Clinton Kelly & Stacy London Are Back — But “A Lot Less Bitchy”

The early 2000s were a wild time for television. From America’s Next Top Model to Trading Spaces, we were basically being told all the time that our house was ugly and also we were too fat. But goodness, did I love these shows — especially What Not to Wear. Hosted by Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, the show was iconic, featuring guests who had been nominated by their friends and family for literally wearing what they believed to be terrible, ill-fitting clothes. London and Kelly would surprise this person, take them into a 360-degree mirrored fitting room for a look at their worst outfits, and then give them a whole new makeover. It was a masterpiece in reality television.

But like so many moments of the 2000s, we’ve grown to look at What Not to Wear a little differently. Maybe we didn’t need to insist that there’s an age limit on mini skirts? Maybe we didn’t need to try and find clothes to make us look taller and thinner? Maybe we didn’t need to convince people that outfits they love — and feel good in — are offensive to the rest of us?

Of course not. It truly was a different time back then, and Stacy London and Clinton Kelly own that. The original What Not to Wear was a show created for a society that had expectations, a society that needed your clothes to match your profession and lifestyle. You couldn’t just be a mom in 2003 — you needed to look like one, too, lest you be judged for it.

2025 is better. We aren’t fully healed — and there are still plenty of people who will argue over what you wear — but London and Kelly think they can help with their brand new show Wear Whatever the F You Want, premiering on Amazon Prime April 29. It’s not really a revival or a reunion — it’s something new entirely. “This is nothing like What Not to Wear,” Stacy tells me in a Zoom interview alongside Clinton. “And so when people say it's the continuation or the reboot, really the only continuation is that it's the two of us.”

And the two of them are still absolute gems. On What Not to Wear, they could be critical of someone’s outfit, but they always maintained that the most important part was that people felt as good as possible, that they felt confident and proud of who they are. And in our Zoom conversation, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly proved they are still those people.

Scary Mommy: So from the top, I just want to ask, how legit are we being on Wear Whatever the F You Want now?

Clinton Kelly: How legit? We’re too legit to quit.

Stacey London: Exactly. I would say that we are quite legit. A lot of things have changed. A lot of women have gotten tired of being told to look thinner or taller or whatever it is, and we have a lot more body positivity than we did back then. Even though I feel like Clinton and I were always about body positivity, you see it so much more now. And you see the fact that younger generations are also not interested in being told what to wear — they want to be their authentic selves. And so we realized that that is really something that we can give to people. We can be guides rather than teachers.

CK: And the show isn't called Wear Whatever the F You Want, meaning go wear pajama bottoms to work because you feel like it. If your job allows you to do that and you want to do that, go ahead and do that. But this is really about helping people achieve their dreams, really achieve the dream style that they've wanted for their whole lives maybe, but never were able to get because of confidence reasons or whatever. So it's fun to help people achieve these dreams.

SL: And they're self-nominating, so that's very different from being ambushed by us, your friends and your family and like, “Yoo-hoo, we've been talking about you.”

CK: “And we've been sitting in this trailer for the last seven hours behind a bowling alley.”

SL: “We're judging you. We're judging you.” But none of that, that doesn't apply here. So it does matter that we are working with clients who already want to change and that they're really able to share with us what they want, but that they don't know how to get there. So it's the process, but we really have a very specific goal in mind.

Scary Mommy: I love that you mentioned body positivity, but it can also be hard to try and grow your own confidence and then try things on and still not love it. Is it OK for us to say that maybe something we thought we’d love really isn’t for us?

SL: Yes, yes, some things are not for you! And really, it's not even for us to say. If you put something on and you feel like, “This does not make me feel the way I want to feel,” take it off. You don't have to follow every trend. There are oodles of trends every season, and if you want to do something that is a particular shape or color or style, you can always do that in accessory or find a way around it.

