What Not to Wear Mom Makeovers: Wish It Had More Moms Like Me

I was kind of surprised when I was asked to review What Not to Wear Mom Makeovers on DVD, because I am so not a girly girl. I was only a little knowledgeable about the show because my 8 year old daughter likes to watch it, and before I let her watch it I wanted to make sure it didn’t contain unsuitable material, but I did not become a regular watcher. I am always game for a review, so I fired up the DVD player and watched.

All 377 minutes. In a row. Straight. In one weekend. I do not recommend or endorse this approach. I watched Stacy and Clinton get 9 moms dressing stylishly and taking care of themselves, and the bonus episode where some of those moms were featured in a “Where are they now?” type show.

I learned all kinds of rules about how to put together a stylish, not frumpy wardrobe. I watched all sorts of emotional struggles as these women rebelled a bit at the rules, and saw them learn the wisdom in what Stacy and Clinton were trying to teach them. In the end I liked the DVD. It gave me a couple of clues about what to look for when I am shopping and it also finally revealed to me the mystery of why they endorse pointy toed shoes so heartily.

However, I did have one thing that gave me pause and that is that all of the mothers featured were more fit, smaller, and thinner than I am. I am not an abnormal size by any means; I regularly trade clothes with my friends who are short and we all wear a size 14/16. Only one mother on the DVD was what I would consider bigger and even she wasn’t obviously a plus size mom, she simply had big boobs. While there certainly is a demand for that population, it would have been nice if they had featured a couple of plus size women who struggle to find clothing to fit at all, much less look stylish and help them feel good about themselves.

Aside from that I thought the DVD provided a good amount of information about dressing well that I can use, at least until someone pops out from behind a wall somewhere with $5,000 for me to get a whole new wardrobe.

Written by Mary, who is a thirty-something SAHM of four under the age of eight. She is a lousy housekeeper, a voracious reader, and dabbles in art and music in various forms. She blogs to maintain her writing skills and her sanity in The Fish Pond.