Last Night\'s TV: Gok\'s Fashion Fix, Channel 4

Tag : Printing Corduroy


Naturally, I get a lot of enquiries from members of the publiceager, having seen the above photo, for my style advice. To saveyou the trouble of asking, this season's big look is: lots of hair!Corduroy suits! And glasses! Just like last season, in fact, andseveral seasons before that. Because style never goes out offashion. Still, for those who can't carry off the corduroy look,there's always programmes such as Gok's Fashion Fix, in which GokWan offers fashion advice to the nation. He is assisted in this byAlexa Chung, who, I am assured by my friendly neighbourhoodteenagers, is cool to a world-historic degree – so cool, infact, that in dating the lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys, she isactually slumming it a bit. But it's undoubtedly Gok who is themain attraction here, partly because of his encouraging manner– where Trinny and Susannah would offer a sharp intake ofbreath, he's more likely to give a joyous shriek of "Girlfriend!"– but more because he is one of those few blessed or cursedbeings who swim through television as naturally as an otter througha stream, never seeming as if he is consciously performing. Inthis, he is the natural heir to, say, Davina McCall and RobertRobinson (whose ability to stand utterly unfazed in front of acamera is the subject of some grousing in his memoirs). To be fair,I can't imagine Mr Robinson ever congratulating Geri Halliwell onpurchasing a pair of gold shorts from River Island for a mere ninequid with the words "Girlfriend, that's a Gok high-five", and notonly because his name isn't Gok.
The programme has several strands. In "Fashion Face Off", Gok getshigh-end fashion types – buyers, stylists, shop owners– to put together absolutely top-dollar outfits, while hetries to match them with cheap high-street knock-offs. This week'sshow included a posh clothes-shop proprietor called BrixSmith-Start – formerly, I was startled to realise, guitaristwith the Fall and Mrs Mark E Smith. Even more astonishing than thefact that she was on here handing out fashion advice (I mean, wouldyou trust someone whose former squeezes included Mark E Smith andNigel Kennedy?) was the fact that the programme didn't even botherto point out who she is.Maybe she is trying to forget, or do theyassume that the target audience just won't care?
In "Gok Meets", Gok meets a stylish celebrity, or Geri Halliwell,depending on availability. Meanwhile, in "Travelling Catwalk", Gokgoes around the country yanking members of the public off thestreet and showing them off in an impromptu fashion show, with thelong-term aim of discovering Britain's best-dressed ordinaryperson. Here, I have to say, Gok displays a weakness for what couldcharitably be called individuality, as opposed to wearability. Imean, leopardskin-print leggings – it's certainly not me, andI very much doubt that it's you either. Elsewhere, Alexa testeddifferent brands of stiletto heels by organising a sprint race. Forwhat it's worth, Alessandro Dell'Acqua came last, although if youcan afford Alessandro Dell'Acqua, you're probably not going to berunning for the bus too often; but in any case, without ahandicapping system for the runners, this was completelyinvalidated. Or am I missing the point? Finally, in contradictionto all this "high-street-is-best" stuff, Alexa went to Florence toworship at the shrine of the designer Roberto Cavalli, whoapparently used to dress Geri Halliwell, although he seemedmercifully vague about that one. Mind you, he didn't even recognisehis own frock when Alexa turned up in one ("Cavalli? Cavalli?"), soGeri shouldn't take it personally.
My own assessment of Gok, by the way? Love the specs, insofar asthey are specs, but have to say they do rather shriek "I work inmedia". Also, grow more hair, girlfriend! And don't be afraid towork the corduroy.
One of the most alarming trends in US television drama in recentyears has been the proliferation of voice-overs apparently designedto lend depth and meaning. Last night, you could have enjoyed JD,the wimpish main character on the medical comedy Scrubs, trying towrap up some perfectly decent slapstick wrestling gags with aforced and faintly nauseating moral about masculinity and what ittakes to be a real man, yadda yadda.
Over at Grey's Anatomy, the horribly earnest junior medic MeredithGrey was worrying about her mother's sudden recovery fromAlzheimer's, and musing, "When something that we didn't know we haddisappears, do we miss it?" Oh, that's deep. But I'm guessing mostpeople aren't acutely aware that they've got a pancreas –don't you think they'd miss that if it vanished? I hope she's abetter doctor than she is a philosopher.
Fortunately, Dr Suresh's garbled philosophising, which used tobook-end every episode of Heroes, seems to have fallen off theedge, making the whole thing rather more bearable. Even so, thishas turned into a dull series; I'm beginning to yearn for Sylar tostart slicing the tops off people's heads again. Better yet,there's a crossover with Grey's Anatomy and he does it to MeredithGrey.