We had a somewhat irrationally negative reaction to this dress.
Our initial reaction was that it was "more of the same" from him, but that's really not true, technically speaking. You can put this next to his other entries and see that it's not the same, not quite.
But there IS a similarity in the broad sense: cocktail dress + technique. In previous weeks, the technique was applique; this week it's lacing.
And WAY TOO MUCH lacing to boot. We tend to automatically look at lacing as a bit of honky-tonk tackiness. Sue us, we're snotty bitches.
And while we realize Heidi isn't exactly prim in her style and that this dress would have been altered, if not rebuilt from the ground up to fit her, we think that bust is way too low for a gal as bodacious as her, especially since she'd be wearing it shortly after giving birth, when her jugs runneth over.
On the other hand, we agreed with the judges when they said they found his willingness to alter the dress right there and then according to their critiques to be a pretty admirable thing and highly useful when dealing with a cover shot.
An unestablished designer SHOULD be ready to jump through hoops if he wants his look featured on the cover, and the judges were absolutely right that it looked better without the straps. Although it only drove the point home to us how inappropriately low cut the design is for Heidi.
How fucking cute was Ben when the judges were praising his dress? You could tell he was just barely keeping his emotions in check.
Model: Kristina Sajko
We really liked this dress, but we can't agree with the prevailing opinion in the comments section that Ben was "robbed" of his win. Let's break it down.
The colors are beautiful and rich and just interesting enough to make the combination seem refreshingly different.
Loved the belt, although we're not sure if he made it or pulled it off the wall. The judging makes it sound like he made it but the material he originally bought for the belt was a metallic leather. Either way, it was a strong choice.
And we were with Heidi in loving the way he framed the cutout.
But, we're not convinced that this would have been a better choice for the cover shot than Anthony's. While we love the color choices and the color blocking, we tend to think they would have been a bit distracting on a cover. Yes, the Duchess said that this dress "punches through" the noise on a newstand, but it would also fight all the other elements on a magazine cover, namely, all that text.
Don't get us wrong, it's a gorgeous piece, but not necessarily a cover piece.
THE GREATEST PRIZE IN THE HISTORY OF PROJECT RUNWAY!!!!
We've come to expect hyperbole from Tim, and we're not saying a cover shot is anything to sneeze at, but ... having your look put into production by Banana Republic? Getting Iman to wear your dress on the red carpet? HELLO?
We were standing in line to get inside the tent yesterday and Joanna was standing right in front of us. After a quick introduction, she admitted she was afraid that she was too mean to Anna. Honey, we're here to tell you, after the execrable guest judging of last season, a bitchy British fashion editor is exactly what the doctor ordered.
So congratulations to Miss Sophia.
Model: Kristina Sajko
It's funny. After all this time, we can still have a new and unique viewing experience with this show. Because of the snow and the subsequent complete clusterfuck that mass transit became, we were only able to get a train into NY in the middle of the night. We saw maybe the first ten minutes of the show before the honk of a cab horn came in through our ice-encrusted windows, and the results of the show were relayed to us by reading our minions' commentary in the T Lounge post. We were pleasantly surprised to hear Miss Sophia won and judging by the enthusiastic reception his dress received in our comments section, we couldn't wait to see a picture of it.
Fast forward to 2 am (and believe us, there was no fast forwarding for us, thanks to the ashtray-smelling meth-head sitting in front of us on the train). A sleepy Peter Shelton lets us in, heads back to bed, and we immediately fired up our laptops and headed off to the Lifetime page to eagerly see the dress everyone had raved about. Our reaction? A puzzled "Oh."
We weren't originally bowled over by it, to be honest. It wasn't until we saw the entire show (last night) that we got our heads around it. It is a pretty dress and it is entirely appropriate for a Marie Claire cover. No arguments there.
But we couldn't get over how ... smushed it looks. Like it was poorly packed in a suitcase. We like the design very much, but we were surprised that no one really mentioned that.
There is a lot of interesting detailing here and it's to Anthony's credit that none of it looks like too much or overwhelms the dress. Not to take anything away from his win, but he benefitted from the fact that, for whatever reasons, the rest of the airheads in the competition went off on flights of design fancy that were particularly ill-suited for a cover shot.
But really, it was a deserved win. The color was gorgeous and absolutely appropriate. It looks exactly like something Heidi would wear. And as the judges said, it pretty much screamed "SPRING IS HERE!"
One other thing to note: we like this season's cast, but they're getting to be a little low-key as time goes on. It was truly touching how happy all of them were for Anthony. We can't think of any other designer who got that kind of screaming and clapping reaction for their win. It was adorable and a testament both to how much the cast loves him and how sweet the cast can be. It actually made these two nasty bitches tear up a bit.
We are stacked, packed and ready to attack, poodles!
Darlings, we're just going to indulge in a little blogenfreude for a moment. Indulge us.
When we did the Meet the Designers posts for season 7, we indicated that we thought Jesse had the potential to be a little douchey and the general consensus in the comments was that we were horrible people for saying so. Cue the most recent "Auf-Wiedersehen" post, which is coming up on 300 comments, most of which are about what a douche Jesse was this past episode.
