tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21657809723415569382024-02-07T12:54:10.790-08:00The Runaway Project Runway ProjectThe Project: Watch every episode of Project Runway. Blog about every episode.Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-43911529016516186162011-11-03T23:50:00.000-07:002011-11-03T23:50:39.158-07:00Season 2 Finale: Blessed candles of the night.<b>Paul:</b> I come not to praise Season 2, but to bury it. Here at the end, I get the sense that it was a season of growing pains for the series. It was cute and awkward, like a cartoon deer learning to walk. Now it is over and I feel like we've crossed a bridge from Season 1 over which we shall never return.<br />
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The only moment I took note of in the reunion special was when Guadalupe Vidal spoke.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> Wow! I had totally forgotten about that. Yes, the non-final-three designers had been treated to drinks prior to this little sit-down, but even so, this was a disturbing moment. Do you ever get that feeling when watching someone else come unhinged that maybe it's not <i>them</i>, but you? I'm not a fan of such moments.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Nor am I. Nor, apparently, is Tim Gunn. <br />
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Although from Guadalupe's POV, I think the moment speaks to a shared human experience: that of finding yourself midway through answering a question which you are in no way prepared to answer. There is kind of a nightmare in the moment. I like to think of myself as an articulate person, but I also know that if cameras followed me for a few months, they would find moments of deranged drivel spewing out of my mouth at some point or another. A few clips in the editing booth and there's my fifteen minutes of fame. I would add that this is the only thing I remember about Guadalupe Vidal from the entire season.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>That's funny, Paul. I agree. The idea of being followed around by cameras makes me shudder. It seems to me there was a moment, maybe in one of the outtakes in the bonus section of the CD, when someone in the group audibly passed gas. Those are the kinds of moments, among other things, that ruin my How Fun It Would Be to Be on a Reality Series fantasy.<br />
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Now, back to reality. I really enjoy the part of the finale when Tim Gunn does the home visits.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Oh, I agree. They are some of the best moments of each season. Tim Gunn, who sort of stands for all that is good in the world of <i>Project Runway</i> - he is the guardian of splendor - visits the contestants at home and confirms for us what we rather suspected in spite of what the television was telling us: that these are fellow human beings. They share our insecurities, our small triumphs and quotidian tasks, are fellow future corpses, no better or worse than the rest of us. They also walk in beauty like the rest of us. The home visits are a moment of redemption in each season where even the harshest contestant gives us a peek behind the curtain. Those moments are a splash of reality on television. <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Somehow, too, they manage to be uniformly touching. Even last season's Wendy Pepper ended with more compassion points after a visit to her hometown. This season was no different. I really like that this show doesn't intentionally (so far as I can tell anyway) focus on the designers' back-stories. Occasionally one or the other individual contestant will try to do the harping-on-hardship thing, but seldom gets far with it. It is not until we get to the Fashion Week finalists that we learned more than just hints of what their extra-Project Runway life looks like.<br />
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Santino Rice, we learn, hails most recently from Venice, CA and was at one time homeless until a couple who knew him took him in. He took Tim Gunn to meet his patron couple, and their small children, and they sat down to a meal together. It was a warm, and very touching scene, really, with little ones hanging adoringly all over their grown-up friend Santino.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> This may very well have been my favorite moment in Season 2. Santino's friends dearly love him and they take Tim Gunn into that urban haute bohemian world, sitting around makeshift tables in a little apartment on the edge of America. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Daniel Vosovik, originally from Michigan, was, as it happens, living right there in New York City. After showing Tim the beginnings of his Fashion Week collection he invited him to come shopping with him for an outfit for himself for the big show. There was something irresistibly sweet to me about this.<br />
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The final home visit was to Chloe Dao's home in Houston, TX. We learned that Chloe was a Laotian refugee, one of... I don't know...a gazillion daughters in her family. She had worked her way up in the world of fashion to the place of owning her own up-scale boutique in Houston. We saw her shop and then met her family - her mother was so very reserved it was hard to tell what she thought of the whole thing. Again, there was something beautiful about the moment.<br />
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By the end of these visits I was rooting for all three, but was most concerned for Chloe, as she did not have a theme or complete concept, and no sketches. (She says she doesn't work from sketches.)<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I was also rooting for all three and can't say I really had a preference. I would have been happy with each winner and a little disappointed over the other two not winning. So, hasten we to Bryant Park!<br />
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The designers show up with their lines and are met with a surprise curve-ball. They are to make one more outfit.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> With only two days left until the show, this out-of-the-blue challenge came like a slap to the face. Chloe'd no sooner uttered words to the effect of "I'm so exhausted I never want to design another thing so long as I live," than this was sprung on them. They got $250, 30 minutes to conceptualize, and one more surprise: one of their former competitors to help them execute it. Chloe was about in tears as they ushered in the previously eliminated designers for our three finalists to choose from.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I totally forgot that this was a thing that had registered on my retinas at one point in my life. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe's 13th Challenge </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel's 13th Challenge</td></tr>
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<b>Laurie: </b>Yes, it really happened, and I have the notes in my spiral binder to prove it. It was an awkward moment, as I recall, with the finalists too stressed to be happy to see any of their old pals, and with all but three of the old pals in the position of not being selected to participate in the challenge. <br />
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Now to the hounds. Daniel chose Nick; Santino chose Andrae; Chloe chose Diane; and they all relied <i>heavily</i> on their choices. As it happened, Diane was at least as responsible for what would prove to be the cornerstone and most commented-upon piece of Chloe's collection - a little gold baby-doll dress, with pockets hidden in its folds.<br />
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Daniel kept it simple and elegant, which really is his thing anyway, but worked well for the sake of the time crunch. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I remember Tim Gunn saying to Daniel "There's an element of risk in this that I want you to have." <br />
<b>Laurie: </b>Santino was fresh out of ideas, so Andrae gave him a nice little Andrae dress. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strike>Andrae's </strike>Santino's 13th Challenge</td></tr>
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And finally came the big event. The collections were all quite good, but the biggest surprise, I think, was Santino. We expected to have our socks knocked off, for good or bad, by his collection. But our feet remained snug. He made a few truly beautiful garments, but the collection lacked cohesiveness. And most of all, the collection lacked Santino. It was as if every memo the judges sent him through the whole season recommending that he ratchet it back a notch finally landed on his desk in one big stack and he finally took notice - just when we were hoping to see what he would produce once he was finally free of constraints.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I think above all we all wanted to see as much of Santino as we possibly could. We got what we wanted and then someone else won. Balance is restored across the great chain of diamonds and the palpable change in tone begins to give me hope for the next 7 seasons ahead of us.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>I was torn between Daniel and Chloe. I really like Daniel's style in general - and I like Daniel as a personality. Chloe's collection was much bolder and sewn to perfection, but a few of the pieces had a 1980's taffeta prom dress feeling that I just couldn't quite get past. I am not a fan of poof, especially in sleeves. But for all my concern about Chloe going into this without a plan, her collection looked like a collection. Very cohesive. She's a smart gal. Her expertise and skill sent her home with the prize.<br />
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Unfortunately the only video we were able to locate of Santino's collection did not include the music that he created specifically for the show (and that was not followed inexplicably by Wendy Pepper's collection from Season One). </div>
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<b>Paul:</b> And so we have reached the end of another season. Our work on season 3 will commence shortly. I think it will prove enlightening for all.
</div>Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-35531772293678146212011-10-28T22:32:00.000-07:002011-10-28T22:32:27.733-07:002.11 Chasing the Dragon<b>Laurie:</b> Last night, while the rest of the Project Runwayverse was watching the
season finale of Season Nine, we were curled up cheering the Fashion
Week runway presentations of the Season Three top picks. Clearly we are running out of steam! Our big mistake, I think, has been to allow ourselves to begin viewing Season Three before we've finished blogging Season Two. Such is the crack-like addictive quality of Project Runway. Who knew this fun little project would require so much self-control?<br />
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Remember cassette tapes? Sure you do. Well, anyway,
that's a bit like how my memory has been behaving ever since we began getting ahead of ourselves. My brain has taped
Season Three over the top of Season Two, and I'm having trouble even
remembering who's who, let alone who did what and why. Even my notes have left me scratching my head. But plow ahead we must, and from this entry forth we will exercise more restraint.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I am in full agreement with everything you just said. I am absolutely consumed with wanting to write about Season Three and am really struggling to think of anything I want to say about the end of Season Two. Which seems unfair. Season Two was a fine season. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>And we really are still in Season Two (a lovely little season, right? Let's do try to get back in the spirit of the thing.) and are finally down to the final four. This is the challenge that decides which three go home to design a line for Fashion Week, and which one just goes home.<br />
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Our designers' final challenge was to design an evening gown to represent the line they are hoping to present at Fashion Week. It is then announced that the winner of the challenge will be honored by having their winning gown worn to a red-carpet event by none other than super-model Iman. This announcement was met with shock and awe.<br />
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The designers were given one hour to sketch and $300 to spend. But first they were taken on a field trip to meet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern_Mallis">Fern Mallis</a>, then organizer of Fashion Week and Vice President of IMG. They were given the opportunity to ask her for Fashion Week advice. The key word of wisdom, which seemed to come with an imperceptible wink in Santino's direction, was "BE NICE". Essentially no one benefits when people treat one another unkindly (my words, not hers, but that was the gist of it).<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> There is a party. Austin and Jay from Season 1 are there. [<b>Laurie:</b> and so were Kara Saun, Heidi Klum, and Michael Kors. It was a surprise party, as you might have forgotten to remember. I know it's true because I wrote it in my notes!]<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> We are treated to snips of conversation in which Jay relates to the exact point in the competition in which the contestants find themselves. We are reminded that there will be life outside of this contest and we wonder if Jay is currently filming <i>Eleven Minutes</i> yet.<br />
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Again, we suspect that Santino may not be winning on the merit of the outfits he is creating within the challenges, but rather on the promise of what he will be capable of producing for fashion week.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santino's creation, image via omiru.com<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, I've had the distinct impression that Santino has coasted through more than once on his unique blend of dashing and devilish, and all the excitement that might result were he turned loose on Fashion Week. (One thing the yet-fledgling Project Runway cannot afford at this point in its run is to bore its audience, or the world of fashion design. It is clear this production means to be taken seriously in the industry and so must walk the lines all successful designers must walk between edgy and tasteful, between elegant and boring.)<br />
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And yet, unfortunately, a ho-hum is what the designers got from the judges on this, the penultimate runway presentation. I thought the gowns were all lovely and tasteful, with the exception of Santino's, which more than tiptoed over the line into gaudy. As has so often been the case with Santino, underneath the gaud was the potential for an amazing dress. The rest of the crew played it "safe", that curse-word the Project Runway gods reserve for what simple folk like me call lovely, tasteful, and timeless elegance....but to be fair, they may have had a point. It is the exotic beauty Iman we are dressing after all. <br />
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<b> Paul:</b> Oh that's right! I knew there was a reason I kept humming Abdulmajid. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe's design, image via fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kara's gown, image via fanpop.com
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<b>Laurie: </b>Chloe's dress, at least from the front, was especially beautiful, if not exactly right for Iman. I seem to recall the rear-view having an odd shape, though. Daniel's dress was the simplest of all, and in navy. Kara's was rather similar to Daniel's, but in black.<br />
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In the end it was Daniel's gown that Iman preferred. He won the challenge, and Iman wore his dress.<br />
Is it just me, or does this dress fit the Project Runway model worlds better than the legendary Iman? Hmmm, upon closer look the neckline has been entirely redrawn in Iman's version. Still lovely though.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQD2cudYj4bTCXLEtfP3YsYzv0oVN0FwtfrLQd7-fl0biX6B1i1ogqN37sC6SvS80BJuej35eDLFB1PlUvx5JyOftJv3f2sR-UWe2uHEL9I4Dvgl0vwRRRkU8HYJDiofh7f6OVrNHWLQ/s1600/project+runway+s2e11+danielv+fanpop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQD2cudYj4bTCXLEtfP3YsYzv0oVN0FwtfrLQd7-fl0biX6B1i1ogqN37sC6SvS80BJuej35eDLFB1PlUvx5JyOftJv3f2sR-UWe2uHEL9I4Dvgl0vwRRRkU8HYJDiofh7f6OVrNHWLQ/s320/project+runway+s2e11+danielv+fanpop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel V's Challenge-winning gown, image via fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iman wearing Daniel's dress via sparklies.org</td></tr>
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And we said farewell to Kara Janx. (Click <a href="http://www.karajanx.com/">here</a> to see what she's been up to since.) </div>
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Next up: Fashion Week!</div>
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<b>Paul:</b> And after a respite, Season Three. Respite for us. We're going to throw some movies in our Netflix queue for a bit while we catch up on this blog, so there should be no detectable intermission on your end. We are committed to this project, and we will make it work. </div>
<br />Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-34535991509108243792011-10-20T22:10:00.000-07:002011-10-20T23:30:55.782-07:002.10: "O Lord make my enemies ridiculous."<b>Paul:</b> First and foremost, any "Where's Andrae?" jokes hereafter are officially bad form.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Agreed. It is no longer funny now that he is really gone.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> The design challenge was for the designers to design for other designers. Wait, let's back that up and try to explain it in a way that will avoid utter confusion. Each designer is to design an outfit for one of the other designers in their own design style. Is this making sense? The other designer will then wear the outfit on the runway.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> In fewer words, the design challenge was for each of the designers to design for one of their fellow designers. This surprise seemed to delight everyone, us included. As I recall, names were drawn to determine who would design for who.<br />
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This is officially referred to as the "Makeover" episode. And so it was. The whole gang was taken out for a few hours to be pampered with manicures and pedicures. (It's always fun to see our normally tense contestants get opportunities to laugh and play a little.) When it came time to dress for the runway they would be styled by the professionals, just like their models would normally be.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> It also makes me feel like a bit of a ghoul realizing I've been entertaining myself with extraordinarily tense people in their struggles.<br />
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We are down to Nick, Kara, Santino, Daniel V. (not his fault, we need the extra initial for clarity. Such is the capriciousness of fate), and Chloe.<br />
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I didn't write a lot of notes for this episode for some reason, but I did write about them not knowing men's wear. For the life of me, I can't remember who said that, but someone in particular made that shocking admission of non-versatility. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> Nick was apparently the only one with menswear experience, and he cranked out a suit for the beloved Daniel V. in no time flat. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Right. You know, there's something strange to me about the movable feast aspect of the show. We've seen it before and, since we're actually ahead of what we're writing about, I know we'll see it again. Some people get slammed for things that other people are praised for. You'll have the judges say "This is too much like everything you've ever made on this show" and the next challenge the designer will think way outside of their box and the judges will say "This looks nothing like your work."<br />
<br />
So, you pack your samples, your porfolio, your models, and head off to Capitol City to audition for Project Runway in full knowledge that you have absolutely no clue how to make clothing for roughly 1/2 of the world's population. Which is a lot of why this blog project is meant to be more about slightly larger ideas suggested by the material rather than the material itself. The material itself is mad north by northwest, but when the wind is southerly knows a hawk from a handsaw.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_c6toQekQzH-QkjM6FSoSkQif8oVEgXwKgXJjYDzJRmBGTQ3mEQCEdQDFGrdaub-eWCvFKHbyahf30btIUuBxZv31VyXeBGg2zQ5VzUw1Ye-fosqkIW13zfHNLYvN3eYCH1_YhCCRzVs/s1600/project+runway+season+2+episode+10+winner_210_chloe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_c6toQekQzH-QkjM6FSoSkQif8oVEgXwKgXJjYDzJRmBGTQ3mEQCEdQDFGrdaub-eWCvFKHbyahf30btIUuBxZv31VyXeBGg2zQ5VzUw1Ye-fosqkIW13zfHNLYvN3eYCH1_YhCCRzVs/s320/project+runway+season+2+episode+10+winner_210_chloe.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe's winning design</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The outfit that Nick wore, designed by Chloe, is the best of the lot and the judges agree.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> Chloe's accomplishment in this challenge was even more impressive considering she had absolutely zero experience with menswear. (She's the one you couldn't remember.) This was her first-ever suit for a man, and it was perfect.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> In a cruel twist of fate, Nick is also ousted this week as his design for Daniel V. is the losing design. Oh, but wait! Have you seen Nick's design placed side by side with Santino's design for Kara?<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Yes. Nick was sacrificed on the altar of Santino. Clear, albeit sometimes misguided, talent aside, Santino has turned out to be the single greatest character (and I mean that in the theatrical sense) of the season. Santino's design was not only hideous and ill-fitting; it was also poorly sewn. The left sleeve was separating at the shoulder, and when the judges called him on it he blamed it on Karas enthusiastic movements. To her credit, she did not correct him. Inexplicably, the guest judge liked it....Perhaps this is what accounts for Santino's survival to the next round. (I'm trying these days not to allow myself to get too cynical over the capricious behavior of the Project Runway gods.)<br />
<br />
To be fair, however, Nick's apparent over-confidence in his experience with menswear led him to under-work or under-think - or something - his design for Daniel. On first glance, and in the photo below, it looks really lovely, but the judges were rather unanimous in their criticism. They might not have objected so much to the soft, possibly feminine, color if the cut had not been so much like woman's wear. The pants had no pockets. An omission that, being a woman, I did not pick up on.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Being a man, I did immediately. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Apparently it is a cardinal sin to expect men to wear pants without pockets.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> We don't make the rules. It's just for the best. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Add to that the fact that the jacket had no pockets either, <i>and</i> no closure, and the soft fabric showed faint bunching along every seam, Nick's design was fatally flawed. This was a big disappointment in Casa Mathers, since we really enjoyed Nick's talent as well as his gregarious personality.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3dMUrT8SyBc86T_9ECmKZV_iqLkKIydC0wzBcnPE8pCzjRLzVU0-QPiEvtKdBqJB13ut8gTTMsxGbaJoNHoBU6xT5tq_Npnl1c2u3lBEp7UiBA7D83nr9NBoxiQdwnYO-gf0o1eVEYs/s320/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-fanpop.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image via fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPeBsNTnIe5-FgyVc9p-XutfbxJKNbushqiwPtdx-pvWpp1q4rCrDXVFv6ryfxNmgE0yRta3vE9LI8271tjRXrk602jRMo2aM_kt8bJmrtsKRQ_b16H9HBHnuiDPO-0Bktg3JICmn8iQ/s1600/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-2+fanpop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPeBsNTnIe5-FgyVc9p-XutfbxJKNbushqiwPtdx-pvWpp1q4rCrDXVFv6ryfxNmgE0yRta3vE9LI8271tjRXrk602jRMo2aM_kt8bJmrtsKRQ_b16H9HBHnuiDPO-0Bktg3JICmn8iQ/s200/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-2+fanpop.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Images via fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGuBAPmkMAd2GyhkETm2Xnrmc2Gmxio4b6aipU0fCZ3vplpzk2ZAbLpGc2UrNbvlrzmmQr1hpiJFnikke42RLDCyaRPCEKW8eHClSd4qRVBU4Ro69AvCCbt0UsO2dQlCNh3uWTRRQEUo/s1600/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-3+fanpop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGuBAPmkMAd2GyhkETm2Xnrmc2Gmxio4b6aipU0fCZ3vplpzk2ZAbLpGc2UrNbvlrzmmQr1hpiJFnikke42RLDCyaRPCEKW8eHClSd4qRVBU4Ro69AvCCbt0UsO2dQlCNh3uWTRRQEUo/s200/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-3+fanpop.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPykMrOZMx0bkyQRN0bpeC6GMGkCCb-2vS1zBcPJ-WnC0WD8B2ChTW9YqkTFEh_w-tltCaKX8L9imnJN902UaFN9Wtp6jPM-67laCtn3Q2Qk9LvbBTZjzDw1UwGxAwcKs0MeH4Uj-lyU/s1600/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-5+fanpop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPykMrOZMx0bkyQRN0bpeC6GMGkCCb-2vS1zBcPJ-WnC0WD8B2ChTW9YqkTFEh_w-tltCaKX8L9imnJN902UaFN9Wtp6jPM-67laCtn3Q2Qk9LvbBTZjzDw1UwGxAwcKs0MeH4Uj-lyU/s320/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-5+fanpop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">images via fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<br />
