Posts Tagged: reality tv

fashion — 4 Comments
1
Feb 08

No PR This Week

Project Runway takes a break this week. Next week, they will go where no designer has gone before. At least the promos make it out to be making clothes for professional wrestlers.

While everyone’s favorite fashionista program is grasping at straws these days, another one seems to be growing on people, including yours truly. The best way I can describe “Make Me A Supermodel” is that it’s like America’s Next Top Model, but more equal opportunity. While Tyra and company will point to that they audition people of all colors, the only people they offer the opportunity are women. Tyson Beckford and company, however, level the playing field and give men the chance to compete along side the female contestants.

Tyson, a supermodel in his own right, doesn’t have Tyra’s campy charisma. Sometimes, he’s downright intimidating, especially during panel. He has a deep voice with the hint of a growl, so when he tells the models they’re in or if they’re up to the public’s vote, he comes across as the voice of God.

While Project Runway only offers glimpses of male flesh, there’s no shortage of it on “Make Me A Supermodel.” For the straight viewers, there’s also women in various stages of undress. In this week’s episode, the models take it off at Parson’s and later at a performance art piece.

Which model do I like the most? Ronnie – he’s adorable!

Every episode, the public gets to vote on which of the bottom three gets to stay. This feature of the show is very time sensitive and it’s amazing that they put the show together so quickly. I voted for Casey – he has that Joe Dallesandro vibe.

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25
Jan 08

Project Runway: Even Designers Get The Blues

Here is this week’s episode, scientifically reduced to pill form.

Little did the designers know in this week’s episode is that they would be jazzing for blue jeans. Last season, when Tim Gunn took those designers on a field trip to a warehouse, they had to create a garment made of recyclable materials. These designers get to recycle, but it’s not as green as the last challenge. They have to reinvent however many pairs of Levi’s they can grab from clotheslines suspended over a very dirty floor.

Jillian is obviously running on a creative high from last week’s trench coat. She decides to recreate the magic with a more futuristic design, only to find Victorya also attempting to make a coat. It’s hard to tell if Victorya has a similar inspired buzz as Jillian’s or if this is a case of plagiarism. The big problem with Victorya’s is that she adds on elements to an existing jacket torso, and it’s there for everyone to see.

Sweet P initially sets out to create a wedding dress, but heeds Tim Gunn’s advice and makes something more wearable. It’s a sheath, but at least she saved herself to do something more ambitious in the weeks to come.

Rami doesn’t quite identify with the iconic value of denim, but he works with it as a material and creates something that wows the judges, who have gotten sick of his draping. He creates an elegant cocktail dress, and he does something very similar to what Jeffrey Sebelia did on his Fashion Week show – zippers along the seams.

That lightning bolt has definitely protected Harry Potter many times, culminating in immunity this week. He reinvents the jacket in his usual ruffly manner, but he also creates a pair of jeans and uses jacket cuffs for the legs. It’s the most original and both are sellable as separates, but doesn’t stand out.

Chris March has definitely succeed Bjork Lady as the resident wacko. While she had a variety of things at her disposal (handsewing, spit-marking, a surprising dose of sexual puritanism, using grass stains on her fabrics), Chris March speaks to and listens to his garments. While there is a metaphoric approach about how projects speak to you and how it tells you its finished, he has taken it to a literal level. He must have also had the phone line to Kevin, as he had a few frayed seams that he didn’t want to change.

Ricky has a breakdown this week. While Jillian is the queen of the workroom meltdown, Ricky has chosen the runway as his platform. This time, he responds to positive criticism this way, as he has been through the roller coaster this whole season with the judges often hating his work. Micheal Kors can’t resist talking about Amy Winehouse in reference to the dress and the model’s hair. His attempt at a cocktail dress succeeds and he wins the challenge, vindicating himself from Harry Potter’s earlier bitchy stares.

Between someone with a not so fabulous coat and someone who slapped one together with a literal jacket, the latter goes home. Alas, Victorya goes home.

Rate the runway! Check out the looks for yourself.

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22
Jan 08

Project Runway: En Garde!

