Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine’s What Not To Wear book has left TikTokers in hysterics after the pair’s advice for women who want to disguise their ‘uncontrollable girth’ resurfaced online.
In 2002, the hosts of the hit BBC series published a comprehensive 160-page wardrobe guide to accompany their show – which had just been renewed for a another season.
Earlier this week, TikTok user Aimee, from the UK, began sharing chapters from the 21-year-old book after snapping up a second-hand copy.
Introducing her first of three videos, Aimee told her 1,600 followers: ‘So if anyone is else is a millennial and can remember these two, I’ve bought the b****y book – haven’t I?’
To begin with, the unimpressed reader honed in on the names of the 10 chapters – ‘Big T**s’, ‘No t**s’, ‘Big Arms’, ‘Big Bum’, ‘No Waist’, ‘Short Legs’, ‘Flabby Tummy’, ‘Saddlebags’, ‘Short Neck’, ‘Thick Ankles and Calves’.
TikTok user Aimee, from the UK, snapped up a copy of Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine’s What Not to Wear book from 2002
Delving into the ‘Big T**s’ chapter first, Aimee highlighted how Trinny and Susannah advised women with larger cup sizes avoid high neck and sleeveless tops at all costs.
Alongside a photo of Susannah modelling an example, the pair warned: ‘[It] makes t**s look like balloons semi-filled with water.’
Instead, the duo recommended a scooped-neck top as they ‘prevent your t**s looking like they are an extension of your chin’.
Elsewhere, they also urged women who are self-conscious of their upper arms not to wear puff sleeves.
They wrote at the time: ‘Elastic sleeves will create two very fat sausages as opposed to one.’
Later on in the ‘Big Arms’ chapter, the fashion experts instructed curvier readers avoid spaghetti straps.
Providing their reasoning, the fashion experts said: ‘The delicacy of these filigree strings only highlights the enormity of your upper arms.’
Reading out the couple’s advice, Aimee – who was struggling to contain her laughter – said: ‘I mean, f***ing hell.’
In the book, they duo urged curvier women to avoid ‘too tight jeans’. This page featured an image of Trinny looking disapprovingly at a model
Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine hosted the hit BBC series What Not to Wear from 2001 to 2023
Aimee’s first video ends up with her zooming in on a photo of Susannah modelling a skintight printed dress – before then urging other women to avoid wearing Lycra.
They then warned: ‘You look like too much meat stuffed into a sausage skin.’
‘What a gem this book is,’ Aimee wrote in the caption. ‘2002 realness.’
After her first clip racked up over 830,000 views, Aimee then filmed a follow-up and joked in the introduction: ‘Hi guys, welcome back to “why every millennial has got body dysmorphia”.
To begin with, the TikToker took issue with the pair’s advice to curvier women regarding belted coats.
The pair also warned that curvier women should avoid fabrics like Lycra and assered they make wearers look like ‘too much meat stuffed into a sausage skin’
They wrote at the time: ‘The belt creates gathers that increase the width of your uncontrollable girth.’
What’s more, they also warned against tight-fitting vests as they ‘always ride up over the rolls to reveal a pillow of flab hanging over your waistband.’
In the introduction of the ‘Flabby Tummy’ chapter, Aimee poked fun at the authors – who argued that most women are ‘burdened by flab that has a life of its own’.
The chapter also features an image of Trinny looking disapprovingly at a model wearing a pair of ‘too tight’ jeans.
Aimee’s videos have amassed over one million views in the past two days. One follower joked that she deserved a ‘handwritten apology’ from the hosts while others said they watched the show as impressionable children
Demonstrating how this is something readers shouldn’t wear, the pair wrote: ‘The stomach spills over the garroting waistband.’
Offering a solution, Trinny and Susannah suggested women wear a pair of control pants instead – which Aimee joked ‘will make [wearers] feel like they need a p*** every two minutes.’
In the ‘Short Legs’ chapter, the duo advised women avoid wearing ‘anything too tight’ on their bottom half.
The warning read: ‘[It] will clutch around the bum, giving away the terrible secret of having a bum that almost drags along the floor.’
Meanwhile, women with smaller chests were told not to wear empire lines.
Next to a photo of Trinny modeling the style, the said these ‘hang like a habit on a nun from a very strict order’.
In her most recent video, Aimee took issue with Trinny and Susannah telling readers with short necks that wearing chokers will make them they’re ‘dense bull terrier’ in a dog collar.
Meanwhile, they also went on to advise women with ‘larger’ arms avoid tops with capped-sleeves.
‘On big arms, they look like a stretched swimming cap on a mountain of flesh,’ they wrote.
Aimee’s videos have racked up over one million views in the past two days – and viewers were horrified by the outdated advice.
One joked: ‘Trinny and Susannah owe me a handwritten apology.’
Another added: ‘The way I watched these women religiously when I was nine.’
‘OMG stop, a third said. ‘I spent SO long obsessing over my grandma’s copy of this when I was like nine, it was like a bible in our home.’
‘This is why I refuse to support Trinny’s beauty brand now,’ a fourth said. ‘They ruined my youth man.’
Trinny Woodal and Susannah Constantine hosted What Not To Wear for five seasons from 2001 – before the show was relaunched with former fashion model Lisa Butcher and singer Mica Paris as hosts in 2004.
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