When we did Seth Aaron's MTD post, and when we did the post about his first dress, we said we thought he was talented and we couldn't understand why everyone was acting so negatively toward him. Once again, there were a lot of comments to the contrary and once again, we were right, bitches. You can disagree on the talented part if he's not to your taste, but he was a total sweetheart of a team mate and in the end, when it was obvious that his team was looking at the chopping block, he manned up even when he didn't have to.
The moral of the story? Listen to T Lo, kittens. No one can prejudge like we can.
They really were kind of an adorable team because despite the fact that their aesthetics and work styles were totally at odds with each other, they still managed to get along. Even when they were bickering, it was a cute kind of bickering. Come on, that "Don't act up in front of company" line was PRICELESS.
Model: Kristina Sajko
Too bad the results didn't measure up.
This isn't an awful dress, really. It's just a very done dress.
We like the back of the skirt quite a bit.
Look, innovation is not the be-all and end-all of the fashion world. Most really successful fashion designers aren't particularly innovative. But, this isn't the fashion world. This is Project Runway, which is essentially a fashion game show. In the world of PR, innovation is king because it is after all, a design competition and you are dealing with a panel of judges who've pretty much seen it all when it comes to fashion. So no, not a horrible dress (not a great one either), but it was obvious from the get-go that this was not the kind of dress that impresses Nina.
Models: Holly Ridings/Sarah Bell
And they honestly might have skated by if they hadn't sent this ill-advised mess down the runway. We realize that they weren't supposed to copy the original exactly, but what they wound up with just looked incredibly basic and cheap next to Jesus and Amy's original.
That lace had to have been awfully cheap because 1) it looks it, and 2) they only had 50 bucks for the whole look. We also don't like the color of the underlay. We guess it was supposed to look nude, but it just comes off dingy.
And the back, kittens. How awful is that? We doubt very much that her ass is huge but it sure looks it in this dress. And since the underlay almost matches her skin tone, from the back she looks awfully saggy and wrinkly.
But as per usual, no criticism we make can even compare to the master.
"These are both really ugly."
"Well, we tried to --"
"Did I say you could speak?"
"No ma'am."
"No. I didn't think I did."
"Now, do you understand the importance of me saying these are really ugly? Do you understand what it means when I say something that harsh to you?"
"Yes ma'am. It means --"
"You're speaking."
"..."
"You've had days to shoot your mouth off to the camera and explain yourself. This is my time. I do the speaking."
"May I? Or would you prefer to continue Open Mike Night on the runway?"
"No ma'am."
"When your dresses came out from behind that scrim, my soul cried."
"My. Soul. Cried.
Do you want to know why?"
"It cried for your poor models, forced to look ugly on national television. It cried for the crime you committed against 500 dollars worth of fabric. It cried for all of the other hopefuls who wanted to be on Project Runway but were rejected so you could be here to make ugly dresses. But mostly..."
"Mostly, my soul cried out in pain because you have made me look at something ugly and no one should ever make me look at something ugly. My entire adult life has been about ensuring that I would never have to look at ugly things.
So you see, you haven't just made two ugly dresses, you have wounded me to my very soul and trampled over my life's work and for what? So you could squeeze by and make it here another week? Was it worth it to you? Was it worth committing a crime against all that is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing in the world, just so you can have one more shot at a measly 100 grand?
I want you to think -- REALLY think -- about what you have done here today and the hundreds of thousands of people whose souls also cried out in horror and pain at what you have done. You have committed a fashionpocalypse. I hope you can live with yourselves."
Oh, poodles. We're a little speechless over this one. And by "speechless," we mean we're going to write a couple hundred words about it.
It's Colorforms fun!
We has a sad.
When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go...
Miss Sophia's winning dress finally made its appearance on the cover of Marie Claire.
Alright, let's get to it, since you all can't stop talking about it.
Kittens, we have so much catching up to do!
Model: Brittany Oldehoff
Our initial reaction was that it was "more of the same" from him, but that's really not true, technically speaking. You can put this next to his other entries and see that it's not the same, not quite.
But there IS a similarity in the broad sense: cocktail dress + technique. In previous weeks, the technique was applique; this week it's lacing.
And WAY TOO MUCH lacing to boot. We tend to automatically look at lacing as a bit of honky-tonk tackiness. Sue us, we're snotty bitches.
And while we realize Heidi isn't exactly prim in her style and that this dress would have been altered, if not rebuilt from the ground up to fit her, we think that bust is way too low for a gal as bodacious as her, especially since she'd be wearing it shortly after giving birth, when her jugs runneth over.
On the other hand, we agreed with the judges when they said they found his willingness to alter the dress right there and then according to their critiques to be a pretty admirable thing and highly useful when dealing with a cover shot.
An unestablished designer SHOULD be ready to jump through hoops if he wants his look featured on the cover, and the judges were absolutely right that it looked better without the straps. Although it only drove the point home to us how inappropriately low cut the design is for Heidi.
