Ordinarily, posing naked in a shop window in Central London, being watched by unsuspecting members of the general public, and being filmed for a hit Channel 4 show would not be something that comes easily to a middle aged woman. Let alone one who had had previously little or no self-esteem, and is not what we would call, if we were being honest, a flat-stomached fitty.
But one man has the power to change this. One man apparently has the ways and wiles that charm any self-loathing lady into stripping for national television, and what’s more – this man has the power to make the woman love every minute of it, and more importantly, herself. This man is Gok Wan, and Gok – I love you. I want him to be my stylist and I want him to be my best friend. Hell, I’d even marry him and have his babies if he wasn’t as gay as a man-bag full of rainbows.
But why fill almost a whole page banging on about the man who loves, er, bangers? Well, because the attitude that this man embodies has the potential to save the female population from becoming overpowered and disillusioned by the size-zero models who set the benchmark for normality, he can save women from living lives driven by the disgust of their own bodies and make them love themselves for who they really are. And this surely, is a very good thing indeed. A google search of ‘body image’ revealed that, apparently, young girls in America are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, getting cancer or losing their parents, and that 35% of occasional dieters progress into ‘pathological dieting’ (i.e. dieting that’s bad for you). The same search exposed that after viewing pictures of skinny fashion models, seven out of ten women felt more depressed and angry then they did prior to viewing the images. At a time like this, a man like Gok is our much needed superhero.
How to Look Good Naked, Gok Wan’s flagship TV show, has marked a revolution in the style, fashion and beauty tips genre, and takes a whole new approach to revitalising and revamping the women who have lost all their self confidence and belief in the gorgeousness of their own bodies, whatever size or shape they are.
Where someone might see a larger than most lady, Gok Wan would see a ‘Booty Beauty’ or a ‘Busty Belle’ with a ‘fantastic pair of bangers’. (According to his online style consultation, I’m a ‘Classic Cone’, the same as Cameron Diaz and Naomi Campbell. Whoa yeah.) He doesn’t make the woman diet insanely and follow a tough, impractical exercise regime – instead he teaches them how to look after themselves and dress in a way that compliments their shape and makes use of what they’ve got, not what they will have or should have. All of this is done with a positive reinforcement and gentleness that has been lacking from previous shows of the same type – a method that I can’t understand why hasn’t been exploited sooner.
Trinny and Susanna – the very names make me shrivel up inside with a sense of inferiority and paranoia. Even the title of their TV show is negative – What Not To Wear. In nearly every episode there would be tears, tears of shame induced by what can only be described as bullying. Yes, the woman looked stunning at the end of each show, and we’d all gasp in admiration, but one knock to her fragile exterior will only reveal that deep down this woman hasn’t truly changed, not in the way that matters anyway.
Gillian McKeith, although not strictly a fashion advisor, still has a lot to answer for in the negative approach to a “better you” and is quite possibly the worst one of them all. Humiliating and impractical (I mean who has mung beans and goji berries lying around in their cupboard?), she beats her subjects down to a cacau bean-pulp and treats them like naughty children.
Sure, Gok Wan’s approach may seem a bit forward to some, and just down-right shocking – the first time I watched it I was somewhat stunned, if a little traumatised by the frequent sight of topless middle aged women bearing all, but you know what, the fact that they’ve got the confidence to do it speaks volumes. Last week’s episode saw him bury his head in poor Karen’s from Portsmouth cleavage and then throw her underwear overboard the HMS Victory. The overall value of this is questionable, but it scored some laughs, most importantly from the woman herself – the gesture was encouraging and positive in a light-hearted and genuine way.
So if the fashion media needs anything right now, it’s that man with odd hair and glasses off the telly, with his army of body confident women not afraid to show the world what they’ve got.
