Photo Credit: Alan Light
Not everybody has been talking nice about the Queen of Daytime Talk lately, especially about her own backyard.
Beside award-winning TV show host Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios in Chicago is a specialty store that sells the designer clothes that she wears in her shows. Okay, everybody wants to have a piece of the celebrity. But the glitter seems to have rubbed off when a blogger, Matthew Greenberg, visited and reviewed the place in his TrueSlant.com column, “Worst Episode Ever”.
Greenberg had no problems with the architecture and interior design of the store. As expected from the host, the shop’s urban and chic vibe strongly embodies the influence and wealth that spells O-P-R-A-H.
But wait til’ you try do some things. Want to take photos? It’s prohibited. The blogger reported that he was cautioned by a sales clerk when he snapped his camera. He was advised instead to go to a couch that had been used in the show’s set in the 1990s. The clerk said he could take as many pictures as he liked around the couch area.
Oprah’s Closet, a literal closet that contains the set of designer clothes that the store highlights to its potential shoppers, was reported to have less than a dozen items which are “not much to fall in love with.”
Worse, the sales staff does not allow shoppers to try them on. When Greenberg asked why, the clerk said they “want to preserve the integrity of the items and ensure that Oprah was the last person to wear them.”
Such strict ruling is blanketed by a humanitarian notice saying that the proceeds of the clothes will benefit Oprah’s Angel Network of charities.
The Oprah Store review sparked angry comments from online readers. In the fashion section of NYMAG website, a fan said, “This is absolutely ridiculous! OK, Oprah has worn them, I love Oprah, but she’s not GOD, by any means.” Another reader added, “Her EGO has gone too big.”
Greenberg sees Oprah’s store as a representation of the contradiction in the host’s personality, suggesting it’s a strange union between the Oprah who wants to transform and make everyone’s lives better and the Oprah who rakes in $400 million a year and keeps on buttressing her now-powerful name.
As the blogger put it, “there’s the noble effort to draw attention and money to charitable works, but it’s surrounded by the ego that stamps the Oprah name on every set of yoga leggings and slipper-socks under the sun.” (Jezriel M)
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