Here is a recap of the episode, scientifically reduced to pill form:

This has now become Project Burnout. As each new challenge is revealed and as Tim Gunn reveals more details and even more last minute details, no one is excited. In fact, some are pissed. I can’t quite blame them after being sleep deprived, facing break-neck studio schedules, and constant verbal abuse from the judges. Episode 8‘s challenge met with much enthusiasm? Create an avant-garde dress based on a model’s hairstyle.

Given that, all seems to be going well when they start working on their dresses. Chris March and Harry Potter team up to create a layered, ruffled dress with a Mickey Mouse ear on top of one shoulder, while Kit Pistol and Ricky seem to thrive on creative energy from the collaboration (“the girl in me and the bitch in you” in Ricky’s words). Victorya and Jillian both are initially uneasy about assuming team leadership, but the role ultimately goes to Jillian. Unlike Victorya’s previous team (with Ricky), this one is more productive with them creating a fabulous trench coat (while falling desperately behind on other pieces). While Rami and Sweet P are initially happy to be working together, this doesn’t last too long as Rami’s not willing to listen Sweet P’s ideas.

In the midst of working on this couture-like assignment, the designers receive a visit from Tim Gunn, who surprisingly drops a bomb: they must create a second dress, a ready to wear version of the first. And it must be done the next day. None of them are happy, especially Harry Potter, whose “How dare you” expression clearly replaces his usual affected indifference. However, no one bitches for too long, as they have deadlines to meet. However, Jillian has a brief meltdown at the sewing machine.

With Bjork Lady gone, Chris is now the official resident eccentric. When he builds the epaulet for the dress, he jokes about it being a cell phone tower. He also says he has instructions from Elisa. Next week’s trailer hints that he has more silliness for us.

Rami fills a shirt quite nicely, and we’ve seen in a past episode that he unfills it just as well.

Jillian is able to pull it together and barely stitch things up in time.

Despite Harry Potter’s initial reaction to the second challenge, he creates a definitely wearable version of the big, poofy dress. His counting on Chris March to help him create simply utterly wacky pays off, as Michael Kors and Nina Garcia love it. The guys also win the challenge, though Michael Kors can’t resist pointing out that the pencil skirt on the ready to wear outfit is throwaway. However, that the blouse can be worn with anything, including the run of the mill skirt, shows that it is succeeding.

Jillian and Victorya’s punk rock/equestrian look is the best one. The ready to wear version doesn’t have as much hanger appeal, but it would still spark conversations at a cocktail party.

Kit Pistol and Ricky had a great hairstyle to work with, the model with the birdnesty hair. They could have created something more sensuous than a hoop dress (which was too quilty, and not in an interesting Jay way). The ready to wear version is an undersized baby doll/chemise hybrid that looks like it could be picked up in some very cheap store in LA’s Garment District. Alas, punk rock girl Kit goes home, while Ricky is guaranteed to eventually break out singing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Goes On…” and beating his chest at the same time. Well, he is good to go on having another teary moment in the work room or the runway.

Rami’s drapey number was, well, interesting. He creates a corset (an unusual move) framed by flowing fabric. Sweet P created the pants underneath and she also created the ready to wear version, which has incredible hanger appeal and any woman would want to wear it. Rami’s avant-garde version is very reminiscent of Jean-Paul Gaultier, as it looks like it wouldn’t be out of place on Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour or The Fifth Element. Perhaps the derivative nature is more the reason why Rami’s dress doesn’t succeed instead of the judges trying to say he’s a one note with the draping. Thankfully, he and Sweet P are still in the running (I didn’t want to see either of them go).

Sorry for the late post, but I hope this whets your appetite for tomorrow’s episode, where Chris March is confirmed to carry the torch of Bjork Lady’s silliness. Also, check out Episode 8′s runway and rate the outfits.

fashion / television — 3 Comments
10
Jan 08

Project Runway: What A Girl Wants

Here’s a scientifically reduced version of last night’s episode, in palatable pill form.

Okay, I got a little happy with the video widgets. Bravo‘s made them available this season, though it would have been nicer to have it earlier this year. Here, in the recap video, we get treated to Rami in a towel.

Last week, the designers had a chance to create Pop Art couture, or at least stuff delicious enough to eat. Here, they have the challenge of creating prom dresses for 21st century girls.