Daniel had immunity for this challenge due to his having one the last one. He expressed a firm desire to win in spite of that, but as it turned out it was only his immunity that saved him. The judges hated the outfit he made for Chloe, saying it aged her. Also, the hem was fraying and looked sloppy. I admit to really disliking that vest thing. I just don't get it. Daniel managed the judges harsh criticism as he seems to do everything else, politely and without argument. His reply was a classy and respectful, "Guess you can't be right all the time." I <i>like</i> this kid.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9zqzCeNeg8P_UNIZEdh0jqZCmgCv8jq8yyy2QSKwdx4F7ArKfRo23xmHQKKaGgshgKZ1mU6KR9S58hSjOt1M8VwnqRU6Mw87Y9y9i_uutMj2WVLXN4t9pWQz8p3hFcnH8a22T0XTMfI/s1600/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-4+fanpop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9zqzCeNeg8P_UNIZEdh0jqZCmgCv8jq8yyy2QSKwdx4F7ArKfRo23xmHQKKaGgshgKZ1mU6KR9S58hSjOt1M8VwnqRU6Mw87Y9y9i_uutMj2WVLXN4t9pWQz8p3hFcnH8a22T0XTMfI/s320/project-runway-Season-2--Episode-10-4+fanpop.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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And finally we have our winner. Kara's remake of Santino was a huge hit with judges and Mathers alike. I think I recall one of the judges referring to the look as "Santino on holiday". The madras pants were perfect and Kara even recovered the hat with some of the same fabric which lined the collared shirt. It was great to seen our season's biggest ego clean shaven. He looked shades brighter and less brooding, delightful really, and he clearly felt it too. A well-deserved win for Kara.Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-69974645065267234692011-10-15T22:44:00.000-07:002011-10-15T22:51:40.051-07:002.9: Breaking Flowers<b>Paul:</b> At the time of writing this post, we are out of garden party season. The convention of the garden party is a lovely one. People get well-dressed and gather in a garden or park. Refreshments are served. Outdoor games like croquet are played. If I could, I would throw a summer garden party with paper
lanterns, fireworks, chilled sparkling rosé, a Punch and Judy show and a banjo orchestra, and gold and silver
crowns for everyone. I would buy myself a new white linen suit for the occasion.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Ah, I would love to throw a party like that too! But in order to make this possible, mucho mega yard-work must first be done!<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I would like to make an aside about this sort of party and my feelings about such things. I have a "cannot be happy if anyone anywhere in the world is suffering" streak. This is not meant to be self-congratulatory, but rather expressing what a wet blanket I can be if I don't check such attitudes. I have the capacity to crash into absolute joylessness at the drop of a hat. For some reason I kept thinking about Truman Capote during this episode.<br />
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Capote is, in my opinion, without a doubt in the top-five list of greatest authors that America has produced. He had an early success with <i>Breakfast at Tiffany's</i>, but for some reason then chose to write a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood">non-fiction novel</a>, a journalistic experiment following the crime, capture, and aftermath of a family that was murdered in Kansas. By many accounts, the long and harrowing experience of essentially becoming part of that story destroyed Capote or, at least, severely twisted him permanently.<br />
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Very soon after the executions of the murderers and publication of his book, Capote threw a massive and expensive masqued ball at New York's Plaza Hotel. The guest list could work as a who's who of the period. It very well may have been the definitive elite party of that era, perhaps even that century. There was great criticism at the time (even inside the party by the ungracious Norman Mailer) about throwing such a lavish event while the nation was in smack dab in the quagmire of Vietnam.<br />
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I've always thought that Capote was trying to recapture some of that pre-<i>In Cold Blood</i> energy, now that he enjoyed the position of fame where he could, as it were, come inside Tiffany's for breakfast. It almost seems to me as if he spent the rest of his life both trying to recapture something along those lines and subsequently reacting when the pink unicorn proves to be invisible. He cultivated a life amidst the jet-set and then smashed it to bits when he began publishing thinly-fictionalized stories about the people he had surrounded himself with. He worked his way into the Warhol and Studio 54 world, then spiraled into a nose-dive of very public substance abuse.<br />
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<br />
I felt a twinge of this as our designers, filmed six years ago, were dashing about the floral district while right now the serfs are revolting in that same city. I can see the ghost of my friend New York Rob admiring the lilies. As I am internally designing my own "Masque of the Red Death" ball, I become acutely aware that I, like Capote, sort of live in that danger of being the guy who gets tossed out of the bar for weeping in despair during happy hour.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> Though not bent quite as sharply as you in that same direction, I can testify from my own experience that grief and Mardi Gras can stir into a pathetic mix. I well remember attending an annual summer pool party that was held in spite of the fact that two of the individuals who would normally have attended had been murdered just days before. The idea was, at first, to cancel it, but then someone got the idea that it should be held anyway, in honor of the victims. I don't know how the rest felt, but it turned into a disaster of embarrassment for me. The combination of sadness, horror at the idea of partying at such a time, and my own alcohol consumption left me publicly maudlin. To this day it is one of my most humiliating memories.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> But we were talking about the Garden Party challenge.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes we were, and somehow you've managed to turn this into some kind of meta-narrative.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> That's been my intention since starting this blog. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Well, I'm having a hard time pulling my head out of the dark place you've
stuck it; I keep wondering what our designers would have come up with if
their challenge required them to produce funeral garb. After all, gardens and
cemeteries tend to be different by only one significant measure, and the same goes for funerals and parties. Death certainly does have a way of sucking the life out of things.<br />
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As the saying goes, "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." Is it possible for wisdom, fashion, and garden parties to co-exist, or to enjoy them must we remain fools?<br />
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<b>Paul: </b> That is an excellent question phrased in such a way that it seems as if you almost expect me to be able to answer it. Certainly there is a time to every purpose and whatnot. Personally, the house of mourning makes a lot more sense to me with existence as I've experienced it. On the other hand, here I am watching a television show about fashion every few nights. I may have a few suggestions of a middle path culled from secular sources. The poet Keats wrote "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,- that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need know."<br />
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<span class="st">If you were to ask an Aristotelian about living a meaningful life, they would respond that the only life worth living is the life of virtue, a cue taken from Socrates. They would say that happiness is a constituent of virtue, in fact even so far as the only constituent of virtue. Along with the Socratic "cardinal virtues" (prudence, temperance, justice, and courage) they would emphasize the indivisibility of beauty and good (while Socrates was much more focused on "wisdom" as the best window to virtue.) In this way, and really only in this way, I can begin to delight in things like fashion and garden parties.</span><br />
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<span class="st"><b>Laurie: </b>That's all well and good, but do our own scriptures not provide any direction in this regard?</span><br />
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<span class="st"><b>Paul: </b>Certainly, as I said, there is a time to every purpose and we are instructed to rejoice with those who are rejoicing. I find that scripture advocates temperance and wisdom and proscribes unbridled mirth and jocularity. It is also my belief that scripture would back up the Aristotelian view of appreciating beauty expressed above, although I can tell you from personal reading experience that someone like Augustine would take great and turgid 25 page long pains to insure that all glory is given back to the creator of such beauty. And rightly so, I think.</span><br />
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Carrying on:<br />
<br />
The challenge was to create an actual outfit out of garden. They were taken to the flower district to purchase materials for their dresses. As usual, I intend to spend as little time as possible talking about the actual challenge.<br />
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As a major parenthetical and can of worms, Daniel Vosovic is shown in one of the endless loops of fabricating in the windowless Parsons dungeon (I was half expecting one of the designers to buy ammonium nitrate at a gardening store and blow one of the walls off so that they could all run to freedom!) Daniel makes mention of the elephant that follows almost all of the men around the rooms on <i>Project Runway</i>. Daniel recounts "coming out" to his decidedly Christian parents.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> I gathered from what he said, and from what I know having seen the full season by now, that they behaved themselves as Christians in response. They kept right on loving him. The kind of people his parents seem to be, I think, explains a lot about Daniel's demeanor on the show. From what we've been shown of him, he is even-tempered, honest, respectful, and gentle. I'd say his parents raised him well. He is a superb young man.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Agreed. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbc0f-Sc_AdQOOcladGKahm_dbxHFNxiGqTC6_25lkvABOCJOe2e4ekYw3lCMYGSI15ohwSh_R7WxH4B2L56ijuq-9HqvJ6EBGoi834b7mGODuPYOscVvPTzZQf8dKjOe4KcvvyEswsM/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+garden+party+Daniel+V..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbc0f-Sc_AdQOOcladGKahm_dbxHFNxiGqTC6_25lkvABOCJOe2e4ekYw3lCMYGSI15ohwSh_R7WxH4B2L56ijuq-9HqvJ6EBGoi834b7mGODuPYOscVvPTzZQf8dKjOe4KcvvyEswsM/s320/Project+Runway+S2+garden+party+Daniel+V..jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel V's winner, image via bravotv.com</td></tr>
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<b>Laurie: </b>And, here's the segue: his superb design was the winner of our garden party challenge.<br />
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The judges for this challenge expressed uniform disappointment at the overall lack of flowers in the finished dresses. For those of us watching, their decisions made practical sense. This was a two-day design challenge. Cut flowers have a very short shelf life. Individual petals even shorter. Our models are women, not Rose Parade floats and can't be sent down the runway covered with water-soaked florist's sponge.<br />
<br />
Daniel, however, did manage to float a bright wash of purple over the bodice of his dress, letting a few blossoms spill lightly down to the waist and hip.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Michael Kors says to Santino that it is as if he doesn't care about dressing people. He cares about making wearable art.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig23y2leEnx7n99iiBwgI20Aq0girLKIGm9_aVqWR9EvkVF_EuwQOEawBY-bCVBb0o_H8gyKtDzoY7CnVgYvPpx26jwSZlS_CMmkizTuUw7-21z8xWjbbluI4m8WqewhIfv5QMYUuMQFc/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+Party+Santino+fanpop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig23y2leEnx7n99iiBwgI20Aq0girLKIGm9_aVqWR9EvkVF_EuwQOEawBY-bCVBb0o_H8gyKtDzoY7CnVgYvPpx26jwSZlS_CMmkizTuUw7-21z8xWjbbluI4m8WqewhIfv5QMYUuMQFc/s320/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+Party+Santino+fanpop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santino's dress, image via fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Kors makes a good point.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> Kors always makes a good point. The man speaks nothing but gold.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>I think that in photographs Santino's dress is stunning, even more so than Daniel's, but it was so stiff and heavily lacquered that it left the model moving as though in a body cast. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLkWLkJSYZ5-OC46Uh4WIW-aEtSqQSJ9DzA0vWOvZrIrqQbV2f3z0fhM6Pa3lcK0vECU7deMdasvTwniq1rBT2kDBel1vBhq3baG8NGmxzAsUDBXf1LJhFTm2Q1yo-3GQ9wDZFPkIxLY/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+Party+kara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLkWLkJSYZ5-OC46Uh4WIW-aEtSqQSJ9DzA0vWOvZrIrqQbV2f3z0fhM6Pa3lcK0vECU7deMdasvTwniq1rBT2kDBel1vBhq3baG8NGmxzAsUDBXf1LJhFTm2Q1yo-3GQ9wDZFPkIxLY/s320/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+Party+kara.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kara's design, image via bravotv.com</td></tr>
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And then we have the rest of the pack. It is clear that we've gotten down to the meat of the talent in this competition. None of the presentations were real duds, in my opinion anyway. You can see Kara's at left. She also managed to bring in some color albeit with a bit less pizzazz than Daniel. <br />
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Nick's is lovely too. I like the touch of yellow in the model's hair and the flip little floral fringe along the hem. His dress ran into a bit of the same trouble that Santino's did, though. It photographs quite nicely, but in motion it was stiff.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXDSyvFf7OVCMI_cuKu_GGMGkzIiXONPulIHm9yC4QVEkCsKSgf0sb-eDSGY171i2qPoN1SgcByas5LLz4E1oIe3_BhGndS32OEly417SbFjvZGFc1pOl6FEmspBGuV3agOPkJEd6F2I/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+party+nick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXDSyvFf7OVCMI_cuKu_GGMGkzIiXONPulIHm9yC4QVEkCsKSgf0sb-eDSGY171i2qPoN1SgcByas5LLz4E1oIe3_BhGndS32OEly417SbFjvZGFc1pOl6FEmspBGuV3agOPkJEd6F2I/s320/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+party+nick.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nick's dress, image via bravotv.com</td></tr>
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I've shown Chloe's dress in a larger frame to show the detail. She covered her entire sub-garment painstakingly with individual leaves. The finished look was simple but lovely. I think the skull cap, however, was over the top (so to speak) and just plain ugly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylnhjscNWQGKIzdpYSjMBlyiouoBQitE_IgneeevYlIGMfXxdS9B-p2evFI7cTzk16xALCC9TDtSHJfMmxrzQedjAscBiQv41NyXr0yXGm2Xg2-1W3N9f6J-3NdCLT3eMdXvoN0Mv7mQ/s1600/project+runway+S2+Garden+Party+Chloe+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylnhjscNWQGKIzdpYSjMBlyiouoBQitE_IgneeevYlIGMfXxdS9B-p2evFI7cTzk16xALCC9TDtSHJfMmxrzQedjAscBiQv41NyXr0yXGm2Xg2-1W3N9f6J-3NdCLT3eMdXvoN0Mv7mQ/s400/project+runway+S2+Garden+Party+Chloe+1.jpg" width="236" /></a>And finally we bid adieu Andrae. The judges thought his moss-covered dress looked like a door mat. While I see their point, I think he made something rather sweet in its simplicity. We have really enjoyed getting to know quirky and sensitive Andrae, but someone had to go, and at this point I agree that it was probably his turn.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAT2_wkRcV0IZpzobUORrXumh7_BE5J_zXk9qSBC-cVuUnU_WUQVmtPrPJ7-k2AL0Ix1ANY8N80YbZ_SffiJcRjsZ3OeB0fjxGXHXfWe7eRGjx0Eq4WTB0AUmHSoG3dLzoEzeI1o4758/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+Party+Andra+tvguide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAT2_wkRcV0IZpzobUORrXumh7_BE5J_zXk9qSBC-cVuUnU_WUQVmtPrPJ7-k2AL0Ix1ANY8N80YbZ_SffiJcRjsZ3OeB0fjxGXHXfWe7eRGjx0Eq4WTB0AUmHSoG3dLzoEzeI1o4758/s400/Project+Runway+S2+Garden+Party+Andra+tvguide.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrae and his design, image via tvguide.com</td></tr>
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<br />Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-41448238734854288612011-10-10T23:15:00.000-07:002011-10-10T23:15:36.296-07:002.8: O for a Muse of fire!<b>Paul:</b> Our designers are taken before Michael Kors, our benevolent monarch who bestows his largesse of digital cameras back in the day before their ubiquity. The designers are allowed out of the cage with golden bars that is Parsons to roam the streets of Gotham and engage in one of my favorite activities: street photography. When they return, they are given strange printing devices to print up their photographs. They are to pick one to use as their inspiration for this week's design.<br />
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In concept, this has been my favorite design challenge so far. That is to say I find the concept to be the most interesting, but in application I can barely remember a single outfit. I take that back. I remember a single outfit. There was one that I thought was exquisite. More on that later.<br />
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I understand the practicalities of the dictates of the actual industry and the attempts to reflect same in the design challenges. I understand why they are dressing socialites and children's dolls and ice dancers and uniformed workers and so forth. This challenge takes a step back into the abstract world of the creative impulse. The designers are called upon to cull inspiration from the world around them and translate it into whatever sort of dress they choose. The possibilities are infinite.<br />
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And yet, Tim Gunn shows up halfway through the show and gathers the designers in a huddle. He tells them that what he is seeing from them is "lackluster" and that they need to "wake up." As usual, Gunn proves to be the fount from which all wisdom flows on the program. Gunn also pulls Santino aside and makes sure to mention that there is a fine line between being funny and being witty in design. This may well have been one of the pivotal moments in the entire season, but it is quickly brushed past in the editing docks. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTj1RtYPwweTG_BWKpKCV8gNetW3Oqz0rKQE0e36LgNDpY36ZeK8G86DpzvAqCsfQs_4a4K1RGYi3njhhu8Gw_DvoTvd-O0e4eo8gL88I7smhuojlXPdktpChwU16q63qlWlXolBw5paw/s1600/Project+Runway+S1+E8+Nick1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTj1RtYPwweTG_BWKpKCV8gNetW3Oqz0rKQE0e36LgNDpY36ZeK8G86DpzvAqCsfQs_4a4K1RGYi3njhhu8Gw_DvoTvd-O0e4eo8gL88I7smhuojlXPdktpChwU16q63qlWlXolBw5paw/s200/Project+Runway+S1+E8+Nick1.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify9Ksc8POMS98UUNolUM4h8IUTgFQ8rJ3bjttPClWw-Mnz-xa4MJNwr6KizhBMvvyVwVKsjexGNv1SJRc6qgbQN57qAc06uO40tG_YRLb8Whb38FoBoM0sajZgJUwVF9xPJ_skCQvvwQ/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+E8+nick.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify9Ksc8POMS98UUNolUM4h8IUTgFQ8rJ3bjttPClWw-Mnz-xa4MJNwr6KizhBMvvyVwVKsjexGNv1SJRc6qgbQN57qAc06uO40tG_YRLb8Whb38FoBoM0sajZgJUwVF9xPJ_skCQvvwQ/s200/Project+Runway+S2+E8+nick.gif" width="200" /></a><b>Laurie:</b> As you will recall, Zulema was the winner of the last challenge, which earned her the privilege of choosing to keep her previous model or choose another. Up until this time the designers have been developing attachments to their models and the winners have pretty routinely chosen to remain loyal to the gals that have gotten them this far. Zulema, on the other hand, who from the very beginning has been playing the "I'm not here to make friends" card, decided it was time to dump her model. She created quite a stir by requesting a "walk-off" between three of the other models and topped it off by choosing Nick's model. He was distraught at the loss of the lovely lady who had become his muse. As a result he found himself uninspired by the challenge. He took few photographs and made murmurings that led me to believe he might be about to throw in the towel, intentionally or via an apathetic performance. While the other designers became mad shutterbugs he drifted about with disinterest. (I know this feeling.)<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Nick started to scare me in this episode. I think we both really liked Nick's character and also felt that he was one of the more steady designers of this season. When he starts talking about walking away, you want to grab him by the collar and yell at him to get back in there and design. That reaction is precisely what they want! They are trying to kill your soul!<br />
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I really can't work up any care about the drama with the models. I liked Nick, but as soon as they start squabbling and walking off and mugging for the camera, I start looking at my watch and wondering when I'm going to get to see creativity again. However, yes, I think we can all agree that Zulema came off a bit boorish in this episode. Although, again, I would add how disturbing I find my reaction to the models based on the manner in which the material is presented to me. I cannot, and I hazard to guess shan't, remember a single model from this season. These are human beings with hopes and dreams and who are also, in fact, engaged in the manifestation of the visual creative arts.<br />
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However, in fairness to this show, there are many modeling television shows readily available. I wonder if they flip it for those shows. I wonder if Tyra marches on a line of designers in front of the models and makes the model pick a designer without allowing the designer to speak.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Now that's an amusing idea! I've never seen any of the shows you refer to, but that scenario seems unlikely. On the other hand, in the desperate world of coming-up-with-new-ideas-for-reality-TV-shows, even that might not be out of the realm of possibility. I really have no interest in the modeling aspect of the program either. I have to admit, I don't care for it when the models become the focus of attention. If they do their job right, they should be barely noticed until they show up on the runway, and then it is their responsibility to work the design, not draw attention to themselves. It takes an ironic level of humility (if that's the right word) and professionalism, I think, to be a good model. I've been surprised at the number of times models have kept our designers biting their nails and wondering if they are going to show up, or whining once they do. Sometimes I've wondered if the Project Runway gods set it up this way to add stress. It's just so hard for me to believe these gals would actually be so irresponsible. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I have anything against models or modeling. They are obviously essential to the fashion industry, and a great model is a great asset for a designer or a brand. It's just that the main thing that keeps me watching Project Runway is observing the creative process and watching these very colorful and imaginative characters at work, anything that distracts from that distracts from the best part of the show. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVYJkkfBXwM3Ylv-HrxvBeq59m5OjC4Fov4Q4W4CO-7XJOn7SLgpymAWuVU-KLadzYaHhD4IoBIUQmXWoKtEFwtOnE2OuNUOtujBRDiyNVEALd4OsomCiPaRprwQOvreedweQbUJmTxY/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+E8+Daniel+V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVYJkkfBXwM3Ylv-HrxvBeq59m5OjC4Fov4Q4W4CO-7XJOn7SLgpymAWuVU-KLadzYaHhD4IoBIUQmXWoKtEFwtOnE2OuNUOtujBRDiyNVEALd4OsomCiPaRprwQOvreedweQbUJmTxY/s400/Project+Runway+S2+E8+Daniel+V.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel V's orchid design</td></tr>
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<b>Paul</b>: But I would like to come back to what Tim Gunn was telling our designers. I want to return to the subject of crippling choices in the artistic process. In this challenge, they were permitted to literally make anything. Their choices, given infinite freedom, were shaping up to be lackluster enough for Tim Gunn to employ the word credibly. We encounter the panic of tabula rasa. I would venture a guess that this is a nearly universal shared experience in the arts. This is part of why forms exist. We need our fences.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Haven't we talked about that before - about how boundaries can be freeing? <br />
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Well, anyway, on to our designs. Daniel Vosovic didn't really need his camera tour through Gotham. His inspiration came from an orchid in Michael Kors' own studio. As ever, his design bore my three favorite adjectives: tasteful, lovely, and restrained. Okay, I have other favorites, but I love Daniel's style, and his personality in general. He's the kind of young man I'd be happy to see my daughter dating (never mind about the him-being-gay part). He's respectful, gentle, and soft-spoken in his demeanor, but also funny and quietly confident. His artistic style reflects his personality well. And so did his winning design.<br />
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(By golly, Daniel's model has my exact elbows. Is it possible we're related?)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrae's oily puddle gown</td></tr>
