“He’s grayer and I’m gayer,” London jokes, while she and Kelly also open up about how their new Prime Video series, “Wear Whatever the F You Want” and “What Not to Wear” are both “about therapy.”
Stacy London and Clinton Kelly rose to fame by telling people what they should not wear, but over 10 years later, they’re encouraging people to wear whatever they want!
In an interview with TooFab, the style experts opened up about reuniting for their new Prime Series, Wear Whatever the F You Want, which comes over a decade after TLC’s What Not to Wear ended in 2013, and a subsequent years-long fallout between the two.
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Wear Whatever the F You Want — out now on Prime Video — sees Kelly, 56, and London, 55, teaming up to “transform clients one at a time” in New York City, per Amazon Studios.
“With a fresh perspective that celebrates personal expression over outdated style rules, they empower individuals to live out their fashion fantasies and discover their style truth.”
The stylish duo spoke to TooFab about working together once again, and explained how Wear Whatever is a better portrayal of the times in comparison to What Not to Wear.
When asked if they felt like “no time had passed” since they shared the screen, Kelly joked, “Well, time had passed because we’re now in our mid-fifties and it’s hard to ignore that fact” — to which London quipped, “Yeah, he’s grayer. And I’m gayer.”
“We really enjoyed this process, and we’ve been working on the show for a very long time, so it’s not like this was like, Oh, it just cropped up for us. You know, it’s been 13 years!’ We’ve been talking for quite a while,” London continued. “I think that the intention of this show is so different from What Not to Wear, and the outcome is so different that it really is much more reflective of the world we’re living in today, and not the kind of dawn of reality television that you saw when we did What Not to Wear.”
While the pair said they don’t necessarily “believe” in trends, they were excited to incorporate influences from pop culture from the last decade, with the references also being a form of inspiration for the clients.
“There’s so many like pop culture references, right? Like Cookie from Empire,” Kelly said, referring to Taraji P. Henson’s character on the musical drama. “When one of our clients, Freedom, wanted to look like Cookie from Empire, because she sort of saw her as a powerful woman, we were like, ‘Yes! Let’s do that. Let’s get you a big fuzzy coat!'”
“Neither one of us really believe in trends,” London added. “But you see what’s out there, and you work with what you’ve got. The great thing about a show like this is that it’s a very specific lens that we’re looking through. So if we’re looking for Cookie, you know, we know what we’re looking for as opposed to what’s trending at the moment. It’s not like a fashion news show where we’re like telling you what, you know, the big trends were on the runway … it’s what does this person want in order to feel confident and capable?”
London and Kelly went on to open up about their approach to helping their clients find their best inner self through outer expression.
“I think we have to go back to What Not to Wear, right?” Kelly said. “There was a format and What Not to Wear, and because of the time, we were style experts and we were telling people what they needed to do. Now, we have completely flipped that on its butt, and we are trying to figure out who you are as a person, as our client, and like, you’re the guide and you know …. we’ll be the guide rails, but you’re gonna guide us to help you. And it’s such a treat. It really is a treat. It takes a little bit of the pressure off of us because we don’t have to [know everything] and demand that we’re right all the time. This is helping somebody achieve a dream. Like, there’s nothing better than that.”
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London chimed in, noting that there isn’t any “judgment” when it comes to their clients’ preferences.
“I mean, there are times where there were, you know, outfits on the show that I was like, ‘No, no, no. … I am not gonna wear that myself.’ But if that made her happy or him happy, then we were happy to do it because they’re the ones who have to rock around in their skin. It’s not us. We’re not living their lives,” she said. “And really, we want you to get the most out of your life that’s possible. And knowing who you are, controlling the narrative in the visual sense in terms of your style is a super important skill to have.”
“Whether you learn that at 20 or you learn that at 50, it doesn’t matter,” she added. “It’s just when you learn it and also recognizing that you as a person, you’re gonna change. You’re gonna want different things over time, and that’s okay. You don’t have to have the same style your whole life. You don’t have to wear the same things. You don’t have to have a uniform if you don’t want to. Those are, you know, some people love to do that, but it’s not required.”
She then referenced the “quiet luxury” trend of recent years, while noting how the ’80s are coming back “with big bold colors and huge bold jewelry” — before adding that “brooches are back,” which she jokingly admitted that she’s still a bit skeptical about.
“I mean, if brooches really come back, I will be shocked,” London said. “They say it every year. Never happens. It’s only for men. But now they’re saying, ‘No, no, brooches are back for women. We’ll see.”
On the topic of brooches, Kelly brought up one of the most stylish and fashionable television characters from the past few years — if not of all time — Moira Rose (Catherine O’Hara) from Schitt’s Creek, who definitely wore whatever (the f) she wanted to.
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“I just started rewatching Schitt’s Creek, and Moira Rose going to bed in a brooch is everything,” he said, to which London added, “Moira was really an individual … she should be [Wear Whatever’s] mascot.”
Ultimately, in their new show, London and Kelly are breaking down the barriers that are holding the clients back from being themselves — whether that’s working through doubts they, or others, put in their heads.
When TooFab likened the process to therapy, London agreed. “I think it’s something that we’re a little used to, to be honest. Not to be, you know, blasé about it, but all of what we’ve done on What Not to Wear and Wear Whatever has been about therapy.”
“It is truly about what is stopping you on the inside from being who you want to be. How can we show you that there is a way to get what you want?” she continued. “And that requires asking hard questions of people. And it requires asking questions that may not be comfortable to everybody, but it’s our goal to be helpful in understanding, you know, who told you you can’t wear this? Who said you couldn’t wear that? Those types of things, I think really do have an effect. And we wanna help uproot those beliefs that are not true.”
“It’s really a joy to help somebody differentiate between their own belief in their own head,” Kelly added, “And a belief that somebody else implanted in their head because they might have told them something at a very vulnerable time or at a young developmental age, and it got stuck in there.”
“So to unstick these thoughts that you think you believe when you actually don’t believe them, it’s like, you know, exorcism,” he said, to which London interjected, “Gardening!”
“Stacey knows how much I love to garden. So pulling weeds or exorcising demons,” he joked.
“Yes, yes, exactly,” London said. “Gardening and exorcising demons!”
All eight episodes of Wear Whatever the F You Want are streaming now on Prime Video.
