Simply Gok Wan Lingerie Blog

After reading this article I simply had to do a post about it. A Brazillian lingerie designer has created a lingerie line that is fitted with a GPS tracking device!

The lingerie has caused a bit of an outrage, as it’s basically a way for men to keep tabs on a woman’s every move, and has even been branded by some as ‘a modern day chastity belt’. The lingerie maker denies this, but if it’s not for this then what exactly is it for?

The lingerie designer argues that the underwear targets the ‘modern, techno-savvy woman’ and that women could wear the lingerie for ‘protection’.

But really, aside from the restrictions on your freedom:

1) How safe does it really make you just because someone knows exactly where you are at all times? If something was to happen to you this lingerie doesn’t actually let anybody know about it, only where you are, and if where you are is far away from the person keeping an eye on you then would good is that? I suppose the lingerie would be helpful in the case of being kidnapped, which I have to say has never really been my worry when walking through a secluded car park at night. Lingerie that would fend off a would-be attacker (maybe shooting lasers fembot style?) - now that’s something I’d like to see!

2) If you really wanted to wear a GPS system why not just get a GPS system instead of this $500 lingerie

3) Yes I said $500 lingerie

Just think how much gorgeous Gok Wan lingerie you could buy for the equivalent of $500. Until they invent the fembot laser bra, I think you’re best off sticking with Gok.

Gok Wan lingerie - Gok Wan mini corset and Slicker Knickers

Gok Wan’s new show Miss Naked Beauty is set to air next week on Tuesday the 21st October on Channel 4. Gok seems to be causing a bit of a kafuffle with the controversial new six part series - and I’m not just talking about all the eager Gok Wan fans desperate to see him back on our screens.

With Channel 4 claiming Miss Naked Beauty is reintroducing feminism to a new audience ‘by stealth’ whilst Gok saying the show is about ‘reclaiming the 1950s beauty pageant’ there is bound to be a little confusion. I mean, just how feminist can a beauty pageant - any kind of beauty pageant - really be?

So let’s take look at the arguments for and against what Miss Naked Beauty is doing.

The Defence

• Gok is doing this to set women free from ‘beauty fascism’ and oppressive beauty regimes‘

‘When I was doing How To Look Good Naked, I was shocked by the lengths to which women went to attain a preconceived idea of beauty. They created armour for themselves by slapping on loads of make-up, they damaged themselves terribly with plastic surgery, fake tans, fake nails and hair extensions. Their efforts to achieve this impossible ideal was endless and it was madness.’

• Miss Naked Beauty is trying to put across that there is not just one way of being beautiful. Sue Murphy, head of features at Channel 4 said they wanted to:

 ’subvert the traditional beauty contest format with the message that there’s not one image of beauty perfection. I wanted to get across the message that if women strive to achieve that impossible image, they will be unhappy.’

And Gok Wan’s thoughts?

‘I’m flabbergasted by the increasingly restricted, stereotyped and narrow image of what beauty has become for women.’    ‘ I just want women to realise that they don’t have to conform to these stereotypes to feel sexy and gorgeous’

• It’s about brains too. Gok says Miss Naked beauty will be:

 ’judged not just on what she looks like, but also on her brains, her spirit, her attitude and her intelligence’

The Prosecution

• It’s still a beauty pageant and women will still be judged on their looks as well as other factors
• From a truly feminist standpoint, it shouldn’t really be important for women to have to feel sexy and gorgeous all the time full stop as htey shouldn’t need to - whether it’s feeling sexy and gorgeous in their natural state or otherwise
• It could be said that ‘natural beauty’ is just as difficult to achieve as ‘artifical beauty’ ie to have glowing skin and shiny hair takes a lot of moisturing, exfoliating etc Is it just swapping a ‘beauty’ regime for a ‘grooming’ regime?
• One of the judges in James Brown founder editor of lads mag ‘Loaded’. Hmm.

Anything else to consider?

What about co-host Myleene Klass - anything to add about your experiences?

‘The more I started working, the more my weight and the way I looked became an issue,’ she said. ‘I’d be told I had got a job, but only if I could lose a stone in two months. I wore make-up so thick every single day for four years that it was like a mask. I imagined that no one could possibly like me if I wasn’t wearing that mask, because I didn’t like myself without it,’ she said. ‘I was unable to leave the house without it.’

Let’s hear from one of the Miss Naked Beauty contestants, 21 year old student Shona Collins:

‘According to the fashion industry, I’m very far from what a beautiful woman should look like. I’m 5ft 4in, a size 12 to 14 - depending on the day and the shop - and have prominent teeth because of a brace I wore as a child which pushed them forward.

‘This argument that real beauty lies within is not a new argument but it is a very pertinent one. At university, I’m surrounded by beautiful, intelligent women who are miserable about the way they look. There is still a huge emphasis on how women look and the pressure on us is ridiculous.’

Any final thought from you Mr Gok Wan? (Well, this is a blog all about him and his lingerie range!)

‘I’d like to prove to every single woman watching the programme that they have the capability to enjoy being themselves. By stripping away all the façade, and getting rid of the make-up and all the bows and bangles, what’s left is women standing united and together and confident.’

Thanks Gok!

And the verdict?

Well I haven’t watched Miss Naked Beauty yet… so I’ll tell you this time next Wednesday

What do you think?

Sources here and here

In a recent Gok Wan interview (read on to the end), it was questioned whether Gok Wan having his own range of control underwear contradicted what he stood for. The argument was that Gok is all about looking good naked and embracing your natural body – being proud of curves. So they queried how Gok Wan launching his own range of corsets and tummy tuck knickers fits in with this and suggested that it was not a very pro-feminist approach.

I can see where they are coming from with this question. The corset has indeed been an oppressive item of clothing for women to wear throughout much of history (read my article Curves and Corsetry on it here). And indeed, in an ideal world, women should not need control underwear to make them feel good about themselves.

In an ideal world women would also not need make-up, false nails, high-heeled shoes, fashionable clothes, expensive hair-cuts… (the list goes on) to feel good about themselves either.

In an ideal world Gok’s services would not be required at all. There would be no market for a man whose career is based around making women feel good about themselves because women would already feel good about themselves.

But that’s just the thing; this is not exactly an ideal world.

It’s a world where women are put under unbelievable pressure every day to conform to an unattainable beauty and body ideal. And where so many women are made to feel miserable when they do not measure up.

Unfortunately, we are a long way from a society where women are no longer expected to ‘measure up’. And in the meantime women suffer with dangerous diets and go under the knife to have parts of their body made bigger or smaller in order to feel better about themselves.

In a world like this, where happiness for a lot of women remains inextricably linked to their body confidence, Gok is offering all women an easy way to feel good, with lingerie that is beautifully comfortable to wear and makes them feel confident too. Every woman should love and feel proud of her body. Every woman has the right to feel sexy! And this underwear is here to help, to give every woman those fab feelings they deserve to experience.

If anybody is on women’s side in this crazy airbrushing, body-obsessed world, Gok Wan is. If he had the time to help every woman feel proud of her own body the way it is I’m sure he would.

Sadly he can’t. But the Gok Wan underwear is the next best thing.