CK: And I think a big tip is asking yourself who put the messaging into your head that tells you that you can't do that. Because it's usually not your voice. You can trace it back to a magazine article that you read 20 years ago or something that you saw in What Not to Wear 20 years ago, or an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend who told you you didn't look good in this. So once you realize, once you pinpoint whose voice it is, it's easier to expunge from your brain. And also, take baby steps. We are giving people a crash course and a fantasy look, and that's for television, and that's because we didn't have a lifetime to spend with these people. But if I were coaching a real person, I'd be like, “Well, maybe try a different shoe today and tomorrow try the shoe and a jean, and the next day try the jacket and the shoe and the jean.”

SL: Just make sure you leave the labels on and you can return them.

Scary Mommy: I literally had to ban myself from shopping off of Instagram because my Instagram algorithm got me constantly, and then I would be like, “You know what? This was not for me.”

CK: Can I just tell you something? So I decided that I wanted a different kind of underwear to wear. I wanted to find the perfect boxer shorts that weren't too baggy, but also not too tight. And so I searched on a site for underwear. My algorithm, all it did was show me men in underwear, and I was like, “Am I a total perv right now? The algorithm thinks that all I want to do is look at men's junk.” I was like, “I just wanted one pair of underwear that's the perfect pair of underwear.” And then I spent so much money on buying underwear from Instagram.

SL: Well, I will tell you, my Instagram purchase was the Zima dental cleaner. You take your night guard out and you clean it with the fizzy tablet and it warms up and it cleans the whole thing. That is the only Instagram purchase that I've ever been so proud of.

Scary Mommy: I looked at one Skims seamless bra ad, and then I was scrolling my phone and every time my husband's next to me, I'm like, “I'm not looking at ladies in lingerie. It's just popping up, a lot of boobs. I can't help it anymore.”

CK: Sometimes I want to see these politicians' algorithm. It's like, “What are you scrolling on at home in bed?”

Scary Mommy: Can we talk about some of the trending items for clothes right now?

CK: I just want to say, though, I'm not big into trends.

SL: Neither one of us are.

Scary Mommy: OK, but crop tops. I know we can wear them and there’s no age limit, but why are they everywhere?

SL: What I think about crop tops is that I find it really difficult to have a shirt you can't tuck. Literally, it's not like, “Oh, show off my belly.” I just like to have a shirt you can tuck. So I think I'm a little old for that. And listen, I don't think age has anything to do with it. I think you can be any age if you want to wear a crop top. You don't have to care about what other people think, but you also have to remember, you are taking a chance on being misunderstood if you're wearing something that people can't get their heads around.

Scary Mommy: My fear is that the long layered tanks of 2002 are going to come back at some point.

CK: Oh, my God, the layers.

SL: They will, I think the layered tanks will.

Scary Mommy: OK, white HOKAs with dresses. Do I now look overdressed if I’m not wearing sneakers with dresses?

CK: If you feel like you look great, you shouldn't care what other people are thinking about your outfit.

SL: And listen, also, the ‘80s is coming back big time. And so if you're wearing sneakers with a dress and walking to work, it's just like Working Girl.

Scary Mommy: Literally, my oldest is going to be 11 this summer, and she wears butterfly clips in her hair and has a cute furry blue sweater that looks exactly like I wore, and it's so weird, but it all just comes back.

CK: I saw a little twink walking down the street toward me, and he was wearing the exact outfit that I wore every day in ninth grade. I looked like the geek from Sixteen Candles, Anthony Michael Hall. Untucked, striped polo shirt, a light wash jean, and a bright white sneaker. I was like, “I did this already, kid. Just so you know.”

SL: What's upsetting is that it's our second time around as a trend. We used to say, “If you're old enough, stick around long enough, the trend comes back around.” Well, here we are.

Scary Mommy: You’re the trend. You’re back.

SL: Older. Gayer, grayer.

CK: Achier. Bitchier. No, not really. Actually, I think we’re a lot less bitchy.

SL: I think so, too.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.