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Next to the top in the estimation of our judges was Andrae's beautiful gown inspired by a puddle of oily water. The judges appeared as awed by his rendering as I was. It artfully reflected its inspiration, and was elegant and dramatic. I'm not exactly sure why his wasn't the winner.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> This was beyond the pale the most creative and artistically successful dress of this challenge, however, as we've seen before and doubtlessly shall see again, that does not equal a win on Project Runway. The dress was beautiful while communicating a greasy gutter puddle! <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Then there was poor Nick, who, as we mentioned earlier, was nearly too heartbroken over the loss of his model to design a thing. His inspiration finally ended up coming from some a photo of some printed fabric in a shop window that vaguely resembled henna tattoo art. He pulled the colors from the print into his design, and made a skirt and blouse that seemed rather like Nick had fallen into his default style - which, lucky for him, is not half bad. If this result is what he gets from being uninspired, well, I'm still impressed. The judges passed him on to the next round.<br />
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As for Santino, he left us bored this time. His inspiration, a bit of graffiti art, was judged passe by the judges. His interpretation did nothing to soften that opinion, nor did his use of what may have been the identical fabric Austin Scarlett used for last season's Grammy dress challenge. Beyond that the dress looked unfinished, and not artfully so. Not bad enough, however to send the colorful and ever-entertaining Santino home. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDJ_LZMuCzwps6L-SVBUNApxcbpfpdyxgPMK8wXhOnx8Bzf1ARodNBijHdYblFm1nmtczf7sRA3us6CNzZjfC9XLAaSNQeAlnzx_he28XFIZaJGZNWiZWmH7wZU7QRUETRVsoa3PFkKM/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+E8+Santino.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDJ_LZMuCzwps6L-SVBUNApxcbpfpdyxgPMK8wXhOnx8Bzf1ARodNBijHdYblFm1nmtczf7sRA3us6CNzZjfC9XLAaSNQeAlnzx_he28XFIZaJGZNWiZWmH7wZU7QRUETRVsoa3PFkKM/s320/Project+Runway+S2+E8+Santino.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santino's dress and inspirational photograph</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_b2i4-kjZAAAJtUCyrcoEFZ6I1MzQxINdn1im7VbZOlpD-dc1FxMS24Ig_wBU7YjOertjXNRGcd2VX65h96vb7fO2KOLSITSduYjcZ7AP7MYLyDPIWnb33PrHNyT1YGRJIpPaFNZRHjg/s1600/Project+Runway+S2+E8Chloe.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_b2i4-kjZAAAJtUCyrcoEFZ6I1MzQxINdn1im7VbZOlpD-dc1FxMS24Ig_wBU7YjOertjXNRGcd2VX65h96vb7fO2KOLSITSduYjcZ7AP7MYLyDPIWnb33PrHNyT1YGRJIpPaFNZRHjg/s200/Project+Runway+S2+E8Chloe.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2CGB2wwvr8tkUKZ4VOIb5Ld8N-nMlvV80V90uRCnn1z2qAMFOkNegwp585KqEL_ZPTq9hyphenhyphen6vXgSDyiaojSYEwXLnZZaSWwWUZ99EbsppfAGtotDEKSJVjWg3fRVflfgmfh_9sOkz-9Y/s1600/Project+Runway+S1+E8+Zulema.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2CGB2wwvr8tkUKZ4VOIb5Ld8N-nMlvV80V90uRCnn1z2qAMFOkNegwp585KqEL_ZPTq9hyphenhyphen6vXgSDyiaojSYEwXLnZZaSWwWUZ99EbsppfAGtotDEKSJVjWg3fRVflfgmfh_9sOkz-9Y/s320/Project+Runway+S1+E8+Zulema.jpg" width="188" /></a>At left is Chloe's architecturally inspired dress along with the photo that inspired her. Chloe, a fashion professional and owner of her own clothing store in Texas, at the time this show was broadcast, can be counted on to produce well-constructed and nicely finished clothing. She took a bit of insulting from Santino at one point for being a "pattern-maker", his implication being that she is merely a fabricator, not an artist. I think the last time we mentioned Chloe was early in the season when she found herself the object of the unmerited kindness of Daniel Franco. That experience seems to have changed Chloe's tone. She has more or less kept her head down and drama-free and shown herself to be more than a pattern-maker.</div>
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We end with the end of Zulema's Season Two run. Her red dress was inspired by a photo of a large African-American woman wearing.... a red dress. Beyond the fact that it was no great leap of fancy, the dress was ill fitting, an ongoing problem for Zulema, and poorly finished. </div>
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Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-17176706246918360652011-10-08T22:52:00.000-07:002011-10-10T17:17:49.542-07:002.7: Explaining the Baron<b>Paul:</b> What a difference half a decade makes! It was an awkward moment of "catch-up with the past" for Laurie and I when Tim Gunn announced that the design challenge was to design an outfit for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasha_Cohen">Sasha Cohen</a>. We did not immediately think of the figure skater.<br />
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We were then, however, treated to the funnest episode thus far. The designers are delivered unspeakably gauche ice skating outfits (by Robert Plotkin in a postal uniform, giving the illusion that reality is breaking down and Atlas is located in a thin area in space-time where strange beings, both archaic and mythological, can pass freely) and told that they must put them on. Andrae and Santino moan a bit, but then are gripped by the hilarious realization that prim and sartorially classic Emmett will also be wearing a similar outfit. They are not disappointed when Emmett walks into frame in a pink leotard with a sparkling "E" on the breast.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, Emmett was treated with the most outlandish and tacky costume of all. I have little doubt the Project Runway gods also snickered as they schemed to see the ever dignified and self-controlled Emmett debased. To Emmett's credit and integrity, he took it all in apparent good humor.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Tim Gunn arrives and makes them go outdoors in those outfits. [<b>Laurie:</b> insert female gasp of horror!] <b>Paul: </b>Tim Gunn is dressed like Tim Gunn. They, in fact, all go to an ice skating rink.<br />
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Let me take a moment here to assure you that this is exactly the episode I observed. I know this is sounding like "the episode Paul made up" but I assure you we have not got to that one yet.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> I loved this whole scene. I love when they make these tense participants play, and I'm convinced that the ice skating freed every one of them for just a span of time from the angst of competition. For just a few moments, these image conscious souls were children again, free and hilarious. Delightful!<br />
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<b>Paul: </b> Tim Gunn reveals that he too cannot ice skate.<br />
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No one is injured. Sasha Cohen arrives.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, our designers, creators and celebrators of beauty, have been reduced to awkward, giggling bumbling, and Sasha glides in all grace, expertise, beauty and confidence. I like to believe there is great freedom and joy in humility. Unfortunately, our designers being mere humans, will not be able to hold on to that feeling for long.<br />
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<b>Paul: </b> We almost wish it would end there. I would watch a show that was just what I've described up to this point. But there is still a competition. They are to make an ice dancing outfit for Sasha Cohen to wear while ice dancing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hM-G336x2XobUSqjTQIFNqkMQK50esdojWcNP1Sy002D9vxalRHQacEjBE0bLpkm4H7cLEkULwipDiBEjzKrMmD71xjdlLxJI7OY4ThUPEclV7-xqAkissDo6iTP9MUQUCJuKH3eapk/s1600/Project+runway+s2+ep7+santino+stacysews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hM-G336x2XobUSqjTQIFNqkMQK50esdojWcNP1Sy002D9vxalRHQacEjBE0bLpkm4H7cLEkULwipDiBEjzKrMmD71xjdlLxJI7OY4ThUPEclV7-xqAkissDo6iTP9MUQUCJuKH3eapk/s320/Project+runway+s2+ep7+santino+stacysews.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Santino's design image via stacysews.com</span></td></tr>
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Faced with all of this jocularity, I wondered what I would write about aside from what I've just written. As usual, the creative genius of Santino serves as our guide. In this episode, we begin to see Santino's musical talent (he makes up songs throughout the season while working as we've already seen with "Daniel Franco, Where Did You Go?"), which has me thinking about diversity of ability in art, as well as the process of creation. <br />
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I am not necessarily calling Santino Rice a polymath simply by virtue of the fact that he starts singing while crafting a dress, but I would like to introduce the concept to our discussion. A polymath is one who gains expertise in many diverse fields. Aristotle was one, as was Ben Franklin, Blaise Pascal, Jean Cocteau. Some contemporaries who have been called polymaths include Rowan Williams and Stephen Fry. The term is a synonym of possibly the more popular, but excruciatingly gender-specific "Renaissance man." [<b>Laurie</b>: the blue-collar and equally gender-specific term being "Jack-of-all-trades", although it is also said that he is a master of none, an ambiguous expression if you ask me, one that could be meant as a compliment or a slight ] <b>Paul: </b>I feel that a polymath is a fine thing toward which to aspire. More to the point, I think that people would do well to engage with the world around them as much as possible.<br />
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I also feel that everyone should make all kinds of art all the time. I feel that plumbers and cab drivers should compose operas, and insane preachers should paint, and scrap metal collectors should write poem cycles about groups of storytelling travelers. I feel that art and the desire for fame or renumeration are two distinctly different spheres. Sure, it would be the cat's pajamas to get Allen Ginsberg level fees for my poetry, but I have to create art for art's sake because that is the only option available to me. I am of that age where one realizes that one is not going to become a full-time poet, which in a way is a freeing realization. I have to create my art for the ages because I cannot create it for the wages.<br />
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Wow. I rooted out the corny rhyme like the pig does the truffle.<br />
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I recall a time when I was stage managing a production of a medieval creation story play that I had a very intense conversation with the assistant stage manager (ASM) over the tea situation. A small portion of our production budget went to the local tea house, specifically to a blend of mint and tarragon tea that we would all have at the beginning of rehearsals, sort of cleansing ourselves and the space in which we were rehearsing. One day, we ran out of the tea and I told the ASM to go get some more. She did not, choosing instead to focus on actual production details. I remember sitting her down and trying to express to her just how important the tea was by virtue of the fact that it was not important on any quantifiable level.<br />
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I feel largely the same way about art. So much of what we do in life is about the "how" of living. So much of what we do in art is about the "why." Santino's songs were such little throw-away moments, but I can already tell you that they will be some of my most distinct memories of this season, possibly more than a great deal of the design. I also feel as if this is something so often lost in a world where we have so many bare survival hoops to jump through, totally unnecessary hoops, in my humble opinion, in this age of miraculous technology. Why do we eat steak and eggs instead of just taking protein pills in the morning?<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Indeed, we dishonor life, creation, and our fellow-man by neglecting to appreciate the beauty inherent in them. This, I believe is one of the great values of seeking to be, as you call it, a polymath. It is in dipping and tasting, in trying on, or exploring the great variety this world of people, things, and ideas has to offer that we learn to understand, and respect one another's points of view. We may not like or agree with all we see or hear, but our understanding will be informed and we will have done others the honor of having done our best to look at things through their eyes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWacCeoQ4rt6WpMefG9PVa4nKlPQq8oVqwXZ_ttwfngt8iOKT2AMcFtkWhzbkMHc0QZaK4dfBtG4T2PceT3bYz2-H8F4zV4uLcMXwn60k4QW0vaZohxv8BY5rQ8jC1ueh4qOrnUclJOg/s1600/project+runway+s2+ep7+realitytvworld.com+chloe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWacCeoQ4rt6WpMefG9PVa4nKlPQq8oVqwXZ_ttwfngt8iOKT2AMcFtkWhzbkMHc0QZaK4dfBtG4T2PceT3bYz2-H8F4zV4uLcMXwn60k4QW0vaZohxv8BY5rQ8jC1ueh4qOrnUclJOg/s320/project+runway+s2+ep7+realitytvworld.com+chloe.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe's lovely offering via realitytv.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFzFg1tgImlmbXV6naADqDLpTHNLGsEzgAxAs4-VPn_IB1b-uy0wmpxs80ZJ0LDUEyb7rYwLJmQYvY6duTV8BayexcOD4efjHmG2F_h9WT-eRv509yw2L9WAn0uIFSdQXf6AqWdYEi-Y/s1600/Project+Runway+s2+ep7+zulema+bravotv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFzFg1tgImlmbXV6naADqDLpTHNLGsEzgAxAs4-VPn_IB1b-uy0wmpxs80ZJ0LDUEyb7rYwLJmQYvY6duTV8BayexcOD4efjHmG2F_h9WT-eRv509yw2L9WAn0uIFSdQXf6AqWdYEi-Y/s200/Project+Runway+s2+ep7+zulema+bravotv.jpg" width="112" /></a></b></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zulema's winning design</td></tr>
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Now back to our scheduled programming. By the rules of this challenge, the winning design was to be chosen by Miss Cohen herself, and so was not a matter left to the judges but to her own taste and artistic/athletic needs. Perhaps this explains why Chloe's beautiful design was not the winner. I can only imagine how beautifully it would have rippled like waves on the ice.<br />
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Instead Sasha chose Zulema's design. It was a nice design, but had a frumpy fit on the model, and was cut so dangerously close to revealing the nipple that I found myself too busy being nervous for the model to enjoy the design. (This isn't the first time one of Zulema's outfits borders on the too-revealing.) I imagine that when they actually fit it to Sasha that problem will be remedied.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXkONiNziFYgNa2KFLvr8M7h9PCqo4qk-7D5Lh4bcge18jGqDcE4i6TqeB0c0ba3MjHrHemcOnZcR2bF0Jy0KjTVbs2vbvB26kx0UMC1cUWqLF16KUqd5fdcgGgX-GjFWhX0Og2CbCZk/s320/project+runway+s2+ep7+realitytvworld.com+emmett.jpg" width="180" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image via realitytv.com</td></tr>
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<b>Paul: </b> I would have been inversely more upset at the loss of Emmett in this episode in relation to how fun this episode was.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b>
It really was a fun episode! I was sorry to see Emmett go for a number of reasons, not the least
of which was the dignity and traditionalism he brought with him to the competition. It would
appear that Project Runway has only limited tolerance for these
traits. It is understandable, I suppose, since he added no novelty or drama. Be that as it may, the real truth is that if all of us carried our ways through this world
as Emmett did through this program this planet would be a much pleasanter
place. He was a throwback to a not-so-distant time when people were
actually expected to behave themselves in public. In addition, the style he brought was quiet and dignified, traits
also under-appreciated in our day. Perhaps I'm showing my age, which
is about the same as Emmett's, in that I thought his design was stately,
traditional, and elegant. Perhaps I am revealing my own fashion
obsolescence in really liking the very design that was judged boring and
sent home. I along with you, Paul, expressed a sigh of disappointment upon seeing him leave the runway for the final time.<br />
<br />
<br />Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-24542488470978100332011-10-03T10:40:00.000-07:002011-10-03T10:40:54.734-07:002.6: The Medium is the Message<b>Paul:</b> I had very little to say about this Banana Republic challenge. One of my few notes reads "Nobody on the show knows what Banana Republic looks like!" Which I think would be a much more interesting challenge. Make the designers design a look they've never heard of and see how close they come through suppositions.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Wow, good idea! That really would be a fun one! <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> We are in teams again because that seems to be an emerging guaranteed pot stirrer. But, I think the real point of interest in this week's challenge was the window dressing part. The designers are called upon to create a window display in Banana Republic in New York City in which the live model will display their design. The design challenge is "day to evening wear," meaning an outfit which can transition seamlessly, as it were.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>These are teams of two at this point, and the judging gimmick for this episode is that the passers-by will be called upon to vote for their favorite display. The winner of the public vote is the winner of the challenge. The non-winning teams will be judged on the runway. The losing team goes home. Which means we say good-bye to two designers today. For some reason I find this more merciful somehow. They don't die alone. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> And so we approach the concept of sales and advertising as well as several questions associated with that aspect of human existence. What is one doing when one is advertising? Can advertising become a form of art unto itself?<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> I believe it most certainly can. I really appreciate lovely advertising. Though it might not affect my choice in product, I appreciate it just the same. Packaging, on the other hand, though I don't at first think of it as advertising, is the most effective for me. Print ads do next to nothing to influence me, but attractive packaging is hard to resist. All else being equal, I would be inclined to pay a tiny bit more for a product in a lovely package than for one in an ugly container.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Right! Because you're bringing that thing you're buying into your house. Product designers would do well to remember that an elegant package is the difference between dish soap on my counter or dish soap in the cabinet under the sink.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>A store window is a lot like an attractive package. I am not much of a shopper, but I am far more likely to enter a shop if I like its window display, whether or not I would consider buying the actual outfits displayed there. The window gets me in the door.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I feel that this challenge is a very good encapsulation of advertising. The designers are being called upon to "sell" an object of their own creation with the incentive of the massive noteriety of having their design sold by Banana Republic. Bravo (at this point in the Project Runway story), Project Runway, certainly Banana Republic, and to a certain extent Elle Magazine have a great deal to profit from this venture. They are a providing a venue for the designers to work and subsequently expect a portion of reward for their labor.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Why, oh why could I not find a single picture of a single one of their window displays?!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtLofk_NnI_VX1Qfyphy07cOsEG-E_O88zWMURvqN3ZX4UUGCOxF-Jo2t0QOuMbRSSlIrrzEQTtfaKPBYhyphenhyphensB-foTl01M5hZPD543jnEzuqf98LZdI_KzSjD48JV8nXejrgyXKR6U_okY/s1600/project+runway+season+2+window+dressing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtLofk_NnI_VX1Qfyphy07cOsEG-E_O88zWMURvqN3ZX4UUGCOxF-Jo2t0QOuMbRSSlIrrzEQTtfaKPBYhyphenhyphensB-foTl01M5hZPD543jnEzuqf98LZdI_KzSjD48JV8nXejrgyXKR6U_okY/s640/project+runway+season+2+window+dressing.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image via Gothamist.com</td></tr>
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Daniel V. and Andrae were the winners of this challenge. I think the dress is cute, but I wouldn't be caught dead in that little jacket. Yikes! The poofs on the sleeves. Do you know what those are called Paul?<br />
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<b>Paul: </b>Injudicious. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Anyway, their design went to market as promised:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErI0ZXBFBGaLswgTy4QI4_v9N7t_7eSYEAExbOUvexlDmVZe6VCIlMQqb6rOepncdStK6h8V2DlNCkXu_0I4KgNOcNjMJtlUUR32-owj-czbI2sIb7fS-pM4e0LZp9vBX8qJOysT_z6Q/s1600/pr_runway+season+2+window+shopping+winner+for+sale+image+via+constant+chatter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErI0ZXBFBGaLswgTy4QI4_v9N7t_7eSYEAExbOUvexlDmVZe6VCIlMQqb6rOepncdStK6h8V2DlNCkXu_0I4KgNOcNjMJtlUUR32-owj-czbI2sIb7fS-pM4e0LZp9vBX8qJOysT_z6Q/s400/pr_runway+season+2+window+shopping+winner+for+sale+image+via+constant+chatter.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image via Constant Chatter</td></tr>
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<br />
We said good-bye to Diana & Marla. While I liked their blouse, the rest of the suit appeared rumpled and a bit dowdy. The other big news was Nick's ability to tone down Santino and a fair amount of interpersonal drama between Kara and Zulema, which, thankfully I only vaguely remember. These two were not meant to work together.<br />
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And that's all I've got for Episode 6. It looks like you and I both came away from this one with a bit of a "ho hum".<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> True, but I hasten to add that the next one was my favorite. Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-88255029230779041882011-09-27T22:19:00.000-07:002011-10-10T17:18:05.972-07:002.5: Pyrite<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span class="body">"There is only one class in the community that thinks
more about money than the rich, and that is the poor. The poor can think
of nothing else."</span> <span class="bodybold">-Oscar Wilde
</span></b></div>
<span class="bodybold">
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<b>Paul:</b> And now we come to the topics of social class, economics, distribution of wealth, and envy. Our designers are to design a dress for Nicky Hilton, the Hilton who has produced fashion design while existing entirely in the shadow of her swollen silk-stocking sister.</span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><br /></span><br />
<span class="bodybold">Oh, if I can make it through this without singing <i>The Internationale</i> it will be a miracle. </span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><br /></span><br />
<span class="bodybold">Conrad Hilton was the magnate of the Hilton Hotel chain, the great-grandfather of the Hilton sisters, and the source from which their wealth flows. He started the Hilton Hotel line by buying a single hotel and working his way up, which sounds like a great Horatio Alger American Dream story until I think about buying a single hotel. Even the single-story, drive-up "Bates Motel but with meth instead of murder" across the street from me is above my paygrade.</span><br />
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<span class="bodybold"><b>Laurie:</b> I'm pretty sure I heard that there was a murder there several years ago. But even so, as you say, we'd have to at least quadruple our wealth before we could afford to purchase the Budget Inn.</span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><br /></span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><b>Paul:</b> So, it seems like a "rags to riches" empire story for sympathetic purposes, but really it's more like "upper-middle class to riches" empire story.</span><br />
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<span class="bodybold">Boy oh boy, am I ever being a catty little Have-Not over this episode. My point is that everybody knows that the game is rigged. The Feudal Spirit is alive and well in America and there is a ceiling dictated by your last name, skin color, or gender identity. There is the con that this is not the case perpetuated by those whose goal is to maximize their profit margin and those who are trying to get people to vote for them. Everyone knows that sharing amaretto at the Four Seasons with the beautiful people, carefullly shaded from the cloying cameras of jealously, is much nicer than yesterday's Yuban in the break room across the silent table from Murray who is trying to get a middle management position by constantly pointing out your flaws to your supervisors. </span><br />
<span class="bodybold">Murray buys the illusion of upward mobility, but there is only so far he can climb. In what may be clever subversion or entirely unintentional on the part of the show, the designers are carefully taught that if they want the best slop, they must buddy up to the fattest hogs.</span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><br /></span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><b>Laurie:</b> A <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21525851?fsrc=scn%2Ftw%2Fte%2Far%2Fdontlookdown">recent article in The Economist </a>discussed a report which posited, as did Wilde, that the poor can be just as complicit in this as the rich. No one wants to be on the bottom. This "last-place aversion" hints that everyone needs someone to look down on to feel alive. Self-worth, it appears, is relative and measured by comparing or associating ourselves with others. Self is central and others peripheral, valued or devalued based upon whatever currency, emotional or otherwise, they have to offer us. So there is a sense in which both rich and the poor depend upon there being someone poorer than themselves for their own happiness.</span><br />
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<span class="bodybold"><b>Paul:</b> Right! We saw some of this in this episode I thought. Nicky Hilton makes her appearances and does give a bit of an air of being "above" it. Arguably that was necessary to maintain the illusion of a socialite deigning to bestow her largesse on the unwashed masses. However, taking a step back we see the show promoting her line and, indeed, her persona. In other words, she used Project Runway for a boost and Project Runway used her for a boost.</span><br />
