Va. Beach fitness trainer get makeover from TLC's ''What Not To Wear''

Strangers stuffed Melissa Buzzell's clothes into trash bags and carted them away. Then they snipped off her long, blond hair.

She was delighted.

The team from the TLC cable show "What Not to Wear" gave Buzzell, a 23-year-old Virginia Beach fitness trainer, a makeover in December. The show airs at 9 tonight.

"It's an honor," said Buzell, who works at Inlet Fitness South, "but at the same time, it's like, 'Wow, I must dress bad.' "

The popular cable show was looking for a makeover candidate they could link to the American Heart Association's February "Go Red for Women" campaign.

Buzzell filled the bill. The Northern Virginia native was born with a faulty heart valve and suffered a heart attack at age 19 while a student at Chowan University in North Carolina.

"I was playing softball in college and literally dropped dead on the field."

The valve was fixed, and Buzzell said simply, "I'm all better now."

One of her Inlet co-workers nominated her for the show.

"I wear a lot of workout clothes," Buzzell said. "That's all I ever wear."

The TLC team taped "secret footage of me for three weeks," Buzzell said. "That's the part that gets me the most."

In early December, she was surprised at work by the show's hosts, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly.

"I knew them right away," Buzzell said. "I'd seen the show dozens of times."

The team loaded her clothes into trash bags and donated them to charity, then took Buzzell to New York City for a week of advice and shopping, with a $5,000 budget.

They gave her tips about choosing clothes for her short, muscular body. The new rules: No light-wash jeans or low-rise jeans because they make her look shorter. No spaghetti straps because they make her torso look stocky.

The new look: "Lots of dark denim, a lot of little fitted jackets. They're really big on fitted jackets. Before, I wore tennis shoes all the time, now it's more heels and slacks."

The biggest change came from a New York hairstylist, who chopped off the blond hair that fell to the middle of Buzzell's back.

"They cut it right to my chin and made it dark, dark, dark brown."

All to the good.

"I love the look," Buzzell said. "I went and got my hair cut again yesterday."

Roberta T. Vowell, (757) 446-2327, roberta.vowell@pilotonline.com