How Fashion Is Represented On Television

Lately, I've noticed how poorly fashion is represented in the entertainment industry. Yes, there's brief red carpet recaps and competitive reality shows, but that's really where it ends. Personally, I can only tolerate the constant makeover shows for a short period of time. I have yet to find a show that is made for people who are passionately interested in the fashion industry where designer's collections or new trends are discussed. And the shows that do try to touch on these subjects come off insulting with their shallow representatives.

Back in the fall of 2010, E! announced that their special of "Fashion Police" would air every Friday night. I was so excited to watch a show with weekly fashion updates. What could go wrong? The show would include four cast members who would discuss different red carpet looks, new trends, and name the best and worst looks of the week. It all seemed like a fun idea until I saw who the cast members were. First off, I can deal with Joan Rivers and Giuliana Rancic. I actually really like them. Joan is a comedian, but she's been doing red carpet specials for years. In fact, her raunchy humor is a big help to the show and its ratings. Giuliana works for E! news and co-hosts mostly all of the red carpet events. She has a fun personality, cute style, and actually sees all of the styles in person.

On "Fashion Police", there's not much credible experience in fashion. George Kotsiopoulos may be a stylist, but is a serious downgrade from Jay Manuel who used to be part of E!'s fashion coverage. Then, there's Kelly Osbourne. It's hard to sit still while Osbourne (who's claim to fame is that she lost weight and was on DWTS)name drops and brings up her 2004 feud with Christina Aguilera. Really?!

When one of these cast members is absent, their substitute is some D-List reality star. Because according to who's ever running this show, fashion has no serious substance. If you feel this way, watch and listen to Queen Meryl Streep's speech. Last week, the show redeemed itself a little when the guest was Kimora Lee Simons. It was interesting to hear Kimora's opinions seeing as she's a designer and a former model. I'm not asking for prestigious legends like Karl Lagerfeld or Anna Wintour. Just people who have earned their success and know fashion.

I really don't hate E!(it's actually my favorite network) or any of the people mentioned. It's just annoying to see something you love treated so terribly. I mean one of the show's regular segments is called "Rack Report." Do we really need to be notified when an actress wears a low cut dress? Recently, it was announced that Nicole Richie, Jessica Simpson, and John Varvatos will be starring in NBC's "Fashion Star". The Simpson part is a little questionable but I guess it's better than a Kardashian or another reality star. Besides, Richie is the perfect person to mix entertainment and fashion. NBC scored with The Voice, here's to hoping they can do it again while shining a positive light on fashion. Until then, maybe I should give Project Runway a shot?

"I think what I often see is that people are frightened of fashion and that, because it scares them or it makes them feel insecure, they put it down. On the whole, people that say demeaning things about our world-I think that's usually because they feel in some ways excluded or not part of the cool group, so as a result they just mock it."

-Anna Wintour