CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Average middle-age guy Mike Hu reveals his more "studly" self.
Last month, readers helped us pick two winners in our "You Look FAB-ulous" makeover contest. Phase I of the makeovers involved getting winners TaniaZ Voss and Mike Hu to the right places, but they had no clue where to find the likes of Aveda or Sephora.
I tried to find common ground.
"Do you know where M.A.C is? Chanel? Neiman Marcus?"
Blank. Blank. Blank.
I was speaking fashionese and it was a foreign language, especially to a guy like Hu, who prides himself on never having to buy clothes. And why should he, with Punahou School -- where he teaches science -- as his benefactor? His wardrobe consists of "Punahou golf shirts, Punahou aloha shirts, carnival shirts," he says, and when this draws guffaws, he says of the latter, "Ay, nice you know this year."
If the administration is not dressing him, then his students step in with a Reyn Spooner shirt every four years.
Let's just say our makeover experts had a lot of work to do. We assembled a local Fab Five to take care of business: Grooming guru Ralph Malani of Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa, fashionista Danny Munoz, culture vulture Riely Francis with the Honolulu Symphony, interior advisor Jonathan Staub of Mary Philpotts and Associates, and culinary connoisseur Carsie Green of Cinnamon's restaurant.
Along the way, others in the community stepped in, with Macy's providing our duo with outfits, Hawaii Wellness Institute looking out for psyches, 24-Hour Fitness offering to work on their bodies, Dr. Alvin Chung giving our winners Brite Smiles to go with bright new outlooks, and Aveda and Sephora providing gifts to help them keep up appearances.
Francis, Staub and Green have yet to get their hands on our guinea pigs, but first, the physical transformations. Read on ...
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
TaniaZ Voss, with her 2-year-old sons, Gabriel, left, and Tony, now has a new 'tude to go with her new body.
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The fabulous panel
Our panel of makeover artists was patterned after the Fab Five of television's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," which provided the inspiration for our contest.
Meet the local Fab Five:
Carsie Green, culinary connoisseur
The co-owner of Cinnamon's restaurant in Kailua will help our winners cook up a romantic repast for their spouses, drawing on all the senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.Jonathan Staub, interior advisor
A senior designer with Mary Philpotts and Associates, Staub works with commercial and residential spaces, and will help address our winners' design dilemmas.Ralph Malani, grooming guru
The senior stylist at Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa at Ala Moana Center worked in Beverly Hills before coming home to work on the "most beautiful" people in the world.Riely Francis, culture vulture
The Honolulu Symphony's principal percussionist has performed with the San Francisco and Houston symphonies, and will give our winners a lesson in music appreciation.Danny Munoz, fashionista
Growing up in Mexico City, Munoz's nickname was "Hollywood" because of his passion for clothes. He left a Silicon Valley computer tech job to pursue a more fashionable lifestyle here.
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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Mike Hu shows why he don't need no stinking clothes. Before his makeover, he worked topless at his home computer. His son, Chris, 12, was all for change.
Mike Hu
Mike Hu entered our "You Look FAB-ulous" contest on a lark, so was shocked last month to learn he'd become a finalist. His wife, Joedy, said: "He didn't really need a lot done in the first place. I thought he looked fine to begin with."
The rest of Honolulu and Punahou School's vast network of faculty, students and alumni thought otherwise, and their votes helped the 54-year-old science teacher win one of our two makeovers. Since then he's come to see himself as the Everyman representing every graying, middle-age, married dad who doesn't have the energy to invest in looking good and has basically given up.
"Since this thing began, men have been congratulating me. They like the fact that I'm an average guy who looks like they do, a little frayed at the edges.
"You know, I watch these shows like 'Queer Eye,' and they pick these young guys who look good to begin with, and I'm thinking, 'This guy can do all this stuff because he doesn't have kids, he's not married, he doesn't have a life!'
"My life is involved with kids, my job, my spouse and taking care of aging parents. I don't get home until 8 or 9 at night, and at that point I don't care if my hair is gelled or if I use a shampoo with a color conditioner."
Hu sounded like a tough case, and we learned how tough when KHON/Fox reporter Emily Chang, a Punahou grad, picked up on the story. Her video clip showed Hu in puka shirts, and his closet full of wardrobe relics dating to the early '70s. The horror! But what do you expect from a science dweeb?