Some embrace the challenge, while others have a hard time. They should have watched Pretty In Pink for some inspiration. On some level, that hits home for Ricky, as he made his high school girlfriend’s prom dress (which should have been a clue). This time around, he makes a beige pillow for someone else’s girlfriend, and Michael Kors shoots it down for being too bland. He, however, creates the dress she wants. More importantly, it’s what the girl inside him wants.

The lightening bolt on Harry Potter‘s head must have provided him with some protection, as he gets a difficult client (under different circumstances, they’d be good friends). She has her own ideas about the dress and even draws them on his paper. Then, there’s the issue of him not embracing the challenge, despite his claim of being the best dressed at his prom. Even the defeatist attitude he displays after having the fashion designer’s equivalent of writer’s block isn’t enough to doom him.

The big surprise is that Kevin gets eliminated. He’s done some good work and his sewing has been impeccable, but he loses on the count of a seam. He goes for red, which is a very obvious color for a girl with olive skin. Then, his dress is a hybrid of what Marilyn Monroe and Imelda Marcos would have worn (and not in the best way). His main downfall is that he doesn’t hem the skirt, but only does a stitch to keep it from fraying. The poor guy also gets shot down by Heidi as she remarks the dress looks cheap.

Victorya wins the challenge with her sparkling, neo-Byzantine number. All the fake gems are what makes it look like something Justinian and Theodora would favor, but it looks like a cross between a baby doll dress and Andie’s dress in Pretty in Pink.

My vote would have been for Sweet P’s dress. Her dress looked like something a starlet from the 1930′s, 1960′s, or even in this decade would wear on the red carpet. Definitely Marilyn Monroe in the best way.

Rami and Chris March go for a pretty in chartreuse effect. I trust you know what color that is, but if you don’t, it’s not pink. The frenchiness of the word has often led the uninformed to to think that, but is a green named for a liqueur. Rami does one of his draping numbers that has tremendous hanger appeal, but isn’t too well received by Michael Kors or Nina Garcia, who proclaims it’s too sophisticated for a young woman. He politely stood up for himself and succinctly said that he makes sophisticated clothing. Does a woman need to be a candidate for botox before she can be sophisticated? They obviously don’t give teenagers enough credit. Chris March creates a simple, elegant gown that runs counter to his drag queen portfolio. One of the more lightly amusing moments on the show is when he reveals to his client and her mother that the model in his portfolio is him.

The two more forgettable ones are the creations of punk rock Orange County prom princess Kat and the quiet Jillian. Jillian’s dress is quite competent, but she’s only a blip on the runway. Kat’s rainbow bodice is the one remarkable feature on an otherwise OK dress.

Rami makes the interesting comment that Heidi should make prom dress and they can see what she comes up with. He makes a very good point about there isn’t a prom where he comes from. Kevin’s remark about providing a chastity belt with the dress sounds a bit too fatherly – only someone with a daughter would think about that. Then again, he remembers what his prom was like.

Sometimes I can’t quite tell why some guest judges are on the panel. Some make perfect sense, while others aren’t so germane. This is the case with Gilles Mendel, the furrier and fashion designer of J. Mendel, who is brought on to judge prom dresses.

My dream guest judge, if Heidi and company are listening, is Alek Wek. Does anyone else have a fashion icon they’d like to see on Project Runway?

Exit interview with Kevin:

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7
Dec 07

Project Runway: Trendsetter

Tough question of the week: would you rather create a dress that was badly made or horribly out of date?

I would go with out of date because I can always play the retro card. Of course, retro is what the Project Runway constants get in this challenge, and they get the worst of the 1980′s trends (with a little bit of the 1970′s for good measure). If the recent return of tunics, leggings, and skinny jeans wasn’t enough, the designers are faced with updating hideous ideas such as neon, underwear as outerwear, dancewear, baggy sweaters (essentially a take on the tunic), and shoulder pads. Making these trends look fresh, not merely retro, is their challenge.

Pick the leader was definitely the game played by several teams. They all know from episodes past that the leader faces the chopping block if they fail, so no one is quick to take the lead. Victorya very much wants to take the lead; however, she doesn’t want the responsiblity. This becomes a major source of problems later, as Ricky takes on the role of team leader. With Bjork Lady, he’s very successful in communicating with her using language like sculpt the fabric. Victorya, however, turns out to be the passive-aggressive dragon lady (I’m Asian, I can say that). With Chris‘s team, Sweet P and Steven also seem nervous with the prospect of elimination and thrust leadership upon the big fat gay guy.