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<span class="bodybold">The designers are invited to a party in which Nicky Hilton makes an appearance. The designers are reminded that part of the role of a designer is not just to sell a design to the client, but to sell their image or some such rot. In other words, Santino is a shoe-in (as it were) and Emmett and Diana are doomed. </span><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Laurie:</b> As though every drop of praise might be the last in the parched Project Runway desert, Santino exhibited incredible discomfort whenever <i>anyone else's </i>designs received credit. <br />
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Santino is an irresistible character. Petulant one moment, hilarious the next. Gifted beyond his ability to restrain himself, in more ways than one. He reminds me of a little boy whose maddening behavior is offset perfectly by his devastating charm, disarming smile, and apparent lack of guile. You don't love to hate him. You <i>want</i> to love him in spite of the obstacles he throws in your path.<br />
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<b><br /></b><br />
<span class="bodybold"><b>Paul:</b> There is another lesson here which I think flows nicely from the Daniel Franco episode. Faced with the low ceiling of circumstance beyond any control of the individual, one is either faced with a life of frustration (the broad path) or the option to base one's values and importance on those things which are not dictated by the grand pecking order (the narrow road.) If one is able to transubstantiate what is of value in this world from the monetary to the virtuous, one suddenly has a paradigm in which the ceiling is removed. While the Hiltons of the world seek to miniaturize camels, a much simpler and more universally attainable and rewarding task is the daily attention to the condition of the soul. </span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><br /></span><br />
<span class="bodybold">Another lesson from this week's episode is to bear in mind that if you are living in an enclosed space in which there is food available to you, running water which need not be boiled to prevent you from becoming horribly, immediately, and likely deathly ill, and are, in fact, able to read this, congratulations! You are among the richest people in the world. If you're starving to death without a home, it's not much of a difference (at least initially) between the barest minimum of government food and housing or living in hotels with your own name on them. We are the fattest hogs, and the global economy is currently hitting the blip of having evolved to existing to feed that hog on credit and then panicking when the bill arrives.</span><br />
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<span class="bodybold">This body and these things can come and go so quickly. Out of every 25 people you see in a day, one will be dead next year. Focus on virtue for a life with real flourish.</span><br />
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<span class="bodybold"><b>Laurie: </b> Wow, we've covered just about everything but the fashion this time around, and failed to mention the good deal of fun that was had. How about I get that little thing out of the way. First of all, the fun. Once the awkward kissing-up to the heiress part of the party was over, and she unceremoniously ceased to be there, the designers let their hair down and played for a while. They treated us and themselves to a rip-roaring good time by holding a "walk-off", with each of the designers doing their best representation of a runway model. Santino, a born mimic, made his appearance in slacks and stiletto pumps (yes, really), and stole that show. As good design would have it, he also went on to steal the challenge. His winning design is below. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3lOHWkiwuimu8ERGilC1uDZ7EhKPzt8CX1IL6sdoaL-zIHhks0ruFpSa-qWRjQNDvtkQYkxSP5SPEug9LkP6URFvFRO3jq-Ya9wuVJQA_WILxKPI35150XjgdLxkViQ0JLy9grI09SY/s1600/Project+Runway+santino_hilton+dress.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3lOHWkiwuimu8ERGilC1uDZ7EhKPzt8CX1IL6sdoaL-zIHhks0ruFpSa-qWRjQNDvtkQYkxSP5SPEug9LkP6URFvFRO3jq-Ya9wuVJQA_WILxKPI35150XjgdLxkViQ0JLy9grI09SY/s320/Project+Runway+santino_hilton+dress.jpeg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santino's design image via sfgate.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqdbbHMnMLNwJqo6fF_BbIPEzUPOYnAAeSvFxfv-fymbJk2l_WCEpMZO7HSLVehROpi8g-Qm0EvAdu2aOaGx0Lv5cc7qw1Gv4spzQsfgofdEPKxufAP9vGN_HGyqnWOQCr_zjbUaBBNo/s1600/project+runway+guadalupe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqdbbHMnMLNwJqo6fF_BbIPEzUPOYnAAeSvFxfv-fymbJk2l_WCEpMZO7HSLVehROpi8g-Qm0EvAdu2aOaGx0Lv5cc7qw1Gv4spzQsfgofdEPKxufAP9vGN_HGyqnWOQCr_zjbUaBBNo/s1600/project+runway+guadalupe.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> hollywoodstar-news-ja.blogspot.com</td></tr>
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<span class="bodybold">This is also the week we say hello and good-bye to Guadalupe Vidal, who I fear we've yet to mention here, due to a design better suited to Helena Bonham-Carter than Nicky Hilton. Guadalupe's funky aesthetic failed to come across in the Project Runway challenges, though I could see the charm in it. (I, for one, have always thought Helena Bonham-Carter gets a bad fashion-rap. She is who she is and dresses accordingly. </span><span class="bodybold"> Though you couldn't pay me to mimic her style, </span><span class="bodybold">I think there is something amazing about the image she presents to the world.) </span>Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-58560719749127314362011-09-22T23:14:00.000-07:002011-10-10T17:18:17.811-07:002.4: Redemption Song<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yjfas64y3VA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<b>Paul:</b> Lingerie was upstaged by personal drama and a rather remarkable character arch. I imagine somewhere in the remaining seven seasons we will have occasion to talk more in depth on the topic of lingerie.<br />
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Daniel Franco was in the first episode of Season One. We were guided to dislike him immensely and did not give him another moment's thought after he'd gone. I even forgot his name. He danced around, he seemed arrogant, he dismissed Tim Gunn when he was trying to give Daniel advice (the only thing I remember about him in that first episode. You just don't do that!), he talked about following your bliss.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> I remember him from his brief appearance in Season One much more vividly than you do. He was the picture of self-esteem run amock. "Arrogant" doesn't quite do the trick. He gave every impression of having had a mother who played Tony Robbins tapes under his pillow while he slept - for his entire childhood. He believed in himself in that peculiar way of a child who has never experienced anything but praise - ever. He was beyond annoying and on to infuriating. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> That seems to have been my impression as well.<br />
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The second season opened with the auditions which included Daniel Franco. Everyone was amazed to see him walk through the door. Daniel made the case that he felt he wasn't given a fair chance. Tim Gunn extended grace.<br />
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This season we have observed a very different Daniel Franco from the one we were shown for a few moments in Season One. He was humble, he worked hard, and eventually he sacrificed his own place on the show for his lingerie team members who he could just as well have sold up river.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Perhaps I should interject some detail here. Our designers were first given the challenge of sketching up a lingerie concept to pitch to resident famous-lingerie-model and host Heidi Klum. Ms. Klum chose her favorite four concepts. The designers were then divided up into four groups for a dreaded "team challenge". (These seldom fare well.) Each team was to work together under the leadership of the designer to execute his concept. There would be three people on each team. The entire losing team would be "out" - as in off the show. High stakes that one would hope would produce high motivation and cooperation.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Instead, we have another instance of "teams" which devolve into a runway show of clashing egos. I would especially note Santino's characteristically high concept lingerie which seems to be a theme of some form of a Germanic. I seem to remember Heidi being called upon to choose the lingerie concepts and the scene being awkwardly Oedipal as the third trimester supermodel gives her opinion of "sexy" designs. [<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, we've somehow managed to get this far into the season without even mentioning that Host Heidi Klum is profoundly pregnant throughout. Oh, and Santino's original sketches actually showed one pair of undies with the words "auf wiedersehen" stitched across the rear end] <b>Paul</b>: In my final word about the actual content of the design challenge, I think that there was nothing resembling marketable in the designs. All of the designers over-thought and put their concepts on a high shelf. It was a bit like having a neighborhood proletarian beer bar, trying to introduce some food, and deciding to hire a molecular gastronomist as your chef.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGD-Gt4Ud-SOWbGcX_u6zeEu-Wq_ypVwNSRkytACcoED5qdCAbBG3ykiNfBMryfBZrEvBpPaKxJcbeKKKKV8atLxVw2E4K_5WbdqdVvfenwboLPxdyz5mfVEbca33riGvIdHOgV3v8Bb0/s1600/leiderhosen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGD-Gt4Ud-SOWbGcX_u6zeEu-Wq_ypVwNSRkytACcoED5qdCAbBG3ykiNfBMryfBZrEvBpPaKxJcbeKKKKV8atLxVw2E4K_5WbdqdVvfenwboLPxdyz5mfVEbca33riGvIdHOgV3v8Bb0/s320/leiderhosen.jpg" width="174" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An immodest example</td></tr>
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But back to Daniel Franco. This season we have watched him prove his ability as a designer, but we have also watched him prove one of the best behaved contestant on the show (with the exception of Emmett whose whole character on the show can be summed up as "well behaved.") In this, his final episode, his team turns on him like a pack of cornered and wounded raccoons. On the runway, he decides that as a leader he should be prepared to take responsibility for his product and the judges as happy to oblige him <b>EVEN THOUGH HE DID NOT DESIGN THE LINGERIE IN THE PICTURE ABOVE! </b> <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Well I would differ with you on one point. I thought our other Daniel, Daniel Vosovic, who was the winner of this challenge did manage to come up with some marketable looks. He chose the theme "Revenge", as in dressing in your cheating lover's clothes to seduce your next lover, (Okay, it's lingerie. Not the stuff of high-morality.) and created a sleek, modern, and wearable look.<br />
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Now back to Daniel Franco. His designs were a bit dowdy, with the same black lace ruffling every which-where and rearranged in three different shapes. Ho hum. Yet in this episode Daniel F. managed to make a more profound impression on the Mathers' household than a whole parade of near-naked ladies.<br />
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Daniel Franco was a changed man. The transformation in his character from his first appearance on the series until this one could not have been more complete. Throughout this challenge his teammates were catty and cutthroat. Throughout the challenge, Daniel treated them with respect and good humor. During the final judging, as Paul already alluded to, they threw him to the wolves, taking no credit whatsoever for their own lack of cooperation in the work. Daniel responded by accepting full responsibility and stating that he would not let his teammates take the fall. His teammates, Chloe in particular, who had been his most vocal detractor throughout, was in tears - shamed by his kindness. But in that way that true kindness has, she was shamed not into hard cynicism, but into humble, loving admiration. Daniel had overcome evil with good. My eyes still well up at the memory.<br />
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<br />Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-71441067178220313362011-09-16T22:42:00.000-07:002011-10-10T17:18:31.273-07:002.3: Project-ing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmOoJqZnS2RnlMUDFsXFB-C4BTMbX_D4PT6t9tPzsivW4IGF17u5F_rI64gZetYHc3tNwu2TQIdQxFsrpcNoug6RbkkwLSeqJqTf8lTsUH6zucIFBx-1RP18qWENrpFdc7F3tN4nyleY/s1600/tim_gunn400x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmOoJqZnS2RnlMUDFsXFB-C4BTMbX_D4PT6t9tPzsivW4IGF17u5F_rI64gZetYHc3tNwu2TQIdQxFsrpcNoug6RbkkwLSeqJqTf8lTsUH6zucIFBx-1RP18qWENrpFdc7F3tN4nyleY/s320/tim_gunn400x300.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com</td></tr>
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<b>Paul</b>: In this absurd world, humans seem hard-wired to project their internal life outward. They identify with external attributes that they like. They identify with fantasies and create emotional connections to people that they will never meet. They mimic the behavior that they observe in those people:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeaP5NImJojuq_gPi_PLf8fqH6bkmbh_4Rhbq1ZHUKIoELoKO0yXMwEyngpmLZxdvAh8rnKncoJ3aMxn16b7g7mvfaceThH-SaEK1zbp87HzyPeU0zhIW80Fo0pINIDekDIPIFnlw7QE/s1600/2214054176_c5ee9325cb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeaP5NImJojuq_gPi_PLf8fqH6bkmbh_4Rhbq1ZHUKIoELoKO0yXMwEyngpmLZxdvAh8rnKncoJ3aMxn16b7g7mvfaceThH-SaEK1zbp87HzyPeU0zhIW80Fo0pINIDekDIPIFnlw7QE/s200/2214054176_c5ee9325cb.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nmKjsc2w4BnBf-NSdoIg6VFtejmCBhpzq1BI_QjDmggJSZOyeHj12P-GV0iU4s_7ISRXQJdzJyPwvkIP40vQEy52VrFp0m82JbjVZ7-d4UsuXuTp4PpsgLfiwG_d13Ffg4-mZz8xw-Y/s1600/warholdrinks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nmKjsc2w4BnBf-NSdoIg6VFtejmCBhpzq1BI_QjDmggJSZOyeHj12P-GV0iU4s_7ISRXQJdzJyPwvkIP40vQEy52VrFp0m82JbjVZ7-d4UsuXuTp4PpsgLfiwG_d13Ffg4-mZz8xw-Y/s200/warholdrinks.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov4KNC6Mn0vaGKpnIJqAxPpZ_17pkwwRrK0dmkmM2P6HGTP2p1Sd9t2i_Zte9rPBqmcL1GJyZkdMj2W6Dw_B-0hf0HgUaZtVNFO7MIGItPJ5Z3w2fv5LrP1cGlpHYCrJcj05vjdgX8T4/s1600/redecorating+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov4KNC6Mn0vaGKpnIJqAxPpZ_17pkwwRrK0dmkmM2P6HGTP2p1Sd9t2i_Zte9rPBqmcL1GJyZkdMj2W6Dw_B-0hf0HgUaZtVNFO7MIGItPJ5Z3w2fv5LrP1cGlpHYCrJcj05vjdgX8T4/s320/redecorating+009.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Now take this concept and apply it to an object rather than a person. Of course, the advantage is that a piece of plastic on the shelf is not going to make an embarrassing statement or a scandal. You can project on it whatever you choose and it will not undermine the illusion.<br />
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Take your naked doll and clothe its naked villainy as you would like to look. Identify with it. Worship it. Who are you? Who do you want to be? Have you fallen short of your image? <br />
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Better yet, take the doll and mass-produce it. Advertise it to humans in their imprinting stage of life. Suddenly you have immense power in your hands. It's an old story, but we'll tell it again. <br />
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Barbie is a popular children's doll which features variations on a young girl. [<b>Laurie</b>: I would say "young <i>woman</i>".] <b>Paul</b>: About ten years ago, Mattel, the doll's manufacturer, launched a line to compete with the popular Bratz dolls. It is called My Scene Barbie (which, thoughout the episode, my brain kept hearing as Miocene Barbie.) The line seems to be an attempt at a slicker, hipper Barbie, perhaps for the demographic referred to in some circles as "tweens," which is to say the phenomenon of pre-teens who are no longer children and long to be teenagers. Why anyone would long to be a teenager at any point in their life is a complete mystery to me. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOHd0mQKYfANT37tZ8I68ZA7ETv_B5345pR_SDQ379MCB6KjATZWFcj1i6yetxx3gvgg0GGBC9_JvlfuFxRRfLlJ74DJQb4wUz8v2Siuiu4bs9CdgT7tfiTvyKfPfYzphJol9sAX433jM/s1600/Miocene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOHd0mQKYfANT37tZ8I68ZA7ETv_B5345pR_SDQ379MCB6KjATZWFcj1i6yetxx3gvgg0GGBC9_JvlfuFxRRfLlJ74DJQb4wUz8v2Siuiu4bs9CdgT7tfiTvyKfPfYzphJol9sAX433jM/s320/Miocene.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miocene Barbie and friends</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cAgEx8rcnqPL12KOAJM1vRGQsPQF4dWI4dba7OHwKVy2l1f1XgyDEusuc0ws8u-I0i-cCaMhAvbxrW-5i8l0CEgftuliHJRPSEStzaajkdRMHDZr6G73wyQzbsctbaHI97SyjH1LfXQ/s1600/scene-hairstyles-for-scene-kids-2011-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cAgEx8rcnqPL12KOAJM1vRGQsPQF4dWI4dba7OHwKVy2l1f1XgyDEusuc0ws8u-I0i-cCaMhAvbxrW-5i8l0CEgftuliHJRPSEStzaajkdRMHDZr6G73wyQzbsctbaHI97SyjH1LfXQ/s200/scene-hairstyles-for-scene-kids-2011-1.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Scene" hair image from allhairstyles.org</td></tr>
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<b>Laurie:</b> In my experience, the desire to be one "age group" ahead continues until just about age 35, at which point the pathetic attempts to freeze time or even travel backwards through it begin. And to prove that great minds often think nothing alike, I'll take this moment to mention that whenever I heard "My Scene Barbie" I kept envisioning a My "Scene" Barbie - which according to information gleaned from having recently parented teens would have more closely resembled this:<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> That reminds me of my goth club days and something I observed back then. There would often be "that guy" at a goth club who was over the age of 25, often up to the age of 40. It was generally understood by all of the children in attendance that there was something horribly wrong and creepy about that guy. Which was true, but there was the unspoken lesson about the childishness of the whole "scene." I think everyone knew in some capacity that they would either outgrow this by the time they were 25 or be "that guy."<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> But you digress.<br />
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<b>Paul: </b> Tim Gunn announces that the designers are to meet a major fashion icon. They are taken to a toy store and "introduced" to My Scene Barbie. They are given the challenge to create an outfit for My Scene Barbie. They do, but they also make full size versions of the outfit for a runway show. <br />
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Boy oh Boy, I sure don't remember many of the designs. I remember that Nick won with a cute little splashy greenish dress. I remember Santino had a cute little purple thing that maybe was too advanced for the tween crowd. I remember someone getting in trouble for using middle aged colors.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, here's Nick's winning design. Splashy indeed! Very fun. Absolutely appropriate. A well deserved win.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UMfFp65xW8bpbjkAyQ4L0GGrir5XsEFnrgDDO_RBhCqnPfSLGPDmjdj9Sdflua1Xue3BcVynnnNQOt9V7tRcM9H6WwvXvBmyU5nd5i-XU5KonfepNdLKZOHsymO7muGV33fBj0KziNA/s1600/PR+My+Scene+Barbie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UMfFp65xW8bpbjkAyQ4L0GGrir5XsEFnrgDDO_RBhCqnPfSLGPDmjdj9Sdflua1Xue3BcVynnnNQOt9V7tRcM9H6WwvXvBmyU5nd5i-XU5KonfepNdLKZOHsymO7muGV33fBj0KziNA/s400/PR+My+Scene+Barbie.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image via nickverrreos.blogspot.com</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sUelxVpOXLheB1ewlMkVbSDRcGecXr_mq7OXdxJRZ76tuJ1alIiGBc5sJ1iTtbR05nUG5AguRNgKJkGl44nTCvysaJ5smSTrEZtcFNersT0sHtLR0p5mJnuxB3Ywf82nvV1Ng0hFAvU/s1600/project+runway+season+2+losing+barbie+outfit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
Santino's design,<span style="font-size: x-small;"> image via AOLtv.com</span></td></tr>
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<b>Laurie:</b> Santino's dress is at left. Cute. Were it not for
Nick, he would have been the winner, and he knew it. Nick's win was
well-deserved, a fact Santino was in no way ready to recognize.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Paul: </b>Santino is subsequently more upset about Barbie dolls than I
have ever seen an adult male be. Granted, it would
be a high watermark in anyone's life to have an internationally famous
doll with your design on it (which I just checked to find that they are
currently selling in collector's circles for around $200.) And so we
begin to see Santino's fierce competitive side although in stark
contrast to Wendy Pepper, we are still guided to love him. He is a
remarkably charismatic young man and no amount of his snark has
dissuaded me from numbering him among my favorites (albeit in my second favorite season out of the one and a half we've watched so far.)<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> This episode's losing design has a back-story that deserves a mention. The designer, Raymundo Baltazar, from the moment he was given the challenge began to express his rather strong feelings that little girls ought to be allowed to be little girls and not dolled up like strumpets. (My words, not his.) His distaste for the My Scene Barbie look was evident, though he didn't express it outright. He thought that little girls aspire to be like the real grown-up women in their lives - mothers, sisters, etc, and so set out to design something that would reflect little girls' respect for their appropriate, tasteful, role models. This was a noble goal on his part, but exactly opposite, so far as I can tell, from My Scene Barbie's. I was sincerely touched by his concern for the preservation of little-girlhood, and the treasuring of the females in his life that this clearly represents. I liked the dress and would happily wear it, without the jacket that is. I'm pretty perky for a middle-aged woman, but I'm no Barbie, and therein lies Raymundo's problem. He did seem like a genuinely talented and nice guy, though. I hope he is doing well.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfl0gidjBBdmTleebT-ktK0GNhQ1UPn9_aTf4ImoATb2_xKl8jFOePWKuEIaAtw-9y6H9ototuAXkVqXM8-IgguKD4FF30Bn1hxYaOJoxm44Z5bMrG3-jpLlDE_NE7Auq6fjrsfMYRbg0/s1600/project+runway+season+2+raymundo+baltazar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfl0gidjBBdmTleebT-ktK0GNhQ1UPn9_aTf4ImoATb2_xKl8jFOePWKuEIaAtw-9y6H9ototuAXkVqXM8-IgguKD4FF30Bn1hxYaOJoxm44Z5bMrG3-jpLlDE_NE7Auq6fjrsfMYRbg0/s400/project+runway+season+2+raymundo+baltazar.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raymundo's design via Hollywood Star News</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-19154774469301463712011-09-13T19:32:00.000-07:002011-10-10T17:18:53.480-07:002.2: This Shirtless Back<b>Paul:</b> The designers are invited to a party. Happy at the opportunity for some recreation in an otherwise tense and competitive atmosphere, they dress in the clothes they have packed most suited to a celebratory occasion. Several drinks down the party, it is announced that their challenge is to create an outfit using only the material of the clothes they are currently wearing. Oh, that deceit should dwell in such a gorgeous palace!<br />
<br />
I remember when I was a child reaching that point where I became interested in chores. I was a lonely boy with few friends, and I have a strong memory of loving to dust and wash dishes. Also one reaches a point in their childhood where they are ready to just get on with the damned thing called life, frustrated by the societal expectations of small children to be unemployed. I have a strong recollection of standing at the sink in my parents' kitchen and, as they will, a mug slipping from my grip and breaking on the counter. I was horrified, expecting to be asked to pack my belongings and find somewhere else to live. My mother reassured me that it was fine, don't worry, things break all the time, and "it's just stuff." I imprinted on this experience that people are more important that stuff, a lesson I am fairly certain that my mother intended to communicate from that situation. I feel that a disappointed or angry parent in that situation may instill a highly inflated importance on material possessions on a small child.<br />
<br />
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There was a lawyer who moonlights as a designer (far right in the photo) whose name has fled my mind in hopes of making room for more relevant information to the rest of my life. <b>[Laurie:</b> Wikipedia, which exists for just such moments, reminds us that her name is Kirsten Ehrig.] <b>Paul: </b>There you go. In death, a member of Project Runway has a name.<br />
<br />
Kirsten chose to wear a Porsche t-shirt to the party (I am so increasingly discouraged to live in the age of the t-shirt) and she fashions it into a something like a dress top, but more something like a t-shirt cut apart and stitched loosely back together.<b><br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b> </b>I consider wearing any item with the brand name of an expensive car on it to be a cheap attempt at looking expensive. I would think owning the vehicle would do nicely. <b><br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> </b>Yes, and a Porsche t-shirt is a bit like a Happy Meal with an Ivy League theme.<br />
<br />
In and of itself, it is bad design. But there was a key element to this episode, glaring in its omission. The lady had a silk scarf at the party with sort of a gold Versace pattern on it. She did not use it in her runway outfit. Her reasoning is that it was an heirloom or some such nonsense. This does not explain why she did not simply tie in around the models neck. It is not used and it was one of the more elegant materials at her disposal. Opportunity: Squandered. Home she goes.<b><br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> </b>I agree. She didn't even have to cut it. She could have draped it over a hip, or tied it around the neck, knotted it into a bustier, or basted it with discreet stitches to some other fabric. This incident, for me, represented an inexcusable imagination gap. Even as a little girl, the presence of a scarves in my mother's dresser drawer captured my whimsy. I loved to pull one, or all of them out, and test a hundred ways to wear them. This is the unique magic of a scarf. It's very existence in its unprescribed form, hints at a world of lovely possibilities. <br />