We would soon learn he washes his hair with soap and uses his wife's leg razor on his face. Stylist Ralph Malani said, "I don't know what I'm going to do with that guy." But in the end he came through, texturizing Hu's heavy locks to lighten the chunky "helmet" that made his face look heavy and round.
"I made it a little more spiky to update his look," said Malani, who used dark brown hair coloring to blend away Hu's gray. "I didn't want to do anything too trendy but made it easy to keep up if that's all he wants to do," especially because Hu is accustomed to $10 barber cuts. (At Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa, a men's haircut starts at $28; coloring starts at $50.) The result? Hu said he felt 20 years younger and 20 pounds lighter.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
At Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa, Ralph Malani, right, eliminates Mike Hu's helmet hair, updating his look and covering his gray. As a result, Hu looks and feels younger and thinner.
NEXT, Danny Munoz helped him prepare for a fall trip by introducing him to the concept of dressing for seasons, choosing Ralph Lauren polo shirts in burgundy and hunter green at Macy's. Hu could layer these with a textured sweater Munoz found for $165, and a pair of $75 "comfy-fit" jeans that could take him from his chauffeur-dad routine to the classroom.
Avoiding retail outlets since the '70s left Hu shocked by the Polo shirt's price, $52.50. At the same time, he was pleasantly surprised to learn the Alfani shoes he liked were a mere $79.99.
"I never would have picked these things for myself," Hu said. "It really helps to have a fresh eye. It can't be you, and it can't be your wife, because you're used to seeing yourself the same way."
But trying to shop without Munoz later left him confused, and he plans to make use of Macy's free personal shopper service on future trips.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
At Macy's Ala Moana, Danny Munoz, right, picks out shirts in fall colors for Mike Hu to try on. Hu usually wears Punahou's buff and blue because the self-professed "cheap Chinese man" says the school provides them for free.
DR. ALVIN CHUNG'S work on whitening Hu's teeth left an impression that Hu imagines will stay with him longest. "He showed me the shades of yellow teeth, and mine were off the charts, all cola-stained."
Hu's teeth ended up seven shades lighter, and he e-mailed right after the appointment: "Haven't reached the Julia Roberts smile yet, but I'm getting there. Cowabunga!!"
He says he now walks around the Punahou campus grinning like the Cheshire cat. "I always smiled," he said, "but now I smile more."
And his students have noticed the changes. Noelle Chun, a senior who has covered Hu's story in the school paper, Ka Punahou, said: "You could see a definite difference. His new hair makes him look younger, a little more hip.
"What's funny is that his appearance is changing, but his mannerisms are the same. It would be really cool if this experience dramatically affects him, gives him an epiphany, so at midlife it would all come together. But," she said wistfully, "I'd miss the Mr. Hu he is."
And, as hard-core oblivious as Hu can seem, his mind-set may be changing. Comparing fashion trends to computers, he said: "If you don't keep up with the next operating system, you're gonna fall behind. But if someone shows you what to do, that's a start."
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COURTESY OF VOSS FAMILY
Just seven months ago, TaniaZ Voss weighed 297 pounds. She is down to 185 and is aiming for 160.
TaniaZ Voss
TaniaZ Voss's makeover journey began long before her husband nominated her for our contest. He felt it would boost her self-esteem, saying she had lost a lot of weight -- 100 pounds, to be exact -- but after going from a size 32 to size 14, she was still wearing her same oversize clothing, "just with a belt."
Voss, 31 and 5 feet 10 inches tall, said she started picking up weight at 21. "I was an emotional eater and always busy, so I would always be grabbing fast food."
It didn't help that she worked in restaurants and banquet halls, always picking up rich foods. But she gained 70 pounds rapidly when she became pregnant with twins, and never lost that weight after giving birth two years ago.
Then, seven months ago, she underwent gastric bypass surgery at Tripler, after it was determined she'd otherwise end up in a wheelchair from damage caused by the weight on her feet and knees. Before that, she had tried all kinds of diets, including medically supervised diets, to avoid the surgery, a last resort for the morbidly obese.
Voss said it was difficult to eat until she healed, but is surprised by how little food the body needs. "I feel like I eat regular, but now I try to pay attention to portion size, you know, limit myself to the kind of portion that I would laugh about before.