Jillian, who has the panache to pick the out trend of overalls while wearing overalls, finally gets some screentime. In the past three episodes, she’s been in the background, competent enough to be in. This time, we get to see her as she interacts with Rami and Kevin in planning, designing, and execution of the garments. Kevin is a source of drama as his shorts aren’t perfect on the fitting of the model. Jillian’s worried, though Kevin manages to make good on the the design flaws in the end. Thankfully, he doesn’t issue another proclamation that he’s straight. He’s far too busy for that. In the end, Jillian shines as she and her team win the challenge. The elements of the poodle skirt, overalls, and short skirt comes together well.

Gotta love how Harry Potter makes observations. He knows that Celine Dion and the the guy from Beetlejuice is in trouble and he says, without hesitation, that their works are bad. As usual, he’s in his own little universe regarding his own work, but his team’s collection was very good.

Chris and his team revisit shoulder pads. Perhaps Steven or Sweet P should have forcibly swapped trends with him early on because Joan Crawford was on his mind. His cropped jacket with the shoulder pads doesn’t look bad at all. However, it looks a little too authentically 1980′s. There isn’t much cohesion (beyond the color scheme) and it is hard to see the outfits as part of a complete collection. It probably doesn’t help matters that he’s wearing a horrible shirt in the presence of Donna Karan (this week’s guest judge) and the usual fashion luminary judges. A definite fashion don’t: Tommy Bahama* or anything resembling it. Poor guy winds up going home, though his dress was the better made between him and Ricky.

Alas, poor Ricky. At least he doesn’t have a meltdown when faced with elimination. Unfortunately, no delightful bitchfights this time (Carmen’s gone), but he has to deal with the contentious Victoria, who simultaneously wants to take credit and avoid responsibility when facing the judges. Ricky saves her dress from booby squash and gets her to work a better fit, but he can’t seem to save his own creation. His dress looks like it was pulled out of the hamper. A few minutes on the ironing board or with a steamer could have helped. I gotta hand it to Bjork Lady. She stands by Ricky as a team mate. She may be weird and on her own world, but it’s not Planet Bitch.

Perhaps Ricky will emerge as the next Santino. His construction was often criticized (culminating in the shoddy construction of Kara’s jumpsuit), but he definitely got it together for Fashion Week. Steve, however, is jockeying for to be Santino as he’s also weird in some dark way. He repeats Santino’s antics of impersonating Tim Gunn. Santino’s version was much funnier. He created the story of Tim and Andrae (Andrae… Andrae…), and his voice was much more dead on. It was hilarious. Steve’s act just falls flat.

*I’m referring to those awful camp shirts. Tommy Bahama in general is Dadwear.

fashion — 3 Comments
2
Dec 07

Project Runway: Fashion Giant (more thoughts)

Having gone through the blogosphere on Project Runway this week, I came across this notable quote from Television without Pity:
And, per expectation, Ricky cries. He officially has a problem.

Indeed. We’re all waiting for the mother of all meltdowns when it happens.

They could have picked a better subject for a menswear challenge.* Tiki Barber, however handsome, is of little interest to a fashionista audience. Hell, most of the designers couldn’t get excited about it except for the pint sized Kevin, whose gushes about Barber being the greatest running back simply amounts to another reminder of him being straight.

Which brings me to another subject. Why does this man with the gay facial hair take every opportunity to tell the viewers that he’s straight? As if he’s the first heterosexual male designer on Project Runway? Please. There were at least two in Season 1 (one of whom returned in Season 2) and three in season 3 (including winner Jeffrey Sebelia). If I hear one more reminder, I will scream.

A question I have about Project Runway and its casting policies is “do they use extras?” Jillian has managed to slide by in three episodes with very little screen time. She is often in the background, designing and sewing away on her creations, but we get to know little about her and her work. She looks like Elaine from Seinfeld, though there’s little basis for comparison. We don’t know if she’s as annoying. If she goes, will we miss her?

