Clinton Kelly has decided it’s time to let people do what they want. The world has evolved, and so has Kelly. 

In 2003, Kelly, BC ’91, was cast as the host of the fashion reality TV show What Not To Wear. Last spring, over 10 years after the show ended, he launched a new show called Wear Whatever the F You Want.

The show, which premiered in April 2025, has changed the narrative surrounding style by removing the pressures associated with fashion. The main focus? Helping people express their authentic selves.

Yet, at first, Kelly was unsure of who he wanted to become.

During his time at Boston College, Kelly changed his major several times. After exploring many different paths, he ended up finding his passion for writing.

“I just felt like I found myself finally, so that’s when I dropped environmental geosciences so I could take as many writing classes as I wanted,” Kelly said.

After graduating from BC with a degree in communications, Kelly continued pursuing writing at Northwestern University. He earned his masters in journalism, with the hopes of working in magazine publishing. 

At the time, magazines were as important as social media is today, according to Kelly.

“At the time, magazines were everything,” Kelly said.

In 1993, Kelly moved to New York City, N.Y., with the goal of writing a novel. But because of NYC’s high rent, he had to put that dream on hold, at least temporarily. 

Instead, Kelly began looking for writing jobs around the city so he could pay his bills.

“I knew that I just couldn’t sit around writing a novel, so I decided to become a freelance writer,” Kelly said. 

From there, he changed jobs every year, moving from a freelance writer to an editorial assistant and working his way up. Eventually, Kelly got his start in the television world as an online shopping host. 

Jennifer Dempster, a friend of Kelly’s, met him while he was making his television debut. She attributes Kelly’s success to his fearlessness, work ethic, and willingness to take risks.

“He was not afraid to pivot if he missed an opportunity or didn’t like something,” Dempster said. 

Kelly soon turned back to writing, taking an editorial role at a fashion magazine. Still, he remained uncertain about the trajectory of his career. 

One day, according to Kelly, he said to the universe, “I don’t know what I want to do with the rest of my life, but if you point me in the right direction, I promise to follow.

Kelly soon received his answer. 

,Just a couple weeks later, a casting agent emailed Kelly. They were searching for the new host of the show What Not to Wear. Kelly emailed the agent his resume, and within two weeks, he was on TV working the job that ended up spanning the next decade of his career.

“My life changed so much in those 10 years,” Kelly said. “It was crazy, and it was just because I was open to the new experience.”

During his time on What Not To Wear, Kelly and his cohost, Stacy London, helped revamp the wardrobes of those in need of a style upgrade. 

Especially during the early 2000s, during which the show was filmed, clothes were seen as an instrument to help “crack the code on life,” according to Kelly.

“There was a game that you played,” Kelly said. “You wanted a raise? You dressed a certain way. You wanted to meet a certain kind of guy? You dressed a certain kind of way. And I was sort of helping women crack that code.”

Kelly was having fun, helping others, and entertaining the public. The audience began to become charmed by his enthusiasm, and people started to come up to him daily, expressing their admiration. 

“I wish everyone could experience what that’s like,” Kelly said.

He admitted that the attention took a while to get used to, yet ultimately realized that publicity doesn’t always have to be viewed negatively. 

“I realized that people are kind of sweet, and there’s so little negativity that comes with being me,” Kelly said. 

Lauren Galit, a literary agent at LKG Agency and close friend of Kelly’s, met him while he was working at a publishing company.

She noted how What Not to Wear provided Kelly the opportunity to do what he had always desired to do: help people become their authentic selves. 

“He has always had this notion of bringing out a woman’s, or man’s self-confidence and making them the best version of themselves,” Galit said. 

In this new role, Kelly was able to create relationships with book editors and wrote his first book: Freakin’ Fabulous: How to Dress, Speak, Behave, Eat, Entertain, Decorate, and Generally Be Better than Everyone Else. It was a huge success, paving the way for Kelly to write several more. 

He eventually wrote a book of short stories about his life titled I Hate Everyone, Except You, where he opens up about himself through authentic stories about his life. Kelly described this book as the most accurate reflection of who he is as a person. 

After What Not To Wear ended in 2013, Kelly went on to achieve more success in publishing and television, including working on The Chew, a food lifestyle series. 

But the What Not to Wear legacy lived on—eople continued begging Kelly to bring the show back. 

“The world has changed so much and I have changed so much,” Kelly said. “The only show I would ever host right now would have to be called ‘Wear Whatever the F You Want.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea for a show.”

So, Kelly, along with his old cohost Stacy London, started Wear Whatever the F You Want. 

Kelly felt this new series aligned with him and his mission much more than the previous series— rather than trying to change people, they were helping them become the people they wanted to be. 

“What I like to do is help people create a version of themselves that they find inspiring and energizing,” Kelly said. “It’s more like coaching than demanding that you do as I say.” 

Rather than being nominated for the show like contestants on What Not To Wear, contestants on Wear Whatever the F You Want chose to be on the show because they want to upgrade their personal style. 

This distinction makes all the difference, according to Kelly. 

“You cannot change somebody who doesn’t want to be changed,” Kelly said. 

Kelly enjoys working with Stacy to help people craft a style that reflects who they are as individuals. 

“It’s a real honor to be invited into someone’s life like that where they are like, ‘I trust you enough to shape me—who I am as a person or at least my exterior image that I’m going to be showing to the rest of the world,’” Kelly said. “It’s really an intimate experience, and when it works, it really is exciting and fun.”

Galit attributes the level of trust people place in Kelly to his ability to communicate with kindness, accuracy, and humor both on air and in his books.

“You can take advice from him, whether it’s about speaking or fashion, and not feel judged,” Galit said. 

The show couldn’t be more aligned with who Kelly is, according to Dempster. 

“Allowing people to really embrace who they are authentically, ” Dempster said of the show’s focus. “Because Clinton is authentic.”

As someone with such a distinguished and strongly developed sense of personal style, Kelly doesn’t view clothes as practical items to simply pull out of your closet and put on your body. Instead, he sees clothes as means for achieving your goals.

“Clothes are tools, and they can help you get what you want out of life,” Kelly said. “So you have to ask yourself, what do I want out of life? And are clothes the tools that I can use to help me get there?”