Real men don't take gay style advice? By Lynn Elber, Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.com/news/935783.asp?0ql=c8p Want help in transforming a schlub of a husband or boyfriend into one who's attractive and socially adept? Get the right man for the job -- the right GAY man. That's the premise of a Bravo series in which style-challenged straight men are overhauled by experts whose credentials include being gay.
"QUEER EYE FOR the Straight Guy," debuting 10 p.m. ET Tuesday, July 15, with two back-to-back hours, is a clever and entertaining twist on the newly popular makeover shows. It even manages to impart a message.
Straight and gay men "are just guys, and they want to feel good about themselves," said David Collins, the series' creator. "We all do."
In "Queer Eye," gay and straight men forge a new kind of brotherhood, one cemented by properly applied hair gel.
Gays, at least the ones featured in the series, are leagues ahead in knowing how to achieve lifestyle perfection. The straight men are a group of sad sacks in need of rehab, Eliza Doolittles one and all.
They don't know how to dress or groom themselves properly, make their homes comfortable or entertain for business or family.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SHAVING
"Let's talk about the shaving, or lack thereof," one "Queer Eye" experts tells a stubbly subject. "Shaving is one of the simple things you can do to make it look like you've given some thought to your look."
Family members are far less diplomatic.
"He looks like a clown," a wife says in lamenting her unkempt spouse.
While there is some stereotyping at work, Collins emphasizes that each of the style mavens -- dubbed the "fab five" -- stands on their professional credentials and not their sexual orientation.
"We were very specific about the fact that just because you're gay doesn't give you style, taste and class," Collins said. "Just because you get your gay card doesn't mean you know how to arrange flowers."
The pros include food and wine connoisseur Ted Allen, co-author of Esquire magazine's "Things a Man Should Know" column, and Thom Filicia, named by House Beautiful magazine as one of America's top designers. Culture maven Jai Rodriguez, "grooming guru" Kyan Douglas and fashion sage Carson Kressley round out the advisory board.
Kressley is a hoot. "You put a living room where a crack den used to be," he exclaims, lauding a colleague's decorating makeover of an apartment. When Kressley hears that a menu includes an expensive kind of ham, he quips: "I love a good designer meat."
The experts, however, are quite serious about helping their straight charges look, feel and live better. In the first episode, they get a scruffy artist ready for a gallery exhibit. The second hour features a scruffy husband -- there's a trend here -- and his home getting overhauled in preparation for the wife's birthday.
The idea for the series came to Collins while gallery-hopping one day in Boston. He overheard a woman comparing her spouse, unfavorably, to a trio of sharp-looking gay men.
The three men heard too, and intervened to offer constructive criticism, Collins recounted. "As I left with my buddy, I jokingly said, 'That was kind of the queer eye for the straight guy.' These guys swooped in there and helped this man out."
Collins marched into Scout Productions, the film and TV company which he co-founded, and suggested that a show had been born. Collins, who's gay, enlisted a straight colleague, David Metzler, to join in producing it for Bravo.
The "straight guy, gay guy perspective" is at the heart of the show, Collins said. "We're hoping to break down some walls here."
In what turned out to be a lucky break, Bravo was bought by NBC after the channel picked up "Queer Eye" -- and Jeff Gaspin, the NBC executive vice whose responsibilities include the cable channel, was enthusiastic about the series.
That support has translated into on-air NBC promotions as well as high-profile billboards touting "Queer Eye" in New York's Times Square and on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
GROUNDBREAKING SERIES
Like NBC's gay-themed sitcom "Will & Grace," the Bravo series is groundbreaking, said Gaspin. "We're taking a common genre, the makeover show, and we're being really honest with it, we're having fun with it."
Men aren't usually attracted to makeover programs but Gaspin thinks "Queer Eye" has a chance to pull them in. He's not promising they'll take advantage of the tips.
Many American men do seem to have an aversion to incorporating style in their lives, Collins said, and they're missing out.
"One thing the show is saying is if you look better, if you feel better, it's part of overall confidence-building," he said. "Take the time to have a manicure, a shave, cut your hair, get some highlights. It doesn't make you gay."
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