As for Abercrombie God‘s winning creation, Tiki Barber’s stylist could have procured a similar outfit from the mall. As much as Kevin annoys me, his outfit should have won. If he tucked his model’s shirt in, it would have.

*Personally, I’d nominate Duran Duran, but Justin Timberlake is also a good candidate.

fashion — 3 Comments
30
Nov 07

Project Runway: Fashion Giant

In this episode, Project Runway boldly went where they haven’t gone before.

The first tip off was when Heidi shows up in an Uhura-like dress to inform them they won’t need their models for their challenge. Hopefully, the stylist is aware a red dress with black collar trim evokes classic Star Trek. Or, perhaps I’m showing my geekiness.

Rockerfeller Plaza is where they go for this unexplored frontier. They don’t need their models and given that Project Runway gives the designers very little or no information before they receive their challenges, their imaginations run wild. They meet Tiki Barber of the Today Show, and none of them, except for Pint Size, know who he is, especially when it comes to his former career. After Tim Gunn introduces him, Tiki drops the bomb: they have to design an outfit for him to wear on the Today show. This is enough to throw them all into a panic. Menswear? Drama is guaranteed, as we’ll get to Ricky later.

The flipside of the menswear panic is that they get to work with male models, which most of the models enjoy. Well, most of them with two exceptions. We get another reminder that Tom of Finland, Pocket Edition is straight when he says whatever. As for the other, who would have thought Bjork Lady was such a prude? The biggest surprise she gave us was when she turned away and had her model undress out of her sight. It’s nice to know she’s faithful to her boyfriend, but this is just unprofessional.

Unfortunately, Bjork Lady’s weirdness is limited to how she handles the fitting. There’s also her doing yoga in a confined space, but that is now routine. Her outfit turns out to be safe and on the Eddie Bauer side.

Some of the looks are dated. Harry Potter shows us what and 80′s queen he is with the shoulder zipper on the shirt. Andy Warhol creates late 80′s dandy, while Otho makes a suit more appropriate for MC Hammer in his heyday.

Pint Size makes the best constructed outfit in the group, but it doesn’t win. He should have tucked the guy’s shirt in.

Who says gods don’t make sacrifices? Abercrombie God takes off a pair of shorts and destroys them to use them as a pattern. Apparently, that’s not all the clothing he loses in order to win or get some attention, as my friend Chris points out. Originally, he planned to make a three piece ensemble, but must give up one in order to have a complete outfit to send on the runway. All of his sacrifices pay off as he wins the challenge.

Rami, that tasty Jerusalem artichoke, calls Abercrombie out on using his shorts as a pattern. He doesn’t raise a big enough stink to tell Tim Gunn about it, but he brings it up in a fun moment (for us anyway), when he tries on the muslin version of his pants. Needless to say, it fits him very nicely. Kudos to him to actually creating his own pattern and creating pants that actually fit on a man.

Ricky has the emotionalism of Andrae from Season 2 (without his flitty grace) and some of Raymundo’s personality (without being too out there), and he doesn’t fail to disappoint in the drama department. When Tiki’s wife visits the workroom, he shows signs of being overwhelmed and stressed out. While in the sewing room, he gets into a bitchfight with Carmen, Martha from Dr. Who, has her moment when she’s about to go. Ricky stresses over fucking up in the zipper and Carmen sings, “Don’t go home too soon.” Ricky sings back, “Shut the fuck up” and “Don’t go home too soon.” Carmen then says “Wrong note, bitch.” I’ll definitely remember that one and use it in the future. She’s very close to losing her cool, but holds back. She should have erupted and stopped short of smacking him. Then she would have been guaranteed a few more episodes.

Ricky stays, but he has to take some harsh criticism on his sloppiness. Tiki is nice but very frank. Nina Garcia, however, is much more brutal, especially when she says, “This looks dull, Ricky.” Ricky’s shirt is shoddily done, but Carmen has no shirt at all (and the pants are bad too). The kimono drape she does to pass as a shirt underneath the model’s jacket doesn’t pass with the judges at all, and it seems Ricky did sing a right note for once.

