“I liked that better than that mean show with that lady with the silver streaks in her hair,” said my husband after watching the premiere episode of “How to Look Good Naked” on the Lifetime Network. “They let the hot girl stay hot.”
Yes, they did let “the hot girl stay hot,” but this show hosted by Queer Eye’s Carson Kressley did more than that. They did what I think is missing in all these makeover shows – they didn’t change the exterior of the woman, but the interior. They let the hot girl stay hot, AND have her finally realize her hotness.
Hallelujah! A show where women aren’t beaten up, changed and reassembled into a different person! A show where a woman is made to feel comfortable in her skin, shown that she is attractive, and taught to celebrate her shape and work with, not against it.
For those of you who may a life on Friday evenings and weren’t home to see this show, I’ll give you a brief summary:
- – Cute girl with normal figure (think your office mate, your best friend, your sister who is constantly dieting and beating herself up and oblivious to guys checking her out at Happy Hour but complaining that no man would want to date her and her hips) meets up with a kinder and gentler Carson Kressley (not as flashy and in your face as he was on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”) who seems to totally respect and adore women and their bodies.
- – Cute Girl is told to strip to her skivvies in a large room full of mirrors. Cute Girl cries, admits all the parts of her body she loathes, and is told by Carson that what she sees is not so bad an is offered some figure-friendly solutions (such as a different sized bra to support breasts and prevent back rolls).
- – Cute Girl is given row of about seven women of varying shapes and sizes, also stripped to their skivvies. She is asked to stand in the row where she thinks she fits according to size. Cute Girl heads to one end of the line, stands between two women and is told that actually, she is far smaller (about 5” smaller) and moved to a different part of the line where the smaller sized women are located. Cute Girl realizes she has body dysmorphia.
- – Cute Girl’s body is projected onto large wall in busy shopping district (sans face) and people are asked to rate her body and say what they like about her figure. She gets good ratings and compliments about her breasts.
- – Cute Girl sees on a monitor three women walking down a city street: one in a sexy black dress with red belt below the bust and sassy heels; one in a shlumpy blue sweater and baggy pants; one in a very hum drum outfit of cardigan, corduroy pants and a tee. Cute Girl is asked to pick which woman (all three have their faces hidden) is the heaviest, which one is the slimmest. She picks shlumpy sweater to be the heaviest, sexy dress to be the slimmest. We then see the faces of these women and come to find out… it is the same woman in all three pictures. Cute Girl realizes wardrobe does affect how your body is seen to others.
- – Cute Girl goes shopping for lingerie at Lane Bryant and realizes she had on the wrong size of bra AND can look sexy in a bra and panties. Cute Girl then goes to New York & Company and Marina Rinaldi and is put in many sassy and bold outfits that flatter instead of hide her figure. Cute girl gains confidence and Carson picks her up below her bum and spins her in the air. Husband turns to me and says, “dude, I sooo wouldn’t want Carson to do that to ME!” I agree, but am thrilled to see Cute Girl not be ashamed of weight (cuz I know when my hubby tries to pick me up the first thing I think about is how heavy I am, ruining the moment).
- – Cute Girl and Carson go for a day at the spa, then they do Cute Girl’s hair and makeup (nothing too extreme, nothing too different or unlike her true self).
- – Cute Girl does a photo shoot in the nude (with strategically placed body pillow)
- – Cute Girl’s photo is again projected onto city wall, this time one of the “boudoir” shots, showing her face, skin, but not really her body. She asks several people on the street with her new-found confidence if they like how she looks naked and points to the building. She gets rave reviews, she smiles, she feels good.
- – Cute Girl is not beaten down, forced into Spanx, told what colors she can and cannot wear. She was not given hair or makeup to hide or camouflage any part of her. No one attacked her current wardrobe (except admitting her bra was too small) or sense of style. Cute Girl left show surprisingly with all her dignity, even though she was shown in hardly any clothing and was even paraded around Lane Bryant in sheer skivvies.
How could this be? Because she is a normal-shaped woman who is naturally beautiful and this show actually helped her realize that. Adding confidence to an already beautiful body and face, she totally glowed. She was supported, praised, given helpful advice for life, and not one episode of a show. She wasn’t given rules, she wasn’t told that Old her was bad and New her was the only acceptable choice.
Carson was the best friend that every woman wishes she had – the one who wasn’t afraid to cinch a belt below her breasts, tell her those panties weren’t flattering, to sashay into a store an command the attention of every salesperson to ensure all purchases and experiences are perfect. Though Carson may be the attention-seeking flamboyant one on “Queer Eye,” on this show he is the Fairy Godmother; entertaining yet shining the spotlight on the woman and making her dreams come true.
This show was great to watch as a curvy woman who teeters between accepting and herself and attempting to diet and exercise into an unrealistic ideal placed upon her by the media and glossy magazines. I watched the show because I felt that I WAS Cute Girl – similar shape, similar body issues. When Cute Girl was given a “support system” of several other women in underwear to compare herself to, I know that she was seeing herself as larger than she really was, but was surprised when I judged where I would stand if in that studio, told my husband and found that I too was wrong about my size.