<br />
Besides this, I'm sure each of these folks watched Season One and should
have remembered that there was a similar challenge then. That time it
involved cutting up their pajamas, but I don't know why anyone who was going
to be on that show would risk packing a single item of clothing he or she was not
willing to cut up.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjToaZnxZ1itGw1h8J0zok7DgrQHgGgp9hGU7DOzTB8IXM0j9PnuTW1PBVAbcaKE4aQ03pdckxMgypywBs96TfDtFnM3WcdwexkuHCxWO6c8QcbUO8IR2pdyJaGLdxD31tiCV6_VSshHag/s1600/santintoclothesoffback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjToaZnxZ1itGw1h8J0zok7DgrQHgGgp9hGU7DOzTB8IXM0j9PnuTW1PBVAbcaKE4aQ03pdckxMgypywBs96TfDtFnM3WcdwexkuHCxWO6c8QcbUO8IR2pdyJaGLdxD31tiCV6_VSshHag/s1600/santintoclothesoffback.jpg" /></a><b>Paul:</b> Consider Santino's design in light of this. He reveals on the runway that he was wearing his favorite jacket, but that he saw it as his opportunity to make something beautiful out of it. He sees that it is just a thing and I'm sure it stung to take a scissors to his favorite jacket. But he did it and it looked fabulous.<br />
<br />
I've said before that I think Santino may very well be our best natural talent this season. I think the lesson of this episode is clear. Everything is transitory. Create beauty where and when you can. Don't cling to things so tightly. I felt that it was one of the better lessons explicitly and intentionally taught by the series so far.<b><br />
<br />
</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTvzqAm6fidrgAxlv_4bVzolO-xEdtKED584hu-GwybOdw-yClgvqlz70onmPiAgT7vV4Hun19B_-R0kWKBeQprXY73YT7lPfVM4vXus5dEebp2d2OF3aJ61kyLsaXdwSkIAwUkXHWUA/s1600/Project+Runway+chloe+winner_202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTvzqAm6fidrgAxlv_4bVzolO-xEdtKED584hu-GwybOdw-yClgvqlz70onmPiAgT7vV4Hun19B_-R0kWKBeQprXY73YT7lPfVM4vXus5dEebp2d2OF3aJ61kyLsaXdwSkIAwUkXHWUA/s320/Project+Runway+chloe+winner_202.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe's dress</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>
<b>
<b>Laurie:</b> </b></b>And yet, Santino was not the winner of this challenge. That honor was reserved for Chloe Dao, who didn't have much to work with, yet came away with the sleek little number at right. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZNXpn6liujqCfzRwpY6Y0nmnQphg8Lecs-TTpAT-3RRntF-XzT88EkMHqS-qPZtodPFNc1XVqfVxSmKaEXLcgbQz1HTbFhPLHw255edRr2BfZdDhevhH-KBw406jXNSp-zftsHaPvaw/s1600/Project+Runway+andrae2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZNXpn6liujqCfzRwpY6Y0nmnQphg8Lecs-TTpAT-3RRntF-XzT88EkMHqS-qPZtodPFNc1XVqfVxSmKaEXLcgbQz1HTbFhPLHw255edRr2BfZdDhevhH-KBw406jXNSp-zftsHaPvaw/s320/Project+Runway+andrae2.jpg" width="145" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrae's design</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Over all, none of the designs in this episode particularly knocked my socks off, but there was an
unforgettable moment near the end of the judging. It involved designer
Andrae
Gonzalo whose ill-conceived and hastily assembled dress came very close
to being voted off. When asked by the judges to explain his concept,
he began to disintegrate, erupting into a flood of random words and
tearful hysteria. The judges looked on stone-faced. By some miracle he
was not eliminated. Or should I say, he was saved by the fact that he
did not cut a Porsche t-shirt into a Porsche haltar top.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipX-Be_8BXf5ljRYdcgb5Ak4JoDqtrMf_z7ahliQi31EzgMiO2V0uguZaAJibcmKP1AALqlyfjDf-W1ITxnVau4Z1wiDa8hpKOjds2TkAWSqbRX-SfAGP_R4QJ4XFQd0ozWNQFBsrdjWo/s1600/Project+Runway+danf2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipX-Be_8BXf5ljRYdcgb5Ak4JoDqtrMf_z7ahliQi31EzgMiO2V0uguZaAJibcmKP1AALqlyfjDf-W1ITxnVau4Z1wiDa8hpKOjds2TkAWSqbRX-SfAGP_R4QJ4XFQd0ozWNQFBsrdjWo/s320/Project+Runway+danf2.jpg" width="159" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel Franco</td></tr>
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Oh, and before I forget, how 'bout we end on a happier note? Daniel Franco. You'll remember he's back from Season One, where he was the first designer eliminated. I think it's fair to say that we were all in shock here at Casa Mathers at the rare burst of Project Runway goodwill that gave him a second chance. Then in the first episode of Season Two he finished second to last, leading many to wonder if it would not have been better to have let someone else, someone fresh to fill the spot he occupied. In this challenge, however, we got a really good look at Season Two Daniel Franco and found him to give every appearance of being a changed man. He was <i>humble</i>. And, believe me, that was heartening enough, but beyond that, his creation was very, very nice. It is something I would happily wear - tasteful, crisp, and well-tailored. If that were my own suit, I would wear it with a crisp white blouse, or maybe some black lace or more brown sating peeking out. Very nice.<br />
<br />
I have little doubt Daniel F. will give us more to talk about than just clothes in upcoming shows.<br />
<br />
Paul: Yes, we haven't heard the last of Daniel Franco. Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-71508595850407075612011-09-09T22:53:00.000-07:002011-09-14T18:57:19.171-07:002.1: Turn and Face The Strain<b>Paul:</b> I am going to start on an extremely geeky note and make a <i>Star Trek</i> comparison. I think it's okay for me to do that as this season is slightly geekier than the last. More on that in a moment.<br />
<br />
My mother and I were both <i>Trek</i> enthusiasts while I was growing up and I am old enough to remember the first episode of <i>The Next Generation</i> on its original airing. Having grown up with the originals, I can still remember my reaction after the first episode of <i>The Next Generation</i>, which was something along the lines of "What?!!? A Klingon? An empath? A robot guy? A quiet British captain who is always going on about diplomacy? Boy oh boy, is this going to suck!" And then I soon ended up a confirmed Picard man, far preferring <i>TNG</i> over <i>TOS</i>, coming to loathe Kirk and love everything Picard.<br />
<br />
Like the first day at a new job or a new school, we are introduced to many new faces and think "Oh, I don't know about this. Where's Jay and Austin?"<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Ah, I see what you're getting at. That's funny, because I was just thinking this morning that it reminds me of how I feel every time we get a new Dr. Who. It always takes me a while to get over losing the old one, and to forgive the new one for not being the old one. But then, eventually, I've always grown to love the new one. The jury's still out, though, on the Season Two designers.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> It is the temp's nightmare and the job-leaver's dream. It is the feeling of very big shoes. It reminds us that all humans are of equal value to other humans regardless of the previous connections we've made. It reminds us of the beauty in strangers, the potential in everyone to love, so often squandered out of neophobia. <br />
<br />
Although there are a few hopeful notes. There is a nerd in the cast this season.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Diana makes clothing with nods to science. She made a skirt with magnets that didn't work because the polarities reversed and she gets to explain that on <i>Project Runway</i>. Although I appreciate the freshness of vision that she is attempting to bring, I am already concerned that she is far too enamored with gimmicks and novelty.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, and fashion does appear to be her second love, after science/tech geekiness. She seems rather inexperienced, which could lead to trouble later. Besides that, I'm not sure how ready I am to have my clothes married to my technology, or, as you say, Paul, to have them be gimmicky. I'm pretty conventional in a lot of ways.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul: </b> It is one of those things in life where I am happy that it exists although I doubt I would ever have any practical use for it. <br />
<br />
Daniel is back, but we're playing catch up at this point (we're on episode 4 and trying to write about what we've watched so far. The show is like eating potato chips and it's way easier to watch it than to write one of these blog posts.) We will have much much more on Daniel in the forthcoming episodes. Actually there are two Daniels this season, but don't lets muddy the waters any further than they already are.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b> Okay, so you're saying I shouldn't get going on the return of Daniel Franco, so I'll try to control myself. Let's just say it was a shock, and not a happy surprise. He was truly an annoying character last season. I wasn't too keen on reliving that experience. <br />
<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> The time for that will come soon enough. Daniel provides a wealth of material to write about.<br />
<br />
There's also Santino with the eyes of Rasputin, oozing charisma and danger. He seems the likely candidate for the raw, unfettered talent of this season, but he also seems to have a bit of a mean streak.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> It's been bugging me and bugging me. This guy's eyes remind me of someone, and I just can't place it. Hopefully I'll figure it out before the season is past and can make the announcement here. Until then, I can say that I've found Santino, so far to be kind of fascinating. Very talented. Very charismatic. Very aware of both. A tad catty.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Paul: </b>My favorite so far is Emmett, mainly because he seems to me the only person who has appeared on this whole series so far who would likely be able to make a proper cup of tea. He wears white linen suits with hats at a jaunty angle. Sort of a "what Tom Wolfe would wear to a summer garden party thrown by Gay Talese or vice versa." In other words, precisely how I would like to dress.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b> I rather like Emmett too. He's a grown-up near my own age, who behaves himself as an adult of that age should. I like his calm demeanor. He quite handsome and reminds me of James Spader from Pretty in Pink, only not evil. <br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> Yes, he is arguably the first grown up contestant on the show. He behaves himself. I am signing on to Team Emmett.<br />
<br />
But I am reluctant to say too much about any of them as all will be revealed in the fullness of time. So far we only have thumbnail sketches of our core characters. We will learn from them as we go.<br />
<br />
Their first challenge is to make a dress that most communicates the artistic vision of the designer. The designers are given a week or two before the show to make it in the comfort of their own homes on a decent budget. One guy gets voted off for admitting that he only spent about 8 hours on it. One girl gets voted off for, as Nina Garcia said in the judgment, "Sometimes pretty can be boring."<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> To be more exact, they were give six yards of plain white muslin, $20, and one week.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> Oh, that's right. I remembered the muslin part because of how often I had to work with that material back in my theater days. <br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b>And it seemed to be a surprise to all that they voted off two. I guess they're mixing things up a bit to keep everyone on their toes. This first episode really felt like a whirlwind of faces. I didn't come away from it very compelled by any characters yet. Hopefully someone will capture my imagination along the way. Oh, and another early observation. Added to the prizes for the winner is a new car. It would appear the budget for Season Two has been helped by the success of Season One. <br />
<br />
<b>Paul: </b> And so I find myself settling in for what I am realizing is a very long haul. I knew when I started that I had nine seasons ahead of me, but the first season was so flashy and new. I know that there are probably seasons that are better than others and I am already suspecting that 1 > 2. As snap judgments seem to rule the day, I find myself gravitating towards team Emmett this season. Interesting. I do the same thing when thrust into any new group of people. I look for the person most likely capable of making a proper cup of tea and hang next to them.<br />
<br />
This shouldn't effect this blog in any way as our goal here is not
actually to write about the show. Hang on. This may be a bumpy ride.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b> Be that as it may, I find the show satisfying if only for watching
the creative process. I just love seeing what these designers come up
with and how their designs really come alive on the runway. It's so
true what my mom used to say, "Sometimes you have to see the dress on."
In fact, I have lots of clothes like that, and they are usually the
items that I receive the most compliments on. I've often found them on
the clearance rack, where the clothes that require a snippet of imagination
to appreciate often land. My gain!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkSWwI0Yl-JNgjnbi3gwQSXvImeLy4PpL9gZ4fS533RqsaDP1SdvPaWqRiw64fHcFJIQLChZp1a6C6rARNwzSiUSG-tQHnooFH2luB6j-IW6txIIYCBVgC1AhzVOUAuZvPM6Dc_OES6Q/s1600/Project+Runway+Season+2+Santino+episode+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkSWwI0Yl-JNgjnbi3gwQSXvImeLy4PpL9gZ4fS533RqsaDP1SdvPaWqRiw64fHcFJIQLChZp1a6C6rARNwzSiUSG-tQHnooFH2luB6j-IW6txIIYCBVgC1AhzVOUAuZvPM6Dc_OES6Q/s320/Project+Runway+Season+2+Santino+episode+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santino's winning design.</td></tr>
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Perhaps we should mention that Santino was the clear winner of this first challenge. As you can see at left, his design and detail were lovely. Daniel Franco, back for a second try, finished a depressing second to last, and I'm finding myself feeling much sorrier for him than I did the first time around. Perhaps he's mellowed a bit.<br />
<br />
<br />Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-3696590990889705162011-09-06T18:27:00.000-07:002011-09-10T15:42:19.640-07:00The Eleven Minute Coda<b>Paul:</b> Jay McCarroll walks into a small office, a high end New York restaurant for a magazine interview, a busy dressmaker's room to talk to the serious middle aged man in a white tanktop who is going to construct his clothes, a New York fashion week tent. Jay is wearing sunglasses so large that they make him look like he has insect eyes. The lapel of his blazer is speckled with novelty buttons with humorous slogans on them. He wears a hot pink tie and sneakers. He has made his hair into a pompadour. He is dancing, joking, swearing. He is a mess of insecurity. He also has everything planned out. He disarms you from the suspicion that he is an intrepid businessman. He appears to take nothing seriously, but the arch of his story reveals that, in fact, he took it all seriously.<br />
<br />
Completely by coincidence, we find ourselves back at New York Fashion Week in our project even as the actual 2011 New York Fashion Week goes on in New York. Let's not get too excited. Considering how often we talk about fashion week, it was inevitable. <br />
<br />
Our first venture into the other sections of the Project Runway DVD menu was the curious category of "Where Are They Now." It began with a section chronicling Jay's immediate reward for having won the season's contest: a photoshoot in <i>Elle.</i> In a bit of foreshadowing, Jay and we are disappointed. The photographer does not want to accept Jay's vision. The dresser wants to mix and match his design with other clothing, essentially destroying his vision. In short, it took about 30 seconds for people to start scuttling Jay's work. And then the "spread," which Jay and we had imagined as 12 pages of full page photographs, turns into one page with a short interview with Jay and maybe three photographs, one of which is of Jay himself.<br />
<br />
What is not mentioned anywhere on the Project Runway disc is that <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/08/AR2005120802181.html">Jay declined</a> the $100,000 prize and the Banana Republic mentorship because of a clause which would give 10% of profits from Jay's designs <u><b><i>IN PERPETUITY</i></b></u> to Project Runway.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> I love that story! The part where Jay's artistic and personal integrity will not allow the quick buck to blind him to the future costs. Accepting that money would marry him to Project Runway for the rest of his career. Some might be willing to live with that. He was not, and he followed his conscience.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> We finished the final disc of season 1 and somehow I became aware of a small art film from 2006 or thereabouts which was a documentary on Jay's first post-Project Runway New York Fashion Week show. It's called <i>Eleven Minutes.</i><br />
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There's a lot to be said, sure sure. It's a very interesting look into what goes into a fashion week runway show as well as the predicaments which face a new designer. Jay's collection is wonderful. We wish it would end up in stores, but it doesn't really aside from a few scraps snapped up by Urban Outfitters (who would have been the perfect match for his looks.) In the end, we are bowled over by the fantastic collection, but Jay seems to be living in some parallel universe where the world surrounding him seems entirely unmoved. That was 2006. In 2011, Jay is still designing. <a href="http://www.jaymccarrollonline.com/shop/viewitem.php?productid=85">He has a tie for sale on his website that I desperately want</a>. He has a line of fabric. I really like his line of fabric. <br />
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<br />
I find myself a little sad at the end of all of the Season 1 material. I have doubts that anyone coming will capture my imagination like Jay has. First there are all of the aforementioned aspects to his character: his insecurities, his humor, his strong work ethic. There is also the fact that I have yet to see a piece of film in which he bites the hand that fed him. I think the PR lady in the movie compared it to "child-star syndrome." He would have to rise above his initial fame source to sustain for a career. I look at Jay in the video above and he is older, thinner, and completely able to communicate a very good product.<br />
<br />
Jay has a career and is supporting himself with his work which is about as good as it gets. I hope he is very happy because he has brought a lot of beauty into this world. But Jay is forever linked to a very short and unconventional time in his life which catapulted him from young unknown to forever chained to <i>Project Runway</i>. <br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b>I hadn't thought of it that way. He's still married to the show in spite of turning down his prize money. I suppose, though, that $100,000 is not nearly as precious as integrity, not to mention what that would add up to over the course of his career. <br />
<br />
<b>Paul: </b>At this point in my life, I look at Jay's story and wonder how much control we actually have. To what will The Fates tie us? So many of us find our adult lives on paths that we either didn't particularly choose or are the result of capricious choices when we were younger. We try so hard to express ourselves with art, entertainment, the promotion of things that we love, and the people we surround ourselves with. But in the end, regardless of how we clothe ourselves, we are all so much under the dictates of circumstance. I suppose, faced with the great equalizer of the graveyard, what ends up mattering is what we do within our circumstances. Jay has chosen to work hard and focus on creating beauty.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> The way I see it, what matters dearest in the end is <i>who we were</i> as we did what we did within our circumstances. One man fills his world with life, love, honesty, and integrity while doing nothing more beautiful than digging ditches, or cleaning toilets. Another creates art and wealth, filling the world with beauty and treasures while walking the path of greed, self-seeking, and trampling of souls. Both men<br />
enter the grave alone. Their ditches and toilets, their masterpieces of art, music, and architecture must remain behind. They are left in the end with nothing but the men that they became.Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-4798961758329273492011-08-30T20:10:00.000-07:002011-08-30T23:59:17.245-07:00Season 1 Finale: Where Do The Sims Go When They Die?<b>Paul:</b> There was an extra-sode before the finale in which the entire cast was brought back together in some strange, end of <i>Lost</i> place outside of space-time. I think we finally decided that it was filmed after the post office episode, but before the Fashion Week runway show. All of the cast reunites for drinks and we are happiest at the return of Austin even though he was in the previous episode.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Clearly months had passed since the Post Office episode when we lost Austin. Ms. Pepper had shed some pounds and colored her hair. Enough time had elapsed for our designers to either soften with age or harden into bitterness, and we saw both.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfQeI1wqBA2wTj-DYY7B89eQHTxsnTl3j4HtD547nz_8YpxUl6sEO7TRa-riyVnDCZ5yKIPe8KFvT8lixhwSEI2KX9I2QMGt2Y8qvmeyzyJALk3xLNs2eigIs8Gyu0CBUrRuEyTgKbMg/s1600/w6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfQeI1wqBA2wTj-DYY7B89eQHTxsnTl3j4HtD547nz_8YpxUl6sEO7TRa-riyVnDCZ5yKIPe8KFvT8lixhwSEI2KX9I2QMGt2Y8qvmeyzyJALk3xLNs2eigIs8Gyu0CBUrRuEyTgKbMg/s320/w6.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://www.tomandlorenzo.com</td></tr>
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One of the first pieces of business once all of Season One's contestants had been reunited - yes, all of them, even the very first ones voted off, who clearly had a lot few shared "moments" with the rest - was to pay a tribute to fourth-place finisher, Austin Scarlett. I have little doubt that this little montage was not only response to some pretty immense viewer popularity, but also as a nod of respect from the Project Runway powers themselves. Austin had made himself a true celebrity in the course of just a few episodes.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> There are two things I would like to address from this episode (which in some ways was even more notable than the finale.) One is the mystery of who drew a mustache on the photograph of Wendy Pepper's daughter. In the postal episode there is a scene in which it was discovered that someone had penned a mustache onto a photograph of Wendy Pepper's daughter which she kept on her work table. It was quite permanent and, taking place in those days before the ubiquity of digital, it was the only copy of the photograph. It was a terrible moment and Wendy was devastated.<br />
<br />
Throughout the show we have seen hints of Wendy Pepper in spite of the edited "how Wendy reacted under the circumstances of Project Runway" character that we are being shown. In the finale, Tim Gunn visits Wendy in her studio at home. Wendy is a mother and lives in a nice home in a New England town. One gets the impression that she is a good neighbor and the daughter loves her very much . Her yard is well kept and her house freshly painted. She is probably well regarded in her community. Her studio seems like it would lend its elegance to the surrounding property values.<br />
<br />
Under the extreme pressures of and under the material released from the editors, Project Runway's Wendy Pepper is harsh, manipulative, unfair, mean, and projects her conniving behavior onto everyone else. That is what is shown on our television screen in spite of the hints that suggest otherwise. We don't know these people and probably never will. I would go so far as to speculate that in Wendy Pepper's personal life, the 99% of her life, she is the loving mother with a well kept house. In fact, there is a picture that Laurie found for our post on the Banana Republic episode of <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1D4-uXyw4-l8FovL9_EcFXBTkrUfY-Say8Ov-9ND-VBMrOfv7xMlczbLM9iUv8u7EXvFQBj2DOUi-RwWh7nIPkBkwN2Gf4v_csCjVAT6wpmgf2HuH-uTwxZsQ24e23hNFvyH47-iFwfg/s1600/Wendy+Pepper+Banana+Republic+dress.jpg">Wendy Pepper talking to a girl who I am pretty sure is not her daughter</a>. When I saw the picture, I thought of our hypothetical daughter (Temperance is the name we've decided on) and how I would like for my hypothetical daughter to meet intelligent women who have succeeded in the world in hopes that they would inspire her. I would like to say "Temperance, go up and talk to Wendy Pepper" and then have the child be inspired by an experience she will remember for the rest of her life. I very much like that photograph.<br />
<br />
That would be Wendy Pepper's legacy but for this less than half a year of her life we are watching in which posterity, viewed through our culture's Slave Morality lens as well as the infusion of misogyny in western civilization which demands a woman to act powerless, will preserve her as villain. Granted, Wendy does lash out, and that is a trait I would discourage in anyone. But I feel that we are very clearly being emotionally manipulated to think ill of Wendy Pepper. Is this right? What is this show teaching us? Are we being led to think that if we are mundane, not successful, plugging away in our proletarian jobs, we can console ourselves by saying "Well, at least I'm not like Wendy Pepper!" Is this just another tool of our culture for keeping us in line? Of the two older women on the show, one is presented as a shrew, the other is a case study in arrested adolescence. Regardless of if they were or not, what does this say about youth, age, women, and power in our culture?<br />
