Qustionable eye for the straight guy

[Lomezz]

Caught my first ever episode of queer eye for the straight guy yesterday - while it is funny and engaging, I was cringing when the fashion guy advised a young artist to tuck in his summer sweater, wear his wingtips without socks and roll the waistband of his pants in lieu of a belt (which he called a neat fashion trick).

Am I too staid or the show too hip and trendy?

 

[discostu004]

having carson as the "fashion guru" b/c he worked for varvatos is about the equivalent of having jennifer lopez writing a marriage advice column. his selections are always horrible and this tucking in the front is stupid. it looks like you just went to the bathroom and somehow pulled your pants over your shirt unintentionally. he's only on there b/c of his funny one-liners.

 

[Lomezz]

CTGuy - I can appreciate the emphasis on 'fun' in the show, even thought it's not my taste, but the instances I mentioned just seemed to me as fashion faux pas - especially that tucked in sweater...

 

[LabelKing]

I wouldn't call a tucked in sweater a faux pas. Certain thin sweaters look quite good if tucked.

having carson as the "fashion guru" b/c he worked for varvatos is about the equivalent of having jennifer lopez writing a marriage advice column.  his selections are always horrible and this tucking in the front is stupid.  it looks like you just went to the bathroom and somehow pulled your pants over your shirt unintentionally.  he's only on there b/c of his funny one-liners.

Actually from what I've noticed is that he does make appropriate choices for the varios people depending on their jobs, etc. One wouldn't put a burly fireman in YSL Rive Gauche.

 

[AskAndyAboutClothes]

Lomezz:

Yes the show is "too hip and trendy" and most of us may be "too staid", but that may be a good thing.

Carson wouldn't be the first choice to advise one for business wear if you wanted any chance of success..

I'm with CTGuy, you've just got to suspend reality and enjoy the fun.

Although it's difficult to do when you know lots of guys are looking for the "correct" way to dress and take Carson's word for what is right.

And discostu004 may have a great idea with the J Lo advice column. I'd read it, if there were pictures.

Andy

 

[Fetzer]

Have you guys ever noticed that Carson wears a lot of Ralph Lauren Purple Lable? It is not the most conservative look from the PL collection as he normally infuses a lot of color and pattern (isn't that the look now?), but his choice is interesting because his advice is in general very "street". While I don't really like his looks, you must give him credit for creativity and originality. If you can take a few of his ideas and mix them in with a standard approach to dressing, you may come out with a fresh approach to your own style. Just a thought.

 

[imageWIS]

Speaking of RLPL and tucking, RL tends to tuck everything. From shirts to sweaters to long Polo shirts, RL likes to tuck; regardless if the collections are Polo or RLPL, the advertising, catalogues, and even mannequins in the stores all sport items that are tucked in. Possibly Carson saw this and has copied this style...

Jon.

 

[Millerp]

Has anyone seen "What Not to Wear" on the Learning Channel? They do fashion makovers on men and women. "Contestants" are told what's wrong with their current wardrobe, given suggestions as to what they ought to wear and given $5,000 to shop for new clothes. The camera follows them to stores including Thomas Pink. http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/wh...nottowear.html

 

[dah328]

Has anyone seen "What Not to Wear" on the Learning Channel? They do fashion makovers on men and women. Â "Contestants" are told what's wrong with their current wardrobe, given suggestions as to what they ought to wear and given $5,000 to shop for new clothes. The camera follows them to stores including Thomas Pink. http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/wh...nottowear.html

It's a spin-off of a similar show from the UK and pre-dates QE. Â I think the style advice on WNTW is considerably better than that on QE. Â Of course, it helps that WNTW focuses solely on style. Â Also, the premise of the show is more to teach the subject how to dress well rather than to dump a bunch of new clothes and furniture on an otherwise oblivious individual. Â The $5k spending allowance is an interesting feature. Â The subject is sent out for two days of shopping in NYC with some "rules" from the hosts on what constitutes stylish and flattering clothing for that particular person. Â The subject shops alone on the first day and the hosts show up on the second day to criticize (ridicule?) the subject's clothing choices and help them find appropriate items. Â I suspect that many of day one's purchases end up being returned. I think the segment of the show where the hosts explain the "rules" for each subject are the most educational. Â For example, I didn't understand what leg styles (tapered, straight, boot cut) worked best with each body type. Â I also think they do a good job selecting flattering cuts and proportions for each subject. Unfortunately, only about a third of the subjects are male. Â Even so, it's the only show I go out of my way to watch. dan

 

[AlanC]

My wife and I are big WNTW junkies. They usually do a good job, with a particular emphasis on what is appropriate office wear. It really is amazing what some people wear to work. Of course, some of the choices will make you wince.

I do recall Clinton praising the "quality" of Kenneth Cole shoes to a fashion victim while pointing to the ones he (Clinton) was wearing. It would be nice to see them focus on shoes more, and they often take men to Armani or Boss for suits.

It's a fun show, though. Clinton is much better than the long haired guy they used to have on. I kept thinking he needed to be on the show as a fashion victim, not a style guru.

 

[Millerp]

"Clinton is much better than the long haired guy they used to have on. I kept thinking he needed to be on the show as a fashion victim, not a style guru."


Yeah...remember the time he took off the jeans he was
wearing and let the subject try them on for size?

My wife was totally grossed out....

 

[Kai]

Quote:

(Millerp @ 08 June 2004, 10:02) Has anyone seen "What Not to Wear" on the Learning Channel? They do fashion makovers on men and women. Â "Contestants" are told what's wrong with their current wardrobe, given suggestions as to what they ought to wear and given $5,000 to shop for new clothes. The camera follows them to stores including Thomas Pink. http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/wh...nottowear.html
I've seen it. Â In some ways maybe a ripoff of the queer eye idea (although i have no idea which came first) although i think they are both very good. The "what not to wear" show is in some ways a variation of what i was alluding to before about carson on q.e.- The idea is to give people who are poorly dressed or have no style some ideas about how they could spruce things up a bit. Â The difference is that Carson basically dresses the people up, whereas on the WNTW show they give them the cash right then and there and see what happens. Again- maybe i am just playing devil's advocate here

, but although the style on q.e. is generally a little out there, I think they do a good job of trying to accentuate or interpret people's existing personality in terms of clothing. Â It might seem wrong to those of us on here that already have an idea about designers and fashion and in addition have a strict idea of what is or is not fashionable, but again- i think we can all agree that one of the greatest things about fashion, dandyism, etc, is to show off our personality a little bit. Â I don't always agree with people's judgments on styleforum, but I love to hear about the different ideas and ways people express their very different personalities through clothing.
The Learning Channel "What not to Wear" is the American version of the BBC's What not to Wear, which predated Queer Eye by quite a bit. I've not seen the American What not to Wear, but have seen the BBC version, which is one of my wife's favorite shows. The BBC show focuses pretty much entirely on women, however, they've done a couple of men as well.