Show gives woman a new look

By Lynn Taylor Rick, Journal staff | Sunday, July 27, 2008

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

How does Cally Finney look now? You’ll have to wait until July 10 to find out.

That’s the day Finney, the daughter of Mary Havener of Rapid City, appears on the E Entertainment Style Network show “How Do I Look?”

“How Do I Look?” takes style-challenged Americans and transforms them in front of the camera. Recent episodes of the show, hosted by Finola Hughes, included a busty preschool teacher with a penchant for plunging necklines and a reluctant raver who needed a more adult look.

Finney, 34, lives and works as a missionary for a nonprofit Christian humanitarian organization in Texas. In addition to waist-length dreadlocks, Finney hadn’t purchased a new piece of clothing in years. Instead, she bought secondhand and frequently pulled discarded clothes from trash bins. She sewed and pieced together her wardrobe, a style she describes as a bohemian/gypsy/hippy look.

“I enjoy being a girl. Sometimes I put on lipstick and put flowers in my hair, but I wouldn’t say that I was ever very trendy,” she said. “Going to a thrift store like Goodwill would be like splurging.”

Finney’s look was something that Havener had grown accustomed to, but as a mother, she wanted her daughter to be recognized for the “amazing” woman she is rather than judged for her appearance.   

“They were very funky and hip,” she said of Finney’s clothes. “I just thought it was time to get a more mature look.”

So when Finney called her mom and told her about the chance to apply for “How Do I Look?” Havener agreed to write the initial letter.

The show interviewed Finney and asked for a video statement from Havener. Eventually, the mother/daughter team received notice that the show had chosen them.

Finney believes a big reason they were picked is the contrast between mom and daughter.

“My mom’s a real fancy lady and she’s kind of a glamour girl, and I’m just totally the opposite,” she said.

The show may have also been attracted to the mother/daughter backstory.

Havener had Finney at age 20, struggling to raise her daughter as a single mom. She remembers dressing her daughter as a “mini-me” and admits she made mistakes as a young mother. When the teenage years hit, Finney rebelled against her mother in both style choices and life choices.

“When I was a teenager, I was kind of a wild child and I ended up on my own,” Finney said.

In fact, Finney was living on her own by age 16.

Eventually, she became a hairdresser like her mother, married and had children of her own. She now works as a missionary for unwed mothers.

Havener calls her daughter and the missionary work she does extraordinary. “That little girl is out to save the world,” she said. “I’m so in awe of her and so humbled by her.”   

“How Do I Look?” flew Finney, Havener and Finney’s friend to Los Angeles in March for the taping of the show. Havener and Finney’s friend served as accomplices, offering comments about Finney’s look and shopping for a new wardrobe for her.

The mother/daughter duo can say little about the outcome of the show, but both had a blast.

“I really tried to have an open mind about it and it was a fun experience,” Finney said. “All of the people on the show … made me feel really special,” she said. “It was all about having a good experience … They didn’t at all try to change who I was. It was meant to be a very positive experience and it really was.”

For Havener, the best part of the experience was the time spent with her daughter. The network put the three women in a luxury hotel and escorted them around town. “I was so excited that we got to go be together,” Havener said.

For now, friends and family will have to watch the episode to see how it all went and what Cally looks like now.

“I’m not allowed to tell you what I look like,” Finney said. But she will admit one thing: Friends and family were wowed by the results.

“They were shocked,” she said. “People didn’t recognize me.”

Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com or 394-8414.