Fashion TV – What you can learn from Fashion Television
While I’m not a die-hard fan of any particular fashion TV show, I think there’s a lot you can learn from the various shows about fashion, as well as those that feature fashion prominently in their stories. While you may not agree with or like everything you see on them, fashion shows, like cooking shows, help broaden your understanding of the art, which in turn helps you dress better. .
Here’s a rundown of some of the most popular trending TV shows (check your local listings for time and channel):
Catwalk Project
Project Runway is a reality show that pits aspiring fashion designers against each other in a series of design challenges. The winner receives $100,000 to launch their first line and build name recognition and a following throughout the competition. Design contestants have had to do some crazy things over the years, like making clothes out of grocery store items (remember Austin Scarlett’s gorgeous corn husk dress?), designing Wrestlemania outfits, working with couture prom dresses clients, create cocktail wear for their mothers and more. Throw in a bit of backstabbing, snide commentary, and high drama to the very end, and it’s all too easy to get addicted.
What you can learn: design terms, clothing items, style tips and how to work on a budget.
What not to wear
In this recurring rags-to-princess tale, friends and family nominate poorly dressed clients for makeovers. The hosts track down the customer in a public place, embarrass her and promise to fund a clothing shopping spree IF she agrees to listen to their fashion advice. If she does, she will undergo a head-to-toe makeover and then return home beautifully dressed to the amazement of nominated friends and family. While I don’t always agree with the clothing advice given to clients, I do like that men and women of all ages, shapes, and sizes wear it for makeovers. I also like when clients realize that they CAN change their life by changing their clothes, because I have seen it with my own clients over and over again.
What you can learn: how to wear various body shapes, how to dress for different occasions, and how to gain confidence through appropriate wardrobe choices.
The Rachel Zoe Project
Rachel Zoe is a celebrity stylist who dresses her celebrity clients for television appearances, movie premieres, and red carpet events. While I don’t always agree with her choices, and am AMAZED by the number of clients who allow her to dictate her public image by wearing whatever she tells them*, I can’t help but be impressed by how hard this woman works. . . With her behind-the-scenes access to designers, models, and celebrities, she knows entire collections, how to mix and match clothing items, and, perhaps most importantly, how to make high-level contacts and massage delicate egos to get what she wants.
What you can learn: designers, clothing and accessory terms, style tips, and how to build a million-dollar Rolodex.
*Lana Turner knew exactly how high to cut her skirt slits so cellulite wouldn’t show. Marlene Dietrich brought her own lighting equipment to movie sets and dictated how it should be lit. Audrey Hepburn insisted on Givenchy clothing both in movies and for personal use, because she felt that only he better understood how to dress her. They would NEVER give her public image to someone else to manage.
sex and the city
Perhaps the definitive fashion television [http://fashionforrealwomen.com/blog/articles/fashion-fun/celebrity-fashion/fashion-tv-what-you-can-learn-from-fashion-television/] show, “Sex and the City” follows the lives of four friends who work, play and date in New York City. On HBO from 1998 to 2004 (and currently in edited reruns elsewhere), the show was groundbreaking for its theme, nudity, and fashion. Not only were Carrie Bradshaw’s clothes expensive, eclectic, and unlike anything else on TV, but this show, like “The Babysitter,” clearly demonstrated how much our clothes reveal about who we are and where we come from: Carrie, the writer bohemian; Samantha, the creative and standout publicist; Charlotte, the real WASP princess, and Miranda, the no-nonsense lawyer. Regardless of where they went or what clothes they wore, those people were almost always reflected in their style of dress.
What you can learn: designers, style tips, how to dress for different occasions and occupations, how to dress at different levels of society.
Ugly Betty
“Ugly Betty” follows the life of a sweet, intelligent, average-sized, average-looking assistant from Queens trying to fit into the slim-as-a-stick, highly glamorous New York fashion world. Betty’s clothes are appropriate for her position and her budget, but she pales in comparison to her high-voltage, fashion-obsessed co-workers. Not surprisingly, the costume designer behind “Ugly Betty,” Patricia Field, was also the mastermind behind “Sex and the City” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” so you see a lot of big designer clothes and expensive .
What you can learn: style ideas, what to wear at different levels, what NOT to wear.
Crazy men
Set in New York in the early 1960s, this cleverly styled show offers some of the best period costumes on television. Great suits, beautiful gowns and handpicked hats, gloves and bags take me back to my childhood when taking pride in your appearance and dressing appropriately for every occasion was just as important as working hard and minding your manners. Beautiful clothing, artistic arrangement, and beautiful outfits make this show a joy to watch.
What you can learn: appropriate attire for the occasion, how to use accessories, historical costumes.
Now, like I said, I don’t always agree with everything on every show, but they are fun to watch, if only because fashion plays such a dominant role. You can always find something to take and use from each program.