The lingerie portion was well done – not just showing well-fitting bras, but also showing styles of sets that are flattering AND sexy for a curvy figure. I adored that the shopping took place in typical mall stores that are accessible to most Americans, with realistic prices and styles that would work in a typical life for a young adult.
The whole episode was meant to bolster this woman’s confidence and educate female viewers with similar body and confidence issues, and I honestly think it did just that.
If you weren’t able to catch the episode, the Lifetime Network website has the episode available for viewing. “How to Look Good Naked” is on the Lifetime Network Fridays at 9pm Eastern Time.
Allie – I saw this show for the first time last night…and bawled through a lot of it 🙂 I think this show is great!!!
Thanks for the recommendation. I watched this show for the first time Friday & loved it. They even replayed the previous episode. My boyfriend HATES the queer eye dudes but he watched this show with me & didn’t squirm once! (although he did ask me why Carson didn’t tell the women to try exercising more, lol. *sigh* Straight men…)
I saw this show and thought it was pretty cool. I was a bit disappointed is wasn’t on for longger though! 🙂
We have this programme in the UK and it’s fab. I wish there were more positive and realistic programmes like this!
Great review! I don’t have cable (pouts) so I appreciate seeing your thoughts on it. Sounds like a funny one, maybe I’ll catch it on dvd.
hope you are having a wonderful 2008!
Cheers,
Jami
Bionic Beauty
marvelous review…I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the show. as you say, they dont change the exterior but interior… completely agree to that.
Great recap! I’ve seen the web ads, but I wouldn’t have checked it out if not for this post!
You know, I think they WERE Marina Rinaldi. Typo! Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks for reviewing this show Allie. My husband had taped it for me but I avoided watching it because I just didn’t want to see another, “you’re not perfect but we’ll do what we can with you” makeover show. Finally, my husband watched it and then convinced me (along with your review) that it was different and indeed it was.
I thought though that the clothes were from Marina Rinaldi? I’ll have to watch again!
Thanks!
Christine
Fantastic review, thank you for posting it. Just finished watching it online and enjoyed it very much. I loved how Leila started laughing and smiling more along the way.
Loved the show! Must Tivo.
OMG. I am so glad you reviewed this. I just watched it online, and really, I cried through a lot of it. It was just so exactly what we as women need to hear. It was incredible.
thanks allie for posting this i have been waiting all day to head over to the website to watch it. also, you are beautiful!
The UK version of this has been going for a while now and Gok Wan is absolutely amazing in it! You should really check out the link that jules posted as I don’t know anything about Carson but Gok is wonderful! Suzanne
i am completely in love with this show. i ended up sobbing through the first ten minutes of it b/c it just hit so close to home. i never watched Queer Eye, so I can’t given an opinion on that Carson, but this Carson, i adore.
good review. thorough and complimentary.
I never miss the UK version of this. It is truly fabulous. It appeals to everyone, I think; even my male flatmates like to watch it with me and often comment on how gorgeous the women are.
It’s a healthy way of dealing with the issues of media pressure, and I love it.
I am extremely interested now. I ADORE Carson from Queer Eye, and I cannot wait to see a show that doesn’t strip down the woman but shows her how gorgeous she is, naturally.
Fairy godmother. Hee hee. I’ll have to watch this online…thanks for the link.
I wish Carson would put me on his show! I had to discover for myself that my bra didn’t fit (thank you Nordstrom saleslady for changing my life), and I definitely have issues with body dysmorphia. In a store last weekend, I told the salesperson I was one size, only to have her look at me and say, well, I’ll put this smaller size in the dressing room, as well. Sure enough, I was the smaller size. I’m trying so hard to get the negative self-talk out of my head. I know it’s dumb because I’m a size 4-6, but I used to weigh more, and I have very big breasts (which no, I don’t want), and those things just stick in my head and that’s what I see in the mirror.
wonderful review…hubby and i caught the show as well, and were both pleasantly surprised. as you say, very different from the typical “makeover” in that they didn’t futz around with her exterior nearly as much as i was afraid they would.
loving your blogs! 🙂
I watched that show yesterday too and decided to set it up to tape for the rest of the season! I thought it was great! I like how it looks like they’ll be talking about different body types too, so if you don’t identify with one girl you may identify with another one.
The UK version has been around for a while with the fabulous Gok Wan as host.
http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/H/htlgn/gok.html
I really agree though that this is such a positive show that doesnt feel the need to break the women down before building them up
oh my interest is piqued…thanks allie.
That show is exactly what I have been waiting for. I am in total agreement with you that the other makeover shows are entertaining, but definitely lacking. I am shooting straight over to that website and watching that episode right now. Thanks Allie!
i didn’t know carson was given his own show. i’ll definitely have to check it out!