Tuesday, February 09, 2010

WNTW RevGal Episode

We were out Friday night so I recorded the What Not To Wear RevGal episode. Yesterday afternoon I had time to watch it.

I thought it was very cleverly done. Loved the choir processing in singing the Halleluia Chorus from Messiah as Stacy and Clinton surprised young (and very pretty) Episcopal priest Emily! Someone on the show knows something about classical Christian music and used excerpts as background music several times--notably Bach's Toccata and Fugue in C.

As always, Stacy and Clinton respected Emily's opinion about how she needed to present herself at work. They talked with her colleagues at the church about this, too. That was quite a challenge when you consider that she wears a clerical collar every day to her job at the church! They even had a custom made collar made for her that would work well with the suits and blouses she bought.

An online article that I read last week revealed that Emily tithed $500 to a charity in accordance with her beliefs, so she actually only spent $4500 on her new wardrobe. Good for her! She looked so beautiful and approachable when they were done.

Did you see this episode? What did you think?

6 comments:

mibi52/ The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe said...

I thought they did a great job, all in all, although the references to "divine" and such got a little tired by the end of it. She is such a lovely young woman, and they worked within her comfort zone and what was appropriate professionally. I wish they had mentioned that she had tithed the money they gave her for the clothing. All in all, though, a great program...all my clergygal pals are talking about themselves, with their tongues planted only a little it in their cheeks, as marketing tools for the church!

stinunksuk said...

I thought they did fairly well. I wasn't impressed with the snake print short skirt and top. Didn't seem to do much for her. The challenge, of course, is the collar. That makes it really tough.
I actually like her hair color as it was before and not so after.
Suits and jackets and trousers/skirts are her best bet for a professional wardrobe.
I agree, they should've mentioned her tithe.
I give Emily a lot of credit for her poise and being in the spotlight!

Gannet Girl said...

I can't believe I forgot to watch this!

I have just started thinking about the clothing issues in a fairly serious way. Six years in an orthodox Jewish school + 3 in seminary + my no longer svelte figure have done NOTHING for my self-presentation.

I don't know any Presby women ministers who wear collars, but I have certainly seen everything on the wardrobe spectrum, from the impossibly dowdy to total Ann Taylor chic. I am completely unclear about where I fit (well, I'm hoping against the impossibly dowdy) for work that could take me into all kinds of different scenarios during the course of a day and always with God in mind.

Gannet Girl said...

LOL no pun intended by "where I fit." That I know too well!

Sue said...

I thought the episode was done really well, with a lot of respect for both Emily and her vocation.

I actually *did* like the snake print skirt and top, because let's face it - you cannot be "on" every minute of every day and expect to live past 50. You MUST have some kind of life outside of ministry (crisis events notwithstanding of course) - and if that means jazzing up the wardrobe for a night out, so be it. As long as it is true to who you are *without* the collar (and if there is no YOU without the collar, that's a huge red flag), then go for it.

I thought Emily ended up with a lovely selection of appropriate and suitable clothes for a young woman.

Anonymous said...

I liked it a lot also - also liked reading the follow-up. It was good to see them take her seriously - and I thought she was extremely poised under the pressure of figuring out how to mesh it all.