<br />
I am taking some pains here to absolve Wendy Pepper because I don't believe it. I believe her feet were to the flame when the cameras were on her. I believe if I were filmed in my times of highest stress, my legacy would be that of a raving, unconfined nut. In other words, if I were asked "Do you think Wendy Pepper was a villain?" I would reply, "Well, aren't we all at times?"<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> While I agree with much of what you've said above, I really feel the need to draw integrity back into the discussion. How you are in difficult circumstances is not an aberration. It is how you really are. It is how I really am. I, too, have behaved badly when backed into corners. This is the manner in which hardships serve us. They are the boiling water that sets everything bubbling up to the top, where we can get a look. If we see rat float up to the top, the next step should be to grab the tongs and fish it out, (Yes, I know this metaphor has some huge weaknesses. Bear with me.) not to turn down the heat and pretend you never saw the rat. Now I'm not calling Wendy P. a rat. I, too, thought she seemed like a nice respectable lady and mom. I'm merely saying that what came up came up. The show did not create that part of her; it was there. Turning up the heat brought it to the surface. One can only hope that the experience will be one she uses to develop character.<br />
<br />
<span class="st"><b>Paul: </b> "That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse." We must be oh so careful what we do and say each day. One never knows who is watching. One must be vigilant over the picture they are painting. I know how dark and depressive I can be and I become hyper-aware at times that if I continue to be like that every day of my life, that is the person I will end up having been. Really I would like to be an encouraging and helping person. In a sense, all of this existence is going on tape (albeit unedited.) </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Albert Einstein gave the eulogy at the funeral of his long time friend Michele Besso and he famously said, </span>"Now Besso has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."<br />
<br />
<span class="st">The best and the worst are all in existence, peoples. Be kind. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Then the show violates the first rule of mystery. We never find out who drew the mustache. They talk about it in such a way that we all expected one of the hosts to say "Well, we had cameras in the design room. Roll tape." And even if it were someone completely ridiculous, like the caterer, we would all heave a sigh of relief. Our subconscious would say, "Good show! Another mystery solved, eh what?" But instead we are going to die not knowing who drew the mustache. Project Runway hath murdered sleep. So, why did they bring it up again if they didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation? </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st"><b>Laurie:</b> I think they were aiming for an Angela Lansbury moment, where in the end the culprit is compelled to confess by being convinced of having been already found out. Unfortunately for us all, it didn't work. I was left wondering, "What was<i> that </i>all about?" and "Why was Kevin's nose so red? Was he about to confess?" - and feeling inexpertly manipulated, another <i>LOST </i>moment. </span><br />
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<b>Paul:</b> The other thing I will mention in passing is Vanessa's sour grapes.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxaLE7xfvaHl0FwTxubN4fIw50f5miv8Hjgr1AJv12cvH4wXfhvMdCbhLs3mvB6aIVC8hPwFX1mgzKeB5H24IwFHTZFXQaZPZo40P8Bh5STvIDgLNdx2nKU9Jb5bn3ulV6FJrKeKyP-Q/s1600/Project%252BRunway%252BMost%252BDramatic%252BMoments%252B2%252B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxaLE7xfvaHl0FwTxubN4fIw50f5miv8Hjgr1AJv12cvH4wXfhvMdCbhLs3mvB6aIVC8hPwFX1mgzKeB5H24IwFHTZFXQaZPZo40P8Bh5STvIDgLNdx2nKU9Jb5bn3ulV6FJrKeKyP-Q/s320/Project%252BRunway%252BMost%252BDramatic%252BMoments%252B2%252B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://nickverrreos.blogspot.com</td></tr>
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, here enters proof that time does not heal all wounds.<br />
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<b>Paul: </b> She gave an interview somewhere before the taping of this episode in which she slams the show and the other designers. Jay confronts her with it. I shall go into greater detail on this in our next post (in the tradition of surprise twists handed down from our material, we do have an additional post for Season One even though this is the final episode.) The thrust of the article was Vanessa seeming to reject the concept that the show has done anything positive for her and furthermore rejecting the concept that she was on a show with other talented artists. Which is nonsense. Kara, Austin, Jay, and Wendy in their contexts are absolutely wonderful designers. I was struck by how Jay handles his relationship with Project Runway in the career that has followed. More on that next time.<br />
<br />
Prior to this pre-finale episode, the final three had been sent home to design their line over five months. Tim Gunn visited each of them in their studios. Jay's is charming. He lives in small town Pennsylvania and his studio is stacked with hoards of color coded fabrics.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> He was shockingly small town America. I couldn't help but wonder what his family and neighbors really thought of Jay, his flamboyant personality, and all the cameras he was attracting. I was struck yet again with how much Jay reminds me of you, Paul, this time in that his family reminded me a bit of your family. Then it occurred to me that your grandmother hails from Pennsylvania country too. This got me distracted for a moment wondering if perhaps you were distant cousins.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> My goodness, you have high hopes for me. Here I was contented just to bump him onto my shortlist of "if you could have dinner with any living celebrity." 1) Stephen Fry 2) Paul F. Tompkins 3) Jay McCarroll. Ain't no party like a Paul Mathers Dinner Party because a Paul Mathers Dinner Party don't stop. It just kind of blends into breakfast and then second breakfast, lunch, tea, cocktails, and so forth.<br />
<br />
So, returning to the portion of this post where I'm expected to make sense, our heroes return to New York for Fashion Week.<br />
<br />
Wendy has burned her bridges to the ground. Jay attempts to be civil. Kara does not.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Well, Kara opted to deal with the presence of Wendy by not dealing with the presence of Wendy. She basically pretended she wasn't there. And, since the Project Runway gods had housed all three of our finalists in the same room for the course of Fashion Week, this eventually added up to rudeness. Jay, being in the middle, in more ways than one, felt the tension keenly and finally determined to apply some heat and draw the whole festering situation to a head. <br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> At one point, when tempers are flaring, Jay confronts Wendy on how she is always strategizing and Wendy says, "What about you saying that I'm always strategizing? Isn't that just a strategy?" And we all stare dumbfounded for a moment in the realization that we are talking to someone who thinks everyone thinks exactly like she does.<br />
<br />
I know we are talking an awful lot about Wendy again, but I think that would be scanned. The exchange between Wendy and Jay in the preceding paragraph, given the context of the television program we are watching, would lead us to interpret the "strategizing" as Wendy's Machiavellian moments in her interpersonal relations between her and people she's only known for a couple of days. But I am going to posit a "what if" here, not saying that this is what I believe, but simply to slop the thought-trough as it were. What if she is talking about the Utilitarianism of Personality in this context? The three remaining contestants are all fine designers. Wendy might not be as consistently great as I found Austin's designs, but she has shown a good deal of elegant work for, I would say, an older demographic than the one the show is shooting for. Jay and Kara are also wonderful designers. In fact, Kara is one of the best designers on the show, but notice how rarely we've talked about her. Wendy is flamboyantly manipulative and behaves like a wounded badger while Jay is flamboyantly flamboyant. All three are great designers. Kara keeps her head down and does her work well.<br />
<br />
They get in the limousine which transports them to the show and there is an absolutely beautiful moment captured on film. POV looking back from the front seat at the three. Jay makes some weird little noise, but otherwise all are silent. Behind their eyes is the knowledge that they are on a car ride after which their lives will be very different from the lives they had before that car ride. <br />
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All three collections are very nice, but Jay's is beyond the pale the best. He wins. Wendy's line is a series of very lovely dresses without cohesion. They are individually wonderful dresses, but it is not so much a collection as a series of very good dresses.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> I had the feeling from Wendy's collection, and from the visit paid to her studio previously, that she made a few new dresses and then pulled some that she had laying around. I could be wrong, of course, but whether or not that is the case, that was definitely the feel that I got from her presentation.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Kara Saun's is also really very nice and flows nicely in spite of her shoe problems. Jay blows everyone out of the water. His collection is bold, beautiful, and brilliant. The colors are exciting and the design is that of a fantastic imagination coupled with master craftsmanship.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> You floated right past that. Kara's "shoe problems" were huge, and almost karmic in the "be sure your sins will find you out" kind of way. As you've said, Kara keeps her head down, does what she does, does it consistently, and does it well. As a result, over the course of her career up until the time of her Project Runway appearance, she has gained a great deal of respect in her own circles and has also apparently developed some solid personal and professional relationships. In the developing of her collection she did not forget the footwear (as did Wendy, who arrived without any thought of shoes and had to purchase from some bargain basement and root through some donated from Michael Kors' collection). Kara had custom designed and manufactured her own with "the help of a friend". As it turns out, the Project Runway participants' terms and conditions contract specifically forbade accepting any "favors". If she was bringing shoes she had to have proof that she paid for them, and that she had not overspent her budget (I don't recall any discussion before or after as to what their actual budget for this Fashion Week show was). Kara responded to this by having her shoe man send her a bill for a price so ridiculously low that it failed to move the hearts of our judges.<br />
<br />
The result of all this was that the judges would not be allowed to consider the footwear in the final judging. The karmic result was that her specially designed shoes caught on the metallic dress which was the anchor of her collection and nearly made her world-famous model do a nose-dive on the runway.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqa6SMKI2GLS3HMWSpOFrO1aD9CTICldXsq6RVwk4aCgM_j8PlMngkYZT1U1qek9XseCiC8yYJ-xNiERw3ta3YvyUzm541gxnNrUdeUcxoQtYcEqR8k1fV9gNsfLpaK0OsE4n-Anyidw/s1600/JayMcCarr_Dimit_4318201_Max.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqa6SMKI2GLS3HMWSpOFrO1aD9CTICldXsq6RVwk4aCgM_j8PlMngkYZT1U1qek9XseCiC8yYJ-xNiERw3ta3YvyUzm541gxnNrUdeUcxoQtYcEqR8k1fV9gNsfLpaK0OsE4n-Anyidw/s320/JayMcCarr_Dimit_4318201_Max.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />
As for Jay, I agree. He stole the show. His use of color and texture was bold, and his craftsmanship excellent. <br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> I also found the theme compelling. He had a vision of models in headphones and a motif of the images formed by the entertainment we choose to identify with. I think a large part of his success on the runway was his coherence in communicating his message. It reminds me of a conversation you and I had about writing, specifically figuring out what exactly you are writing about and then only writing about that. I think that message of the transcendence of the austere vision of the artist translates to all other mediums and I personally feel that Jay has a strong grasp on the concept. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LVD3eT-qZEF6U8I0-DkpG7VyKyDXIRPv1UyZS8he8Qntxj7o8Ey_UvidWSt3RvkbctORjZ1G8uQOzRaOoA8m5cD3VzoE_j4Gf2PDpAaCWl8RDchxlDJrCHS9wW-xk_lZ_mhVjKvBec0/s1600/jay_finale_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LVD3eT-qZEF6U8I0-DkpG7VyKyDXIRPv1UyZS8he8Qntxj7o8Ey_UvidWSt3RvkbctORjZ1G8uQOzRaOoA8m5cD3VzoE_j4Gf2PDpAaCWl8RDchxlDJrCHS9wW-xk_lZ_mhVjKvBec0/s400/jay_finale_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://sticksonaplane.wordpress.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<b>Laurie:</b> I loved how he coached his models. He didn't want any hamming, strutting, or posing. He wanted the nonchalant, confident, nearly-bored attitude of someone in her/his own world. Which was exactly what his signature headphones were incorporated into the collection to signify.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> So Jay won.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sRNhqmd10yJVtlHNQSCTOwFTWWH08pIcf9DZY5o5E_I7kaSyiSNzslDml8gPAege1q5orxfgBXKg4_7PonPfQUUgQDKnjy5IJl7QKPNjeW0yFOHFlbB1hFXxrZDpsFZdnb6icjfdpfk/s1600/Winner6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sRNhqmd10yJVtlHNQSCTOwFTWWH08pIcf9DZY5o5E_I7kaSyiSNzslDml8gPAege1q5orxfgBXKg4_7PonPfQUUgQDKnjy5IJl7QKPNjeW0yFOHFlbB1hFXxrZDpsFZdnb6icjfdpfk/s320/Winner6.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I know I'm inspired. I hope you are too.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Here's a link to some highlights of the final collections. Let it run and it will take you to clip after clip introducing each of the contestants and other scenes from Season One. I wish I'd found this at the beginning of the season! (My apologies. Blogger would not let me embed this.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bravotv.com/project-runway/videos/kara-sauns-collection-at-fashion-week#.Tl2epoBeLO0.blogger">Project Runway Season 1 - Kara Saun's Collection at Fashion Week - Video - Bravo TV Official Site</a><br />
<b>Paul:</b> Next time we'll get into what I found to be the most interesting and illuminating part. Although it took taking in the entire season to grasp it, I found the aftermath to be the best part of this project thus far.Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-19548031100633437572011-08-26T21:14:00.000-07:002011-08-26T21:14:17.281-07:001.9: Sturm und Drang<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtOtCAyeyIrIooR562KIzR5v6qCqQSfxufhNCfc44g2qMcw8zstvG-PloDKZ_EkfzNPMDov_My4Dw5CoZcLAwy1mkczSIlfYULehZqIRe7jLFlTRH_wOos9HbCgPJ1ECfGK0ZhWzMFbI/s1600/Schbert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtOtCAyeyIrIooR562KIzR5v6qCqQSfxufhNCfc44g2qMcw8zstvG-PloDKZ_EkfzNPMDov_My4Dw5CoZcLAwy1mkczSIlfYULehZqIRe7jLFlTRH_wOos9HbCgPJ1ECfGK0ZhWzMFbI/s320/Schbert.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jenger, Hüttenbrenner, and Schubert</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<b>Paul: </b>Anselm Hüttenbrenner. You may not have ever heard the name before, but this early 19th century Austrian is very important to what we're going to talk about this week.<br />
<br />
Franz Schubert lived in the shadow of Beethoven and his own creeping sense of inadequacy. The woman he loved turned down his proposal and married a baker instead. In fact, in all of Schubert's love life there was very little that appears to have been requited. The only major performance of his work in his lifetime was upstaged by Paganini happening to come to town that same evening. Everyone went to see Paganini instead. Schubert's friends nicknamed him "Schwämmerl" which would be like calling your friend "little fatty." He felt that he would be a great opera composer, but his genius in that genre seems to have been for picking the worst of librettos. He was also one of the greatest composers ever. He was utterly born to genius. <br />
<br />
One of his best known works is his 8th symphony, known as his "Unfinished" symphony, perhaps one of the most debated works in musical history. The speculations on the enigma of the unfinished status vary greatly. Some believe that he did finish it and that it is rather a finished half-of-a-symphony. Some believe that he was growing so increasingly discontent with the form and so increasingly syphilitic that he was only writing fragments by that point in his life. But there is another theory.<br />
<br />
Anselm Hüttenbrenner was a close friend of Franz Schubert, so close that, before he died, Schubert sent the manuscript for his 8th Symphony to Hüttenbrenner. Hüttenbrenner, after Schubert died, sat on the manuscript for decades for reasons that are unclear. Finally a conductor bribed the piece away from Hüttenbrenner by promising to perform one of his works in concert. There is a theory, straight out of <i>La bohème, </i>that some cold, bleak, and lonely night, Hüttenbrenner tossed a stack of papers on the fire to keep warm, included in which was the Finished.<br />
<br />
Maybe he hated Schubert's fame. Maybe the cook or his mother came by and threw the papers on the fire or used them to wrap a haddock totally unaware of what they were eradicating. Maybe he kept the Unfinished to himself for decades out of fear that he would be remembered as the loser who accidentally destroyed one of the finest works in musical history. One of the great lessons I have gleaned from this show is to take great care of what your legacy to The Grand Narrative shall be. Some claims to fame are fates far worse than obscurity.<br />
<br />
I tell you all of this because I am a firm believer in the concept of lost masterpieces. I wholeheartedly believe that for every masterpiece in recorded history there are hundreds if not thousands of lost ones. I believe this largely because I am a poet and a writer. A lot of my friends are also poets and writers. I do not wish to be grandiose, but I am a fairly intelligent man and I feel that I have very good taste in art and literature. Some of the best contemporary poets I know of have not been published. Some have died unpublished. I believe that all over the world, all through history, there have been loners dying in small apartments filled with stacks of their writing of stunning brilliance that they silently typed in loneliness over decades instead of making social connections to ensure any future life for their work. I believe that some of the greatest works in human history currently reside in landfills.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> This puts me in mind of photographer <a href="http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/">Vivian Maier</a>, who lived and died in obscurity only to have her work discovered at an auction in Chicago. Her talent bordered on the miraculous.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> Yes! Precisely! <br />
<br />
Enter <a href="http://www.nancyodell.com/">Nancy O'Dell</a>. Nancy O'Dell hosted a popular television entertainment news program at the time of the filming of this episode (she hosts a different one now.) This challenge was for designers to create a dress for Ms. O'Dell to wear to the Grammy Awards. I think she was going to be interviewing celebrities on the red carpet in the dress for her television program, but I really wasn't paying much attention. Ms. O'Dell is given the Nero-like thumb to decide who shall be the final three contestants based solely upon which outfit she likes best. Almost.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNeiVlGLDaKRleZOnbwKLhacwdhPSkfYeLI36ZaBHHIxSxuXmmq14pr8BZ4qySoy3js0Y8m8Rje0C39q3WbN3N25C1z8mfKuTsJRV_NZENlTjcfHpxZazWbwkVCMPgl1Gu6nJAElgJuw/s1600/nancyodell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNeiVlGLDaKRleZOnbwKLhacwdhPSkfYeLI36ZaBHHIxSxuXmmq14pr8BZ4qySoy3js0Y8m8Rje0C39q3WbN3N25C1z8mfKuTsJRV_NZENlTjcfHpxZazWbwkVCMPgl1Gu6nJAElgJuw/s1600/nancyodell.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://modernfabulousity.blogspot.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zT2L0EmANGfFhzuAlhJ8NAsTPf3D9rRXCPy1Z0mhSreKaLg_RZYSiOA6arUsZGYTiNAcMtN3C3pNBLuLwT1SrugfFtPgI-Ltgp3vbsYOjDQubO7jz71buHFYp9-f_FGjxW5g-6OG9Lg/s1600/project+runway+austin+scarlett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zT2L0EmANGfFhzuAlhJ8NAsTPf3D9rRXCPy1Z0mhSreKaLg_RZYSiOA6arUsZGYTiNAcMtN3C3pNBLuLwT1SrugfFtPgI-Ltgp3vbsYOjDQubO7jz71buHFYp9-f_FGjxW5g-6OG9Lg/s200/project+runway+austin+scarlett.jpg" width="108" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austin's design</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
We'll cut right to the chase and let you know that Austin was out this week while Wendy Pepper remains. This happened because Ms. O'Dell chose Wendy's dress (kind of. See Fig. 1. We're supposed to pretend that it's the same dress), however she also stated that she would have chosen Austin's as an Oscars dress. The Oscars are for some reason viewed as more dramatic than the Grammys. (Given the nature of popular contemporary music, I'm not sure I understand why.) In fact, she even went so far as to ask Austin to design her Oscars dress, which sounds a lot like winning second place in this challenge to me. I will reveal the rest of the story. To date, seven years later, Nancy O'Dell has not worn an Austin Scarlett dress to the Oscars.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> I must admit that bothers me. She offered him that honor on national television, and he was clearly touched. I feel she owed him that dress. Hopefully there was a good reason for her not following through.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> The cynical part of me wonders if this judgment wasn't orchestrated to preserve the tension that would come from Wendy being in the final three. I am haunted by the existential questions posed by tonight's episode. Did they just bring Nancy O'Dell on to distract us from the judges making what was a highly unpopular decision by shifting some of the blame onto a celebrity who no one operating in the consensus world of sanity has any business getting too upset about? Austin clearly did not deserve to be out, but then when was this world we live on ever a world of "deserve?" <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH5oTB9W0cIRqn76lgtjSSGIAm81-zldkG27hCteg5YGgVYnR3m4kij_CfxKlGRHeahzUn2EQCpEzKTS769MadZE2CzMGGX3eO4X_pNVvpZXe457grq3OusukVRhg-5dI1vhdPTLOhyM/s1600/Project+Runway+Jay+designs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH5oTB9W0cIRqn76lgtjSSGIAm81-zldkG27hCteg5YGgVYnR3m4kij_CfxKlGRHeahzUn2EQCpEzKTS769MadZE2CzMGGX3eO4X_pNVvpZXe457grq3OusukVRhg-5dI1vhdPTLOhyM/s200/Project+Runway+Jay+designs.JPG" width="130" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jay's design</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Laurie:</b> Somehow I doubt it was a conspiracy. The judges couldn't have predicted that Wendy would actually come up with a non-frumpy Grammy dress. I think if they were scheming, it was actually to get rid of Wendy. This is exactly the kind of challenge I would not have expected her to win. And as for Ms. O'Dell, she offered clear reasons for her choice. She seemed underwhelmed by her choices and didn't really care for any of them. I think her choice really was the most appropriate for the Grammy's, well either that or Jay's design, but she stated at the beginning she hated hot pink (or was it fuschia?) and that is exactly what Jay gave her. The skirt was amazing. I think if he's pulled a different color from it for the top she would have chosen it.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> Now, I'm not crazy. I do understand that Austin Scarlett is doing just fine right now. He has a career, mainly designing for things that I am interested in like opera and ballet, also creating wedding dresses. I don't think anyone on the show will end in the lonely apartment full of stacks of their writings, dying when one topples over onto them. Even the greatest losers will all go on to live much more artistically fulfilling careers than any of us can hope for.<br />
<br />
I hope you'll forgive the shade of Palahniuk that I am about to introduce. One of the fuels of our society is the great Horatio Alger lie which states that you too can rise up to greatness. You can't. The game is rigged. You have the wrong pigment, the wrong gender orientation, or simply the wrong last name to ever be allowed into the rich and famous club. The celebrities that you idolize are the exceptions that prove the rule. Your life is like digging a hole in the ground in the wilderness and screaming into it, then filling it back in.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b> Wow, I don't know whether to feel depressed or relieved. I mean, if I don't have the anvil of potential failed greatness hanging over my head I might actually be able to get something great accomplished. On the other hand....well, perhaps I just need to reevaluate what I think true greatness really is. Vivian Maier's work was great, whether anyone ever knew it or not.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul: </b> We know it now and it's unclear if she knew or even cared at about becoming one of the great photographers posthumously. I think there's a lesson there in plugging away although there is something to be said about appreciation in one's lifetime. I guess. I hear tell of such things anyway.<br />
