall stores. In fact, every single time there is a fat girl, they are always in Lane Bryant.
They tend to emphasize layering, which-- as someone who lives in a place that regularly gets to 115 in the summer – is what I do for work in the summer. Sure, I doubt they’d tell you to throw a cardi on over your tank while working as a gardener, but if you work in an office, it’s really not out of the realm of reasonability to tell you to layer your work clothes.
I should preface with this: I am a HUGE fan of Ross, Marshall’s, and TJ Maxx- shit, about 80% of my wardrobe is from those stores. But here’s the thing: the reason that shit is there isn’t just that it’s overstock, its also often irregular. While I love to shop and tend to be somewhat fashion savvy, so it’s no biggie if I have to dig and try on 100 things and only find one that fits right. . . a person who doesn’t know how to dress and hates shopping is not going to tolerate this. For a person like that, yes- paying 30% markup is likely worth them not having to try on 20 irregular tops, each completely unlike the last. Once they get a better eye for what works for them, then they can head to Ross, but that’s not a good place for a n00b to start.
1: I have most certainly seen them help folks pick out shorts. Not like, baggy, denim, “painting the house” shorts like we all have, but stylish, appropriate shorts. 2: Jeans are most certainly casual and they help people get jeans all the damned time. 3: Theres a difference between a nice, clean tshirt and. . . well, the tshirts we all have in the back of our closets. That’s the key point, a lot of these folks wear out the stuff that I consider “around the house” clothes-- shit that has stains, is old, is too big, etc etc.
I agree with so much of what you said Dogzilla even though I live in central MA and need the warmer clothing. I would never be able to go on that show because there is no way in hell I would ever buy a stitch of clothing at NYC prices. Also, while I would be ok with them cutting my hair, I’d pluck their eyeballs out with Carmindy’s tweezers before I’d let them dye my hair. I’ve never seen Nick accept the fact that some people DON’T NEED TO DYE THEIR HAIR!!! The sad thing is that every real stylist I have been to has this same mindset. People pay a lot of money to try to get the color that I was born with. Why do stylists keep telling me that I should try some streaks or other such shit? Probably because they had the same types of teachers that Nick had.
congodwarf, they aren’t going to be dyeing my hair either. And I have grays! I think the real reason everyone gets dye is because it’s a fast route to thick, shiny hair and it makes the makeover that much more dramatic.