"Even with the surgery, there are ways to sabotage yourself. You still have to change what's inside your head, because even with the surgery, you can still eat high-calorie foods, you can still overeat.
"Surgery is only a tool that I used to get the weight off, but it will still take lifelong discipline to maintain."
One of the benefits of the surgery, she said, was that it brought about immediate results, and "because I could see results, I wanted to keep going." Others did not notice until she had lost 50 pounds. At that point her energy level shot up. "I needed that because I didn't get out as much with (the twins). Now I wake up at 5 a.m. and go walking."
DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Makeover experts Riely Francis, left, Ralph Malani, Carsie Green and Jon Staub meet TaniaZ Voss before her makeover. Below left, Voss wears a Liz Claiborne ensemble ($150) with an Alfani purse ($92) from Macy's Ala Moana, chosen for her by fashionista Danny Munoz.
ALL THIS ADVANCE work made her the perfect candidate for our makeover, though she was slightly embarrassed to learn her husband Michael had entered her in the contest. But she was eager to build on the work she had started and walked into Aveda Lifestyle & Spa in oversize pants -- just as Michael had described -- bunched up at her middle, where she had lost 13 inches of fat.
Stylist Ralph Malani was ready. "The moment I saw her, I knew what to do," he said.
She arrived with stringy, mousy brown hair down to her okole. "There was some other color at the ends that had faded out, and my feeling was she has such a pretty face, but her hair was dragging her down and making her appear so much older than she is," Malani said.
Voss was open to a haircut, and more than a foot was lopped off. "She didn't even blink," Malani said. "She just sat there and smiled through the whole thing."
He also envisioned her as a redhead and chose three shades of red violet for head-turning effect.
"Right away it made her look so much younger and prettier," Malani said. "I think she was hiding behind her hair when she was bigger, and now that she's got a body to show off, her hair is helping."
The trip to the salon and mall was an eye-opening experience as Voss started noticing what other women were wearing.
"I felt really good after losing weight, but I was hanging on to my clothes because, well, you don't know, and then you're scared to go into a store. The best part about starting at Aveda was the people there treated me like gold."
With bolstered confidence, it was time for a date with fashionista Danny Munoz, whom she sent in search of three outfits: an ensemble to help her make the transition into the workplace when her twins are old enough, a run-around outfit appropriate for mom duties and an evening ensemble for dates with hubby.
Inside Macy's, Munoz put her in a Liz & Co. T-shirt ($40) and Liz Claiborne jogging suit ($130) with hip-slimming square-cut pants. It was a look that managed to be casual, practical and stylish.
Her work ensemble included a calf-length Liz Claiborne square-cut skirt ($90) in gray, with a Liz Claiborne white blouse ($60) more form-fitting than she is accustomed to wearing. The blouse, which fit snug around her armholes, gave the illusion of longer arms.
Voss decided to purchase a $138 black A-line Donna Ricco dress that Munoz chose, which offered a sophisticated evening look with its fitted bodice and nipped waist.
DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ralph Malani cut off more than a foot of Taniaz Voss' stringy locks, then colored her hair a sassy red-violet.
DAYS AFTER THE salon and shopping trips, Voss confessed: "Before, I was scared to go to a department store. Now I'm ready to go shopping. I'm dangerous. You've made a monster! I've cleared out my closet so everything that I wore with a belt is now gone."
She's picked out a few outfits to replace her old clothes, plus a sassy J.Lo-style newsboy cap.
"Before, I kinda wanted to hide. You get the comfort of fat around you, and you hide. Now, I'm kinda loud. I'm kinda out there. I mean, I've always done volunteer work and always taught and been in front of people, but now there's a completely different reception; now they really pay attention."
And Michael has been supportive. "I've always loved long hair, so when she said she was thinking about cutting it, I was apprehensive, but it turned out so incredibly beautiful."
He doesn't even mind springing for new clothes. "I look at it as an adventure," he said. "We don't have a lot of money, but every two weeks we might go shop for an outfit together.
"And I'm just praising her because when you start to see yourself differently, you can start to make positive change happen."
Related articles:
2003.10.13: You look FAB-ulous! Contest
2003.10.24: Winners to be polished
2003.11.16: Maintaining the makeover
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