How to Look Good Naked, which has recently emerged in its new North American version, started in the UK in 2006. The show is hosted by none other than Gok Wan, who has become not only a fashion icon, but also an inspiration for all women who encounter him (even just on the television.) He has since moved on to become the host of Gok’s Fashion Fix, but his first show will never be forgotten and still airs in Canada on the W Network.
A Brief Biography
Born Ko-Hen Wan in Leicester, England in October of 1974, Gok had many common childhood troubles. In addition to being both tall and overweight, Gok – who has a Chinese father and an English mother – was made fun of for being mixed race. He also suffered the wrath of growing up gay.
Wan had a strong interest in the performing arts, and eventually enrolled in a drama program at a school for the arts. His looks, however, set him far apart from his classmates and he soon decided to leave his program and focus on himself. He set his mind to losing weight and soon dropped a significant amount. From here, he decided to get into the world of fashion, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Gok’s Fashion Career
Wan started out working with celebrities as a consultant and wrote for a number of magazines before being offered his own television show, How to Look Good Naked. In addition, he has written two books on how to dress depending on your body shape, one of which shares the same name as his TV series. After two series of Naked, Gok moved on to Gok’s Fashion Fix, which is more focused on the latest trends, how to fit them to your body, and how to copy them for cheaper-than-catwalk prices.
How to Look Good Naked
Gok Wan’s most popular series teaches everyday, real women who are suffering from poor body image how to love themselves without actually changing how they look. Contrary to many current makeover shows that promote plastic surgery and extreme weight loss to improve women’s self-esteem, Wan is all about loving what you’ve got.
He begins his process by finding out his subject’s trouble spots, whether they be her breasts, thighs, belly, or even just her stretch marks. He then takes them through a series of steps that proves to them that they are not that different from most women. Sometimes this involves putting his lady of the moment in a line-up of other women to show her where she stands in terms of size. Most times it also involves Gok displaying a giant-size poster of his subject is her skivvies for everyone to see and comment on – and the comments are always encouraging.
The final challenge to these women is to pose for a naked photo shoot and perform in a runway show in their underwear. Although some of them hesitate, all of them have gone through with it (and had a blast, too!) because they have learned to accept themselves. The audience, by proxy, starts to feel better about themselves as well.
Reality TV, Not “Reality” TV
Through all of these terrible tasks and challenges, Gok Wan is 100% behind these women. And watching the show, it is evident that he is no actor: Wan genuinely believes that all women are beautiful, and that all shapes and sizes can be sexy if they learn how to dress and how to accept themselves.
What Gok Wan makes you realize is that everyone has the same fears. He helps women by taking the big scary issues they all have with themselves and throwing them out into the public for discussion. In the end, it is likely that you, too, will feel ready to get over your fears and embrace all of your assets, whether you have more of them than you’d like or not.
Andrea Beca - Andrea has a BA (distinction) in English and Creative Writing from the University of Alberta, and an MLitt (distinction) in Dramaturgy and ...
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