<br />
I am suddenly reminded of why I don't watch television. This is what it does to me. I've got like an allergy or something. <br />
<br />
And so, three months after the end of the world, as we begin the ending of Season One, we return to the topic of Envy. In 100 years we'll all be dead and there will be a new set of chimps holding and withholding essentials from one another, killing others for looking funny or standing in the wrong place, and only allowing a handful in front of cameras. We'll bumble and strive and lose masterpieces and have occasional moments of glimmering beauty.<br />
<br />
Let's take Jay for example.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbF2encGtrGfFrK4n-Zn0H2vIoXJpBTAvEjCuENWQV-KiTe23oFtooFjMOuhGadMnxT3xeENBXodhBsHc5Bmjfl4iPsNdf-6Ixa-Ry9m7UfYh1XvYzqIQpj2IjXeBV-_JkRrXJw_ftiA/s1600/jay-mccarroll-homeless.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbF2encGtrGfFrK4n-Zn0H2vIoXJpBTAvEjCuENWQV-KiTe23oFtooFjMOuhGadMnxT3xeENBXodhBsHc5Bmjfl4iPsNdf-6Ixa-Ry9m7UfYh1XvYzqIQpj2IjXeBV-_JkRrXJw_ftiA/s320/jay-mccarroll-homeless.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://www.buddytv.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Jay is in my own age range. I think he's wrapping up the second half of his 30s as I am currently wrapping up the first half of mine. Not to get ahead of our narrative, but he is doing fairly well. You haven't heard of The House of McCarroll, but he is supporting himself on his designing career in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Jay is currently doing better than I probably ever will. I would dare to extrapolate that both Jay and I are leading lives that are nothing like what we imagined they would be back in 2004. But we both continue to make art, me in obscurity and he in modest fame. It is impossible to know what Franz Schubert thought would become of his 8th Symphony after he died. I like to think he would be delighted and full of wonder to know that in 2011, anyone could listen to it anywhere in the world at any time.<br />
<br />
One important point about everything I've written in this post, which I would like to put an even finer point on, is that I have spoken only to the external life, of wealth and fame or want and obscurity. I have not mentioned the internal world, that of thought, appreciation, devotion, and love. The external appearance of the glorious speaks nothing to the splendor of the internal life and vice versa. I am put in mind of Wilde's oft quoted line from <i>Lady Windermere's Fan</i>, "<span class="st">We are all in the<i> </i>gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." </span><br />
<span class="st"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="st">But we are talking about fashion after all.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st"><b>Laurie:</b> Sometimes when I look at a beautiful garment I feel like I'm in my gutter looking at a star, only on a really miniscule scale of course. I've visited and seen pictures of homes that were really in bad shape, either from neglect, or poverty, or both. And in these homes there is almost always an item that seems totally out of place by virtue of its beauty, something clearly kept there for the sole purpose of giving those who live in it something beautiful to rest their eyes on. These images have usually left me feeling depressed. But now that I think about it what they really are is cause for hope. Even in abject squalor, people love beauty and clutch what they can of it to their hearts.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> I have noticed the illustration of human's capricious capacity to dole out inhumanity or generosity to other humans in the behavior of the judges on this show. Their moods seem to be at the mercy of the elements. Perhaps they are holding a mirror up to us all, to show the reflection of the divine image or at least the machinations of the universe that we perpetuate on one another: a universe where one day you're in, the next day you're out. <br />
<br />
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<span id="goog_1982642064"></span><span id="goog_1982642065"></span>Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-74918707168003107972011-08-22T22:11:00.000-07:002011-08-22T22:11:43.878-07:001.8: Ben Franklin Never Did This<b>Paul:</b> There wasn't a whole lot to the Post Office episode that I was instantly compelled to write about. I enjoyed it to be sure. Then it hit me that the underlying theme of this episode may very well be one of the most important topics in the subject of fashion. It was a challenge to unite form with function.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Oh how I <i>adore </i>form meets function!! It's one of the funnest of all life's little challenges. I always say, if you're going to make something, you might as well make it pretty. After all God didn't just create a world that works and adapts. He made it gorgeous!<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> I love it too. I get such delight from an object that is elegant, beautiful, and useful. As a child of the 1980s who grew up 30 miles outside of Los Angeles, I remember all of those Modern Architecture buildings from my youth. The 1980s as I remember it was full of functionalist buildings and there is a beauty to that. Those lovely, minimal Mies van der Rohe/Le Corbusier/Gropius inspired pieces that Tom Wolfe made so much money from sneering at. The utilitarian school of design trickled down to the public schools, strip malls, and condominium collage that was my Orange County childhood, but it started on a grander scale. Of course, I am also noted for my fondness for the baroque, but I think you know I have a strong modern streak running down my spine.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> So far as I can tell you love it all. <br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> On the recent trip we made to Los Angeles, I was struck by the few remaining skyscrapers that were made in that style and how dated (and almost Soviet) they look in this post-post-modern age. We now are mainly surrounded by artifacts of the decades of prevailing whimsy and unfettered frivolity that brought us to our current state of crisis. Strange how the practicality of those old modern structures seem refreshing given the advantage of retrospect.<br />
<br />
More local and contemporary, Laurie and I both can fall into ecstasies over silicone cookware. I remember being appalled at the thought of having a cat tree in our house and demanding an elegant cat tree (which doesn't exist.) I think this accounts for a great deal of the popularity of Apple products whether the purchaser realizes it or not. Just on externals alone, I would rather look at a turned off iPad than a turned off Kindle or Nook.<br />
<br />
I've said it before, but I am of the firm belief that one ought to fill their senses with beauty and greatness in hopes that beauty and greatness is what will come spilling back out. I am also of the belief that the world is whatever we make it. This was a challenge in which both of these worldviews of mine come into play.<br />
<br />
As for clothing, there is nothing so utilitarian and almost nothing so often neglected in the department of loveliness than the uniform. <br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Well, actually, I beg to slightly differ. Several branches of the military have men's uniforms that I think are gorgeous. Military and the occasional law enforcement agency aside, though, I tend to agree with you.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> The challenge was to spend a day as a mail carrier and then design a new outfit for mail carriers. Our designers (mostly) sought to bring out beauty in the selected form, sometimes to a fault. I do not think that the designs caught on, but it was a pleasant diversion of an experiment.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> The designers were the recipients of special deliveries of brown paper packages tied up with string not to be opened until the following morning, at which time they found themselves in the possession of U.S. Postal Service uniforms, complete with black velcro-closure sneakers. They got dressed and showed up for "work" where they were broken into little groups and sent out to shadow real live postal workers. They walked, carried equipment and sweated for what appeared to be several hours to get a feel for the strengths and weaknesses of the current uniforms. The Postal Service representative who briefed them would also, as it turned out, be one of the judges, which led us to hope the winning design might actually be incorporated. But, yeah, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a mail carrier wearing anything remotely like our winning design.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsc8iQAkxfulZq40FUOw_Wizcw3INkDewi-BsNZu3cqnijT-8RBf7rT6VTK14EfcoJlxS_rulCkLbWrStPdio1GqQNvsI4ds-vz7zhEg9_VuahS3MfuA0AOohN7k_o4WbWJleCmwAUHw/s1600/project-runway+episode+8+austin.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsc8iQAkxfulZq40FUOw_Wizcw3INkDewi-BsNZu3cqnijT-8RBf7rT6VTK14EfcoJlxS_rulCkLbWrStPdio1GqQNvsI4ds-vz7zhEg9_VuahS3MfuA0AOohN7k_o4WbWJleCmwAUHw/s200/project-runway+episode+8+austin.gif" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austin's Design*</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGMNOpC7DDcdZU248gAoyEFaa7rYXXEwd5cER_1jqFJrVqaAjuT6EHQP_e6L2NHVMschrdBrpiAJ65nxfFS7udRm-rNZm9-afz62HXrppDFnj13HlSLivbFj8EytXp44qUhT4AdlvzM8/s1600/project-runway-episode+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGMNOpC7DDcdZU248gAoyEFaa7rYXXEwd5cER_1jqFJrVqaAjuT6EHQP_e6L2NHVMschrdBrpiAJ65nxfFS7udRm-rNZm9-afz62HXrppDFnj13HlSLivbFj8EytXp44qUhT4AdlvzM8/s200/project-runway-episode+8.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austin's design without cape*</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul</b>: Michael Kors says that Austin's design is too cutesy, like a costume for a film where Doris Day plays a postal worker. I think Austin and I had the same reaction to that statement. Why can't we live in a world where postal workers can look like Doris Day playing a postal worker? Why is that assumed to be a bad thing? <br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Well, Paul, there are the male mail carriers to consider here. <br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Paul:</b> I understand what you're saying, but one of the designers (I really can't remember which) says at one point that everyone likes to look good. Even if you're a 46" waist, people feel best in clothes that make them look good and I am of the belief that clothes do make the person. If you are dressed well, you feel and behave well. If you are dressed like a transient, you are more likely to feel bad about yourself on a level which you may or may not realize. People may not instantly go with me on this one, but try this experiment: On your weekend, dress in your best clothes as if you're going to a job interview as you do your grocery shopping or walk in the park. Notice how it feels. Next week, do the same activities in sweatpants and your rattiest t-shirt. Or, for our unattached readers, notice your courage levels in talking to someone you are attracted to in light of how well you are dressed.<br />
<br />
I would also add that this works externally. This is why people in positions of financial security generally do not take that fact as an opportunity to dress slovenly. People believe what they see. Now, I am not saying that if we lived in a world where letter carriers dressed like a Doris Day film we would then live in a more Doris Day film world. What I am saying is that this was the challenge in the series so far which I have liked best.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> I can't help but do the chicken v. egg thing here wondering about how the rapid decline in public manners seemed to begin at about the same time women (and men) stopped donning hats and gloves before stepping out in public. My mother's generation did not leave the house un-groomed. I never saw her wear a pair of blue jeans (and we were not wealthy people). Casual dress leads to casual behavior...or is it the other way around? This is not to say that well-dressed people never behave badly in public, just that it would definitely be more unexpected. People tend to put on their better behavior along with their better clothes. I've also noticed a correlation between work ethic and dress in the workplace.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I say all that to say that I think there is something to what you say. Clothing reflects a frame of mind, and possibly vice versa.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> One of the high points of the whole season is one of necessity giving birth to invention. Jay's model for this challenge does not show up at all. There are a few moments of panic before the moment of inspiration. Austin is of a similar body type to Jay's model. It, too, was a lovely outfit. Granted, again (and with the glaring exception of the monstrosity of butch and dowd hoisted onto Melissa by Wendy Pepper), the designs did tend toward the decidedly feminine.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pU-i0chGTHVikoolfe7UdLz7S4rmkgNDIcdnQEqweVY9GiuDCCuP65p_tJaxv5lIvKBk-fk8AUdwVmtRheJ2J-B_yN4C6_QVv2NQ5q5ZIdIb0kqzwSoplftdOb8YoGRuTxR2l5cIdBk/s1600/project-runway+episode+8+jay+with+Austin.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pU-i0chGTHVikoolfe7UdLz7S4rmkgNDIcdnQEqweVY9GiuDCCuP65p_tJaxv5lIvKBk-fk8AUdwVmtRheJ2J-B_yN4C6_QVv2NQ5q5ZIdIb0kqzwSoplftdOb8YoGRuTxR2l5cIdBk/s320/project-runway+episode+8+jay+with+Austin.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austin modeling Jay's design</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCh9DoMQZ_QpaShihPt3TTkp-b4GZVUhNpHnyf51LK9sSEQ3vSYJCWwrO9zLbQpzbuzqlm_ECt030ODC0B4QTJBfETMUNSnOcObuj2VRAUD_I08aA5U3JvKvi30a7LxIh_iZGYuAVGfw/s1600/project-runway+episode+8+Kara2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCh9DoMQZ_QpaShihPt3TTkp-b4GZVUhNpHnyf51LK9sSEQ3vSYJCWwrO9zLbQpzbuzqlm_ECt030ODC0B4QTJBfETMUNSnOcObuj2VRAUD_I08aA5U3JvKvi30a7LxIh_iZGYuAVGfw/s200/project-runway+episode+8+Kara2.gif" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaMsW3BPsNi6H6pA7Dv1NF5uXCrvVSY2EzLk3ih1P2nWLanbTEmTz-F1weOo0nkUOpjuSPU62wUAswy83lARHbYDn6PAi5mPgavjXOU3-5BRtk2PKjnajHnKFX1XjRoirNXGeBrY4ICw/s1600/project-runway-episode+8+Kara+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaMsW3BPsNi6H6pA7Dv1NF5uXCrvVSY2EzLk3ih1P2nWLanbTEmTz-F1weOo0nkUOpjuSPU62wUAswy83lARHbYDn6PAi5mPgavjXOU3-5BRtk2PKjnajHnKFX1XjRoirNXGeBrY4ICw/s200/project-runway-episode+8+Kara+1.gif" width="200" /></a><b>Laurie:</b> Yes, they did, although I think Kara Saun's creation could have easily been adapted to a male version. I really liked hers, and thought it deserved the winning vote - which it got. My only critique was that it seemed a bit, I don't know, casual? Okay, I've got it. It was not crisp, particularly the pant, which reminded me vaguely of hospital scrubs. Again, though, a minor criticism.<br />
<br />
But back to Jay. I really liked his design as well, and Austin made a great model! That was one of the funnest moments of the show so far, seeing him come out with his serious model face on. Austin is nothing short of lovable, and he is one of those rare humans who appears to really be cut from whole cloth.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUW9s9aS0O0MtqE6ddKp_uJhw-WDi7T51sYIaqdM7Q750i1rPYRSV3zzXfhwMg2hsOt7Z7ZBH3zZwGE8OwqMwyfovYHAjwKUgJgdF5qvfWuHKm0stqNUsseFHcIeH8Uxcjx1nPKIrBCJk/s1600/project-runway+episode+8+Robert.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUW9s9aS0O0MtqE6ddKp_uJhw-WDi7T51sYIaqdM7Q750i1rPYRSV3zzXfhwMg2hsOt7Z7ZBH3zZwGE8OwqMwyfovYHAjwKUgJgdF5qvfWuHKm0stqNUsseFHcIeH8Uxcjx1nPKIrBCJk/s320/project-runway+episode+8+Robert.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Plotkin's entry</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> Robert's design looked more as if the challenge was to have a fifth grader assemble a new postal uniform by using only materials from the discount rack at Old Navy and put together the night before the project was due. I felt (as did the judges) that the release of his design onto our national postal employees would be a major blow to western civilization.<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie:</b> Well, you may be over-stating it just a bit, but the whole look was very casual and he provided only two pieces with no layering. <br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> I never overstate. I hate hyperbole like the Devil and all of his workings. <br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b>Beyond that, as you alluded to, the fabric appeared flimsy and I can't imagine any female postal worker being handed the key to a delivery van wearing that sweater with no bra. Robert is perhaps a bit <i>too</i> enamored of the female form. Everything he makes seems to scream "This is what I want to see my girlfriend wearing right before I...." well,you get the idea. And as this does seem to reflect his personality, I suppose he's just cut from a whole different cloth. I must say that I prefer Austin's respectfully-feminine style any day.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6UMdVJ6cB5lDEhiEF3SbMfkXg2tsJVjIvEhbKsC_UCEIcBkLf2rU4dzpE1KQPkm378QXeW7Lr58Rg0UIXezzoPNIBkqPlxoESM8jrtCFgGNkmviYHj7F0S3CeuwRMNsnjJmV7W7Pjy8/s1600/project-runway+episode+8+wendy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6UMdVJ6cB5lDEhiEF3SbMfkXg2tsJVjIvEhbKsC_UCEIcBkLf2rU4dzpE1KQPkm378QXeW7Lr58Rg0UIXezzoPNIBkqPlxoESM8jrtCFgGNkmviYHj7F0S3CeuwRMNsnjJmV7W7Pjy8/s200/project-runway+episode+8+wendy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wendy Pepper's creation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And I guess it wouldn't hurt to comment on Wendy's design. Mr. Gunn had to talk her out of actually using the aforementioned standard issue black sneaker with her design. She ended up trying to jazz up her lackluster design with her own red sneakers, which truly were the jazziest thing about it. I would describe her design as "the current uniform with darts added, pockets moved, and pants made to look even more uncomfortable...or where they shorts?" <br />
<br />
And, in case you flew past my brief mention, Kara Saun was the winner of this challenge.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Source: www.fanpop.com</span>Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-31685427515405975362011-08-20T14:31:00.000-07:002011-08-20T14:42:32.142-07:001.7: A Single Adversary<b>Paul:</b> Public education in America has devolved so much since I was a boy and I didn't even grow up in anything remotely resembling a golden age. I start here to state that I have no idea if what I'm about to describe is a shared experience by the younger crowd. One of the most detestable phrases I would hear from the mouth of a teacher in school was "Let's split up into groups." This was the portion of the class when the worst students would be given the power to drag everyone else down to their level. It was a valuable life lesson and in my adult life I can see that many have taken it to heart.<br />
<br />
The teacher would split us up into groups and assign a group project. I, actually being engaged with the world around me and enjoying learning, would be excited by the project concept. The other three students would instantly smell this on me and decide that I would do all of the work. At this point I had one of two options to choose from. Either I could climb a mountain with a dead human centipede shackled to my ankle or I could move the game-play to a stalemate, refuse to do all of the work, and thereby scuttle the whole thing dooming us all to failure. I'm afraid the frequency and predictability of these projects eventually lead me to more often choose the latter. Again, the early fire of passion for learning duly quenched by the public education system. <br />
<br />
In the public education system, attendance was pretty much the only necessity and often the only contribution by many of my peers. This is a side effect of a society so focused on the accumulation of goods or money that anything that doesn't immediately scratch that itch is viewed as worthless. In the context of the contest that Laurie and I watching here, of course, the incentive is the promise of gaining the work-life of your dreams. This week, we are given a study (in the manner of the Stanford Prison Experiment) in teamwork and leadership.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, leadership is necessary. We can't all be lone wolves. Sometimes we have to be pack wolves to be able to take down mastodons, distracting the swinging tusks by biting the hind legs while the more intrepid wolves go for the jugular, feeding the pack off the blood of the innocents for many days. There is a behavioral chart that's been floating around in psychological circles for many decades now which looks similar to this (actually it is usually more of a graph on which one can plot points, but our Open Office software can't make one of those. This will serve for the purpose of illustration):</div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsgLA7TftG7Kq7PYiXNnPoNk_IRoemf_1yTBu0hZe1PUOoMJmiNxxNb4zpbCrqobX6olyKrho_DCiaIXSYF3NbyZKZ4yuTtGEiPQyAL5-Fv3i0m2CUKpSpiRL69BqrLUyqcT4BLjvJpE/s1600/project+runway+pie+chart3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsgLA7TftG7Kq7PYiXNnPoNk_IRoemf_1yTBu0hZe1PUOoMJmiNxxNb4zpbCrqobX6olyKrho_DCiaIXSYF3NbyZKZ4yuTtGEiPQyAL5-Fv3i0m2CUKpSpiRL69BqrLUyqcT4BLjvJpE/s320/project+runway+pie+chart3.jpg" width="247" /></a><br />
Yes, I made a pie chart for our Project Runway blog. In the top left is the Dominant Aggressive type (Klingons, Caligula, drill sergeants.) Upper right is Dominant Passive (type "Earth Mother" into Google image search.) Lower right is Submissive Passive (Eeyore.) Lower left is Submissive Aggressive (Jerry in accounting who corners you for like half an hour every day to complain about other people that you have work with. Or, ad rem our project, the character of Wendy Pepper as portrayed by this highly edited television show. [<b>Laurie:</b> Thankfully for all involved, Wendy was never placed in a position of leadership. I think, however, had she would have taken the blue pie.]) <b>Paul:</b> Most of us do a little of all of these in the course of our daily lives, but most of us also have a default in which we usually live. A "game" you can play is to observe yourself in your daily interactions (with your boss, your mother, clerks and waiters, clergy, etc.) and see with which of these behaviors you are reacting to the external stimuli. You may even get to the point where you can change it at will and improve your life.<br />
<br />
I haven't. But you may.<br />
<br />
As for leadership styles, probably not surprisingly, I tend toward the emerging communal types that indicate that your boss goes to Burning Man. I like the Ben and Jerry's corporate structure. Jim Henson and Julian Beck are my leadership role models. I am a firm believer in democracy and a firm distruster of hierarchies. I try not to visit the left side of the chart very often.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Hmmm, not sure how I would categorize my own self. I have no desire to be "dominant." (I hate that word. It makes me think of the very same pack animals that you just mentioned). I'm happy to let someone else take the lead in many if not most situations, but when I sense a need for leadership that is not being filled, I find myself instinctively filling it. I must admit that the orderliness and efficiency of hierarchies naturally appeal to me. I am by nature a very pragmatic person inclined to be willing to throw a lot of higher values to that wolf named Expediency. (There is no more efficient form of government, after all, than a dictatorship, and none less efficient than a democracy.) My Christian <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+10:43&version=ESV">beliefs</a>, however, will not permit me to feed that brute. And so, even when leading others, I seek to defer to them as well, so that every move forward is a move taken together.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I, being a Quaker down in my bones, have a strong "all are created equal" streak and a strong "doff thy hat to no one" streak. I've found myself in leadership roles often in life and I find that my style is collaborative. Back when I worked as a stage manager and occasionally as an assistant director I had a policy of not making my actors or my crew do anything I wasn't willing to do myself. This involved overcoming my fear of heights by swinging off the catwalk to change lights, shaving my head in one production, growing a full beard in another, those sort of things.<br />
<br />
I think everyone on our television program knew when it was revealed that a leader would be picked this week that the best two options would have been Jay or Kara. They function well, have a clear vision, and people respect them. The two worst would have been Kevin or Wendy. Kevin was chosen. The reason Kevin would be bad is because he seems to live in the lower right. According to the highly edited images presented to us on the television (a long preface that I increasingly feel compelled to add at the beginning of any statement I make about these people), he's nice, but he's like a nice employee. He could stand to take a few organizational leadership courses at the community college before he does a contest like this again. Wendy would have been bad because everyone hates and distrusts her. That is the worst type of boss (and also a common type.) When Kevin is chosen as the leader, they cut quickly to reaction shots. A lesser show may have employed the sound effect of a needle being ripped off a record.<br />
<br />
This acts to return the tension that was released by Morgan being voted off at the beginning of this episode.<br />
<br />
The project is to design a collection on the theme of fashion of the year 2055 (is this a motif in the show or is Jay just so much ahead of the curve that the show is stealing his ideas? Readers will remember in episode 1.4 Jay said that his design was French Prostitute from the year 2050.)<br />
<br />