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23
Nov 07

Project Runway: I Started Crying

This week’s episode’s guest star is a fashionista’s wet dream. Season Two had Iman, but this week Sarah Jessica Parker judged potential outfits for her Bitten line. Of course, the contestants are starstruck (who wouldn’t be). To keep this up, they’re going to have to get Alek Wek in Season 5.

Time to talk smack about the contestants.

We’ve established that the Bjork Lady is none other than Elisa. Last week, she does wacked out things such as using herself as a dress form and creating a a train that looks like the sewing table scraps. This week she doesn’t fail to disappoint. She sets out to create a polymorphously perverse outfit, to which Tim Gunn‘s initial reaction is “cuckoo” when he sees her work on it. Then, she achieves the most priceless moment of the episode – she spits on the fabric used to create the dress. The reason? To imbue it with her energy, however illogical or insane that may sound to the rest of us Earthlings. Sweet P and Heidi Klum must be on to something as they both wonder what planet Bjork Lady is from. The producers will probably keep her on, right up to Fashion Week as her weirdness safeguards interesting viewing.

My moniker’s going to stick as I find I need little explanation for Bjork Lady. Now to the other contestants. There’s Christian, the weird kid with the asymmetrical haircut who looks like a fey and bitchy Harry Potter. He’s definitely stuck in 80′s retro mode, even though he was a zygote in the era he seeks to recreate. My blog friend Chris calls him the Chris Crocker wannabe, but I think I’ll refer to him as Harry Potter from this time forward. He faces the chopping block for being too retro, and no one seems to care that he’s famous (like being in a room full of Snapes).

Chris (not to be confused with my blog friend) is larger than life, both literally and figuratively. He is very large (not an understatement) and he has a flamboyant knack for dressing drag queens. Last week, the poor guy was lost in the mad dash to pick out his fabrics, but luckily grabbed the ones he wanted. Hopefully, no other challenge will be so physically demanding. Finding a moniker for him is going to be challenging. A blogger some time ago compared him to Otho in Beetlejuice, so now I’m wondering if I should steal this or come up with another.

It’s always interesting when designers profess their straightness, which Kevin did last week. Apparently, he confirmed it in this episode when he pitched his design to Sarah Jessica Parker. After he was done showing Parker his sketch, he quickly got up, leaving her with her hand extended to shake his hand. A queen would have taken time to giver her a hug, which Harry Potter did. However, Tom of Finland (Pocket Edition) doesn’t pay her any deference.

I haven’t gotten a handle on local boy Ricky, though he seems to be a guaranteed source of drama. I need help to come up with a moniker for him.

This season has someone with a bit of an Andy Warhol vibe. In the first season, it was Austin. This time it’s Steven, who is physically bland, but very flamboyantly queeny. Definitely Warhol in his advertising days, while Austin was more like the Factory Warhol.

The challenge was to create an inexpensive outfit that could fit in with the Bitten line. I don’t agree with the winning design – a large, grey sack dress adorned with a matching scarf and a plaid vest. Victorya, as the designer, is the winner, but her team mate, Pocket Biker Daddy himself musters up more enthusiasm than she displays, as if his design was the winner.

I’m definitely sad for Marion and his dandy poor boy look. He created a poncho and skirt combo (which resembled something Carrie Bradshaw would wear), but Sarah Jessica Parker wasn’t wowed. In the end, he went home instead of Harry Potter. With the terms that got thrown at both designers, Pocahontas has got to be worse.

The outfit Chris helped build was surprisingly toned down, like a tunic equivalent of the black dress. The beret definitely helped with the Audrey Hepburn/gamine look, and understatement worked this time. Too bad it didn’t place him and his partner designer in the best or worst category. They were simply in.

I have to admit I liked the polymorphously perverse cape by the Bjork lady. However, I can’t get over that Tim Gunn said “cuckoo.” What other kinds of bitchiness will she draw out of him I look forward to seeing. Perversely, it will be fun to see him lose that urbane cool.

Next week, Ricky has a meltdown. Stay tuned.

Uncategorized — 2 Comments
2
Nov 07

Tyra Banks Goes Insane, II

Here is the now classically infamous Tyra outburst from ANTM, Cycle 4.

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31
Oct 07

Finally!

Project Runway returns in two weeks. November 14, to be exact.

Stay tuned.

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