While I am not a staunch fan of any particular fashion TV show, I think there is 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 or disagree with everything you see in them, fashion shows, such as cooking shows, help broaden your understanding of art, which in turn, helps you to dress better.
Here’s a rundown of some of the hottest hot TV shows (check 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 builds name recognition and followers throughout the competition. Design contestants have had to do crazy things over the years, like making clothes out of grocery store items (remember Austin Scarlett’s beautiful corn husk dress?), Designing Wrestlemania costumes, working with Couture party dress clients, create cocktail wear for their mothers and more. Add in a bit of sarcastic comments, backstabbing, and some great drama until the deadline, and it’s really 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 tale from Poor to Princess, friends and family nominate poorly dressed clients for makeovers. The hosts track the customer down 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 gets a head-to-toe makeover and then comes home beautifully dressed to the awe of the friends and family who nominated her. While I don’t always agree with clothing advice given to clients, I do like that they use men and women of all ages, shapes, and sizes for the makeover. I also like when clients realize that they CAN change their life by changing clothes, because I have seen it with my own clients over and over again.
What you can learn: how to dress in different body shapes, how to dress for different occasions, and how to gain confidence through proper costume 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 I’m amazed at how many of her clients 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 his behind-the-scenes access to designers, models, and celebrities, he learns entire collections, how to combine clothing items, and, perhaps most importantly, how to network high-level and massage delicate egos to get what he 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 the slits in her skirts so that the cellulite would not show up. Marlene Dietrich brought her own lighting equipment to the movie sets and dictated how it should be lit. Audrey Hepburn insisted on Givenchy’s clothes both in the movies and for personal use, because she felt that he was the only one who best understood how to dress them. They would NEVER hand over their public image to someone else to manage.
Sex and the city
Perhaps the ultimate 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 1998-2004 (and currently in reruns edited 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 television, this show, like “The Nanny,” clearly demonstrated how much our clothes reveal about who we are and where we come from: Carrie, the bohemian writer; Samantha, the creative and passionate publicist; Charlotte, the real WASP princess, and Miranda, the no-nonsense lawyer. Regardless of where they went or what they dressed, 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, smart, average-sized, normal-looking assistant from Queens who tries to fit into the world of New York fashion, slim as a cane and highly glamorous. Betty’s clothes are appropriate for her position and budget, but they pale in comparison to her high-voltage, fashion-obsessed co-workers. Unsurprisingly, Patricia Field, the designer behind “Ugly Betty,” was also the mastermind behind “Sex and the City” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” so you see a lot of clothes from top designers and from high price.
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 style show offers some of the best period costumes on television. Great suits, beautiful dresses and carefully selected hats, gloves and bags transport 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 taking care of your manners. Beautiful clothing, ingenious care, and charming ensembles make this show a pleasure to watch.
What you can learn: attracts according to the occasion, how to personalize, historical wardrobe.
Now, like I said, I don’t always agree with everything on all shows, but they are fun to watch, if for no other reason than because fashion plays such a dominant role. You can always find something to take and use from each program.