How fucking cute was Ben when the judges were praising his dress? You could tell he was just barely keeping his emotions in check.
Model: Kristina Sajko
The colors are beautiful and rich and just interesting enough to make the combination seem refreshingly different.
Loved the belt, although we're not sure if he made it or pulled it off the wall. The judging makes it sound like he made it but the material he originally bought for the belt was a metallic leather. Either way, it was a strong choice.
And we were with Heidi in loving the way he framed the cutout.
But, we're not convinced that this would have been a better choice for the cover shot than Anthony's. While we love the color choices and the color blocking, we tend to think they would have been a bit distracting on a cover. Yes, the Duchess said that this dress "punches through" the noise on a newstand, but it would also fight all the other elements on a magazine cover, namely, all that text.
Hey! Remember that TV show called Project Runway?
THE GREATEST PRIZE IN THE HISTORY OF PROJECT RUNWAY!!!!
We were standing in line to get inside the tent yesterday and Joanna was standing right in front of us. After a quick introduction, she admitted she was afraid that she was too mean to Anna. Honey, we're here to tell you, after the execrable guest judging of last season, a bitchy British fashion editor is exactly what the doctor ordered.
So congratulations to Miss Sophia.
Model: Kristina Sajko
We weren't originally bowled over by it, to be honest. It wasn't until we saw the entire show (last night) that we got our heads around it. It is a pretty dress and it is entirely appropriate for a Marie Claire cover. No arguments there.
But we couldn't get over how ... smushed it looks. Like it was poorly packed in a suitcase. We like the design very much, but we were surprised that no one really mentioned that.
There is a lot of interesting detailing here and it's to Anthony's credit that none of it looks like too much or overwhelms the dress. Not to take anything away from his win, but he benefitted from the fact that, for whatever reasons, the rest of the airheads in the competition went off on flights of design fancy that were particularly ill-suited for a cover shot.
One other thing to note: we like this season's cast, but they're getting to be a little low-key as time goes on. It was truly touching how happy all of them were for Anthony. We can't think of any other designer who got that kind of screaming and clapping reaction for their win. It was adorable and a testament both to how much the cast loves him and how sweet the cast can be. It actually made these two nasty bitches tear up a bit.
We are stacked, packed and ready to attack, poodles!
Darlings, we're just going to indulge in a little blogenfreude for a moment. Indulge us.
When we did the Meet the Designers posts for season 7, we indicated that we thought Jesse had the potential to be a little douchey and the general consensus in the comments was that we were horrible people for saying so. Cue the most recent "Auf-Wiedersehen" post, which is coming up on 300 comments, most of which are about what a douche Jesse was this past episode.
They really were kind of an adorable team because despite the fact that their aesthetics and work styles were totally at odds with each other, they still managed to get along. Even when they were bickering, it was a cute kind of bickering. Come on, that "Don't act up in front of company" line was PRICELESS.
Model: Kristina Sajko
This isn't an awful dress, really. It's just a very done dress.
We like the back of the skirt quite a bit.
Look, innovation is not the be-all and end-all of the fashion world. Most really successful fashion designers aren't particularly innovative. But, this isn't the fashion world. This is Project Runway, which is essentially a fashion game show. In the world of PR, innovation is king because it is after all, a design competition and you are dealing with a panel of judges who've pretty much seen it all when it comes to fashion. So no, not a horrible dress (not a great one either), but it was obvious from the get-go that this was not the kind of dress that impresses Nina.
Models: Holly Ridings/Sarah Bell
That lace had to have been awfully cheap because 1) it looks it, and 2) they only had 50 bucks for the whole look. We also don't like the color of the underlay. We guess it was supposed to look nude, but it just comes off dingy.
And the back, kittens. How awful is that? We doubt very much that her ass is huge but it sure looks it in this dress. And since the underlay almost matches her skin tone, from the back she looks awfully saggy and wrinkly.
"These are both really ugly."
"Well, we tried to --"
"Did I say you could speak?"
"No ma'am."
"No. I didn't think I did."
"Now, do you understand the importance of me saying these are really ugly? Do you understand what it means when I say something that harsh to you?"
"Yes ma'am. It means --"
"You're speaking."
"..."
"You've had days to shoot your mouth off to the camera and explain yourself. This is my time. I do the speaking."
"May I? Or would you prefer to continue Open Mike Night on the runway?"
"No ma'am."
"When your dresses came out from behind that scrim, my soul cried."
"My. Soul. Cried.
"It cried for your poor models, forced to look ugly on national television. It cried for the crime you committed against 500 dollars worth of fabric. It cried for all of the other hopefuls who wanted to be on Project Runway but were rejected so you could be here to make ugly dresses. But mostly..."
"Mostly, my soul cried out in pain because you have made me look at something ugly and no one should ever make me look at something ugly. My entire adult life has been about ensuring that I would never have to look at ugly things.
"OMFG, I missed her so much, LOL."