<b>Laurie: </b> Together they must come up with a unifying concept. The whole team is given time to brainstorm and pencil it out, color scheme, etc. They are then given a lump sum and sent to a huge vintage clothing store where they are to purchase everything they might need. (This really seemed to force them to assume a post-apocalyptic picture for the future.) Each designer must contribute one outfit to the collection.<br />
<br />
<b>Paul:</b> I liked the pod idea. They had this concept of a protective, sheer fabric womb which would cover the outfits they make because the future will be a harsh and unforgiving one (thanks, us!) <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmflFDm9ym_l9fITzVPXNpb-2Ao-BkO7RwYF8tQW6p5Gb8o4K8DMQh3mLjaBbHop9Kwi3QEp2vB-wbVyMHfbkerr3C-qJua3-z0PCI9V1pZls_-bHVDCmDRofrKHwJ6JSh03EMwb4r2ok/s1600/fig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmflFDm9ym_l9fITzVPXNpb-2Ao-BkO7RwYF8tQW6p5Gb8o4K8DMQh3mLjaBbHop9Kwi3QEp2vB-wbVyMHfbkerr3C-qJua3-z0PCI9V1pZls_-bHVDCmDRofrKHwJ6JSh03EMwb4r2ok/s200/fig.jpg" width="108" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Fig Newton</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Laurie:</b> I was not a fan. Wendy came up with this idea that in the future the environment would be really messed up, due to the kind of vague factors you might expect a group of clothing designers to imagine, and full of vague things that clothing would be needed to protect folks from. So, as a unifying theme, beyond the color scheme, she suggested that each outfit be covered by a "pod" - a sort of fig-shaped protective outer garment which would be split open to reveal the creation beneath. I thought the whole thing was ugly, and didn't look like something that would actually be very protective. First of all, a pear/fig silhouette is flattering to no one, and the with legs hanging out the bottom and all, there would be contaminated legs, and, well all I could think of was <a href="http://youtu.be/klhLmoA2fks">this</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtrfI1LRRpOQvuMNNXU5P2EcDbGVnFpaPEjygw6QRt-aoKh7gJ4bbuzcs647WH_cRagEjloR_gaxWQJM5YCj3qz7W8S4S8yphb_04K9pdpbH5O4cDWP_JJLn957EyM9C4UDrgE_HcXyE/s1600/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58769_400_300+Robert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtrfI1LRRpOQvuMNNXU5P2EcDbGVnFpaPEjygw6QRt-aoKh7gJ4bbuzcs647WH_cRagEjloR_gaxWQJM5YCj3qz7W8S4S8yphb_04K9pdpbH5O4cDWP_JJLn957EyM9C4UDrgE_HcXyE/s200/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58769_400_300+Robert.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul: </b>Robert does not understand the concept. His main feature is to create a coat with small black patches on the shoulders which he claims are solar panels to give the wearer energy. Yep. It's like that. I'm convinced that Robert's portion of this episode exists to show why Lady Gaga had to happen.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> I was not a fan of Robert's design either, but the judges seemed to really like it. Go figure.<br />
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<b>Paul: </b> Which reminds me of the subtle change in the world I'm noticing between this show and today. First, it is clearly a pre-Gaga era and, in spite of my love for Lady Gaga (I don't think a day goes by without her music being played in our house), even I'm surprised by the difference. Probably more to the point, this is before Alexander McQueen really hit. It is my firm belief that Alexander McQueen changed the world. As the chemist James Lovelock said, any geophysical event is started by a single organism and, in the case of McQueen, Lady Gaga is simply the index case in a shift in global consciousness. Once the influence of McQueen hit Kate Middleton, the pandemic had latched its talons into all of our double helixes. Fashion changes consciousness. People believe what they see. I'm not sure people realize how much they are influenced by these (oftentimes unseen) tides, but the influence is in the very air that they breathe. But I think that somewhere all of the designers realize the possible extent of their influence. Truly, ideas are like viruses and they change the world. <br />
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The major problem with the runway show is that the outfits are of a similar color scheme, but the unity kind of ends there. That is because Kevin's leadership seems to be to make an outfit and leave all of the others to make their own. They have similar ideas but the end result reminds me of a music project I did once where I made cover songs of songs I'd never heard before but had only had described to me. Instead of a collection, it is a show of several different designer's concepts on a theme.<br />
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He also does nothing toward time management and so the pods never end up happening.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVrpQg0kIrOiNIy9iNiMAZTq05VVml7xMjInVsQo0n7ZokjPNtpDvfRdC3NOCwz9JsKmlb4ZhyphenhyphenJ_LDmmQCwpCUtctRvamQFSyBilZzINbvcm7Sg8OqnzS0s4BBiT9nhLEPv_XjYKLKhg/s1600/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58766_400_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVrpQg0kIrOiNIy9iNiMAZTq05VVml7xMjInVsQo0n7ZokjPNtpDvfRdC3NOCwz9JsKmlb4ZhyphenhyphenJ_LDmmQCwpCUtctRvamQFSyBilZzINbvcm7Sg8OqnzS0s4BBiT9nhLEPv_XjYKLKhg/s200/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58766_400_300.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pwUpaPDdw0sQSZO2Tq2F876PeSyXkleKng5q-qyPAcI1cLA71qSNOcOGLKSy5IqCY30RT5isPyrVuUb65jRxW1BZL3Djdqe5-oheJgwI-SBMlwyvfsIqU81ISsOUnDU3cqPauHoZhJg/s1600/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58767_400_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pwUpaPDdw0sQSZO2Tq2F876PeSyXkleKng5q-qyPAcI1cLA71qSNOcOGLKSy5IqCY30RT5isPyrVuUb65jRxW1BZL3Djdqe5-oheJgwI-SBMlwyvfsIqU81ISsOUnDU3cqPauHoZhJg/s200/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58767_400_300.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<b>Laurie: </b> That, I believe was the main contribution to the loss of a sense of cohesiveness to the collection. They'd hung all their "unifying" eggs in the pod basket. Without the pods it was just a lot of vintage fabrics in a matching color scheme patched together eclectically into a variety of outfits. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhww96IxKx7ntCd6WEiF8NI5GavEgch56bOmFYu9_yzAeu-BUnebJ4RCJSIIX-RM0lQ1ehX44CD5BvgmIKs_XHoNJCxsH3SP0ZQ1c261cBCRnJvQPkV3L24tHAkLoHWvy-QYXot3F_42hE/s1600/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58765_640_480.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhww96IxKx7ntCd6WEiF8NI5GavEgch56bOmFYu9_yzAeu-BUnebJ4RCJSIIX-RM0lQ1ehX44CD5BvgmIKs_XHoNJCxsH3SP0ZQ1c261cBCRnJvQPkV3L24tHAkLoHWvy-QYXot3F_42hE/s200/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58765_640_480.gif" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> Kara Saun ends up stepping into the place as the leader in the absence of one. [<b>Laurie:</b> which is exactly what I would have done.] <b>Paul:</b> Late in the night when the doom starts to settle on the group like a fog, Kara calls a meeting on how they are going to sell what they've done. In doing so, she tries to tack on to the end what should have happened in the conception process, which is to make a narrative. In the beginning it would have been a through-line. Placed here after the clothes are fashioned and time has run out, it is more akin to card table skills of misleading with confidence.<br />
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It doesn't work. Kevin seemed like he was probably nice. It is probably necessary to note for future posts that Wendy is once again called upon to drag the knife across the throat of the hanging pig and she does so without a moment's hesitation. The difference in this case is that she presents a fairly accurate description of Kevin's leadership abilities.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> And thus we bid Kevin <i>adieu</i>. I suppose a person in the running to win a prize of $100,000 to start a design company would best have some leadership skills, and so this challenge was probably appropriate. Still, though, Kevin was a pleasant fellow, kind of gentle. I was sad to see him go. (By the way, I liked his design for this challenge.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2LFR6xeFmOj_orUvZyE8GEc6mzWXQddmLCw4eGLPD8kiaiV88gUWQ9EoORTAQkIcGntrLzrd0sHiOXuRuUriKYcDFUwCEnNhAvZt463uSjxh3uYI3glu6-3AxRpR7GwfdMy6A5yEQzY/s1600/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58768_400_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2LFR6xeFmOj_orUvZyE8GEc6mzWXQddmLCw4eGLPD8kiaiV88gUWQ9EoORTAQkIcGntrLzrd0sHiOXuRuUriKYcDFUwCEnNhAvZt463uSjxh3uYI3glu6-3AxRpR7GwfdMy6A5yEQzY/s320/project-runway-Season-1--Episode-7-58768_400_300.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-16951895521099838402011-08-17T22:29:00.000-07:002011-08-17T22:29:06.711-07:001.6: You're Soaking In It.<b>Paul:</b> And now on to the subject of reducing our fellow human beings in our minds to mere objects or tools. This week was the swimwear edition.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> The design challenge for this episode was to create, in five hours, a swimsuit which could double for evening wear suitable for the pool party at an upper-crusty hotel which both designers and models would be attending that very evening. The winning designer would be the one who could engage a certain newspaper fashion writer at the party and make a profound enough impression with design, demonstration, and demeanor to garner a mention in his column in the next morning's paper. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> When I think of swimwear, I think of something to wear in the water which will not bunch or inhibit my progress in swimming, but will also not reveal my Falstaffian folds to the offended world. I used to actually own and wear an Edwardian era reproduction of a man's one piece bathing suit. It was black.<br />
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I understand that everyone in this episode has an almost polar opposite ideal in swimwear from me. I am just trying to be forthright in what I am bringing to the table. It seems to me that the key element in modern feminine swimwear is to inspire the prurient spirit in men and, strangely, defensive self-loathing in women. [<b>Laurie:</b> I'd say the real intention is: to inspire said prurience in men and <i>envy</i> in other women and that the self-loathing is an unintended by-product of the fact that only a tiny percentage of women actually look enviable in a swimsuit.] <b> </b><b>Paul: </b> I should imagine that swimwear that is marketed in this manner would never sell because everyone who looks at a magazine image of a model in swimwear must think "I don't look anything like that." Including the model herself. Which is an awful lot of angst to pile onto the simple act of not bathing nude in public. I don't know, maybe I'm just speaking to my own naturally inclination to reject anything that makes me feel that someone is trying to exploit me.<br />
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I've never understood this form of advertising, which I think speaks to very different expectations and paths available to females in our culture. If I see an image of what our culture deems an extremely physically attractive man in a certain swimsuit, I think, "Boy oh boy, I am way too fond of the taste of hops to ever look like that!" Then the chances of me purchasing that swimsuit are about the same as the chances of me winning the lottery without buying a ticket (which, if I understand statistics correctly, is almost exactly the same as my chances of winning the lottery if I do buy a ticket.) I am unclear on how the swimwear industry stays alive (every fiber of my trained-seal being dictated that I say "afloat" but I fought it and won!) <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Alas, Paul, as I have often said, you are no ordinary man! I can't tell you the number of men I've seen and known whose bathrooms must come equipped with time-travel mirrors. These men take one look at themselves, suck in an inch or two, pat their 24-pack and say, "Yep, I <i>still</i> got it. Today I'm going with the Speedo!"<br />
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Most women, on the other hand, and I include myself in this group, are not in the least bit comfortable with the way they look in swimsuits. They dread shopping for them, and dread wearing them. The only thing worse would be going out naked, and there's only a tiny bit of fabric's difference really. This episode would show us that even our runway models, of necessity not the most modest bunch, seem to have limits to how much they are comfortable exposing.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> When the challenge is first explained to the group, Austin immediately thinks of Esther Williams, complete with a cut to a quick video montage, which is a holographic encapsulation on why Austin should not only win on this show, but in life as well. When they talk about a model in swimwear, Robert thinks of the front cover of the <i>Sports Illustrated</i> swimsuit edition. Austin immediately thinks of this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZjUuMa_YRxuRo1N64nDvycy7K0o_GVXhLVzDdiO1mJuLpVtxYZ8JLAuXukSU8xt4PTiUVvsjJbGWB8XZddMYOYoQDXkjHsDqxmihPC5DOTmK8wkLUnuzLPm6-7tipEDwI8lCOp7VZG8/s1600/project+ruway+melissa+austin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZjUuMa_YRxuRo1N64nDvycy7K0o_GVXhLVzDdiO1mJuLpVtxYZ8JLAuXukSU8xt4PTiUVvsjJbGWB8XZddMYOYoQDXkjHsDqxmihPC5DOTmK8wkLUnuzLPm6-7tipEDwI8lCOp7VZG8/s320/project+ruway+melissa+austin.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: dis-ndat.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Laurie:</b> Austin's completed design is at right.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> The designers make their swimsuits and then are to take them to the party where one Robert Johnson shall be in attendance. The party takes place at an exclusive New York spot which I will probably die without even ever having walked past. Mr. Johnson writes the "Page 6" gossip column in that titan of class and standard for decency in journalism <i>The New York Post.</i> Mr. Johnson's portion of the party is edited in such a way that it seems as if he is leering at a 16 year old the entire night. Mr. Johnson is probably not quite old enough to be her grandfather, but let's just say that one could imagine him thinking of music from the year she was born as "new."<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, he even joked to the effect that he ought not be leering after learning that Austin's model was underage. Occasionally he appeared to make an effort at averting his eyes, which, in some fairness was a little difficult as he was rather cornered by this 16 year old who seemed...how can I put this delicately?...quite intent on being noticed.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning sexual attraction wholesale here. None of us would be here if it didn't exist. But the whole scene seemed to me like something Nixon would have done to an opposing candidate. [<b>Laurie:</b> Exactly!] <b>Paul:</b> Johnson himself reacts to the information that the girl is 16 years old by spending the rest of the night not ogling her out of herculean will power. Never before has a fashion contest been so Kafka-esque. It is a pubescent nightmare with all of the clunky moral overtones of a 1980s slasher film (where it's utterly baffling as to why morality is being preached at all in that context.) It may be important to remind our readers of two things here: the model's sole purpose is to get noticed, so she is parading and flirting, but also important is that this is the Esther Williams outfit we're talking about. We are not talking about the one swimsuit made from two shoestrings.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> And let us not forget, she was not the only model hoping to be noticed. When the rest saw Esther Williams getting so cozy with Mr. Johnson they, one by one, made their way back until by the end he was not only cornered but absolutely surrounded by scantily clad models at varying degrees of tipsy doing whatever they could to attract and maintain his attention. It was a pathetic and rather disgusting scene.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> And let me add that reducing fashion to the merely prurient is as a hyperion to a satyr. The goal of fashion is the elevation of human beauty and reflects some of the highest aspirations of humankind. I hate to always be the one to bring a six-pack of bleak to the party, but to me when I see fashion used in this manner it reminds me of poor Philo Farnsworth who did so much hard work on that tool of the future, that great invention which would accelerate the education and evolution of human civilization, the television. Poor Philo who was so discouraged by the emergent vast wasteland produced by the rip-tides of advertising that he wouldn't let his own children watch television. I've stated the equation of my own devising before, but I'll say it again: The level of crap is in direct proportion to the level of attention to the profit margin. That is Mathers' Law.<br />
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So, back to the party, Jay dresses up as Jay-sus again. Near the end, he comments on how he was a little put off by what he described as the "whoredom" of the event. [<b>Laurie:</b> And <i>this</i> from the fellow who walked out on the porn industry because it was dirty!] <b>Paul: </b>I know, right? Suddenly Jay is our moral compass on the show. There is also a tense exchange between Robert Johnson and Jay later when Johnson confronts Jay on his flamboyant personality. He says that he has a hard time imagining Jay at a business dinner at The Four Seasons. Jay tells Johnson that he could see himself there if they gave him a high-chair or booster seat. We literally burst into applause.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> NosireeBob, Jay's having none of it! <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> As a strange aside, Laurie turns to me at one point in the episode and tells me that Jay reminds her of me. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: dis-ndat.blogspot.com</td></tr>
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<b>Laurie:</b> I'm not sure I can explain, but I'll give it a go. Much of it is the "I don't care how hard you're selling, I'm not buying" attitude that just won't conform for the sheer sake of conforming. Part of it is the flamboyant personality and style. Part of it is a slightly non-conformist sense of humor, and a tendency to form sudden and deep bonds with the most unexpected people. Part of it is body-type.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Fair enough. I'm okay with being similar to Jay.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> As for his contribution, he says it wasn't exactly what he'd hoped it would be, but it turned out pretty well just the same. I agree, though I must add, the front view was much more flattering than the rear.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnIn8W8r5hNISdpqeo-AUxYLrS0pGFliBHxjIHP53x1nQO3hXv-GPHS2rbBJkoAGTNVLDybIwgvoL6GQ1Mb5pt8pEdG8Bfsd3Yzyzy88ifoF0MuAlY3bN3YNv883xUQc3VKIgw2GTB7E/s1600/projectrunwayswim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnIn8W8r5hNISdpqeo-AUxYLrS0pGFliBHxjIHP53x1nQO3hXv-GPHS2rbBJkoAGTNVLDybIwgvoL6GQ1Mb5pt8pEdG8Bfsd3Yzyzy88ifoF0MuAlY3bN3YNv883xUQc3VKIgw2GTB7E/s320/projectrunwayswim.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: realitynewsonline.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> Kevin picked Morgan as his model. Lord, what fools these mortals be! As soon as he announces his pick of Morgan, Laurie said, "You can't take <i>her</i> to an exclusive party!" About 15 minutes later, we see exactly what Laurie was talking about playing out before our very eyes. It was like watching a snuff film. After the Project Runway event, Morgan insists on leaving in Kevin's outfit to go visit other of the Big Apple's nightclub offerings. Kevin lacks the intestinal fortitude to physically tackle Morgan and, predictably, she shows up the next morning with the outfit in tatters. Outside of the improvements, the judges don't notice.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Poor Morgan, I get the feeling her episodes are numbered. For our designers, there's something of the train wreck about her which makes her as nearly irresistible as she is disastrous and prevents them from voting her off. I think, though, that they are reaching their limits. The other designers who found out that Kevin had entrusted his design with her for the evening were just short of taking bets on whether it would come back in one piece or whether it would come back at all. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0gdiGnboxTL2s_HzxCSFIiOeGOptv2oanZPgwqbKG7fWWWANEupwqO3osqB-FIkesGaHQCUNmxYmZIxeaQhfcYOB3gApnXyI6UXJFSDdxD5Y6KFwjLPRGvYMRdqvI1W8hSTYB7ZhY0g/s1600/Project+runway+Robert2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0gdiGnboxTL2s_HzxCSFIiOeGOptv2oanZPgwqbKG7fWWWANEupwqO3osqB-FIkesGaHQCUNmxYmZIxeaQhfcYOB3gApnXyI6UXJFSDdxD5Y6KFwjLPRGvYMRdqvI1W8hSTYB7ZhY0g/s320/Project+runway+Robert2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: dibblyfresh1.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> Robert says something disgusting about women being like vintage sports cars. One of the judges actually calls him out on this. <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> I've heard men say this before, and they <i>always </i>think it is a compliment. It was clear that Robert had no idea what he'd said wrong until he was asked to explain himself, and appeared to suddenly realize what the implications were of what he'd just said. The symbolism is troubling. A car is an object to be driven, to be controlled, to give a man a sense of power and a sense of status. A woman is a human being created in the image of God. Big difference. Robert ended up muttering something only vaguely coherent about men naming cars after women. Considering the angry tone of the judge, (who says you can't argue against the objectification of woman while judging a swimsuit and runway model competition?) and the unimaginative design of the suit, I suspected this might be the last we see of Robert.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZ0ZuQOHEbrMDWHFT1mVgu7uUXfC6FiNBBykRScJRtXXp2ml5ygve21vlhuF4_V8-xUad0M7zI-SS9_Wez8Qc1vBx7_Wgw-mqeISUI7HYz-K8akBCoPArUhPtS8jQtIqMZGZ64kDePQA/s1600/Project+Runway+Alexandra4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZ0ZuQOHEbrMDWHFT1mVgu7uUXfC6FiNBBykRScJRtXXp2ml5ygve21vlhuF4_V8-xUad0M7zI-SS9_Wez8Qc1vBx7_Wgw-mqeISUI7HYz-K8akBCoPArUhPtS8jQtIqMZGZ64kDePQA/s200/Project+Runway+Alexandra4.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.tomandlorenzo.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As it turns out, however, he squeaked by yet again. This time thanks to a few key flubs on the part of Alexandra Vidal. Her name hasn't come up much here because, like Kara Saun, she creates no drama. She is a lovely young woman in her early 20's. She always looks calm and well put-together. Episode after episode she accepts her challenge, keeps her pretty head down, and ends the show with a respectable finish. She creates consistently complete, tasteful, and likeable designs, but generally nothing too imaginative. This is the week her lack of originality, and a few errors of judgment, caught up with her. Her first mishap became apparent when the model showed up to try on the suit. The suit was quite lovely, very elegant, but it was much too small in every way. The model was clearly uncomfortable with showing so much unintended skin, but went along with it like a sport. It was the second mishap, though, which would prove her undoing. She admitted to the judges that she had been inspired by suits she'd seen by a couple of other designers, who she named. So, the moral is, keep your inspiration to yourself. Be as derivative as you like, but whatever you do, don't admit it. No hypocrisy there. One thing that is becoming abundantly clear as these judgments begin to pile up, is that people are decidedly oblivious to their own inconsistencies and the sliding scale -or as you would say, Paul, "the movable feast" - that is their own moral compass.<br />
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That said, during the course of this season, Alexandra has made a very favorable impression on me. I have little doubt that she has a bright design future ahead of her. (Since we are nearly eight seasons behind I felt justified in checking up on her via a little Google search. It would appear that, as I suspected, she's doing <a href="http://www.wmagazine.com/w/blogs/editorsblog/2011/05/25/alexandra-vidal-trullols.html">quite well</a> for herself.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDwxWjjtmy9VB5JUlxXNVj5Da-XnCFao3J2XE4pLdDUpDS2WDfYdQ8ocyOE2c5xc96b76kTn2w3zqkmN5Fcm0qbEwRVdk2rt47Pm-nnKoEyYobV_Qnlz76N9Gc013S8weUo-jFv-_vzU/s1600/Project+runway+wendy+swimsuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDwxWjjtmy9VB5JUlxXNVj5Da-XnCFao3J2XE4pLdDUpDS2WDfYdQ8ocyOE2c5xc96b76kTn2w3zqkmN5Fcm0qbEwRVdk2rt47Pm-nnKoEyYobV_Qnlz76N9Gc013S8weUo-jFv-_vzU/s200/Project+runway+wendy+swimsuit.jpg" width="118" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: dis-ndat.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So, I was really rather disappointed to see the talented Miss Vidal go while Robert and Wendy squeezed their way through yet again. Wendy stood in real jeopardy this round too. Her bird of paradise inspired swim "suit" ended up being a swimsuit top. The bottom she made was unwearable, so the model had to wear her own thong under it. Fortunately the top half was quite lovely, like the bird of paradise that inspired it, and long enough to cover the exposed parts. Even though she was forced to admit her flub to the judges, and even though it was really a dress and not a functional swimsuit, she still got away with it. It was really pretty though. I would definitely wear a swimsuit like this one - assuming it came with a full coverage bottom half that is!<br />
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<b>Paul: </b>At the end of the episode, Jay and Austin are on the runway as the two potential winners. In order to find out who won, they must wait until the next morning's <i>Post</i> to see which of them was mentioned by name on Page Six. The next morning, Jay and Austin walk into a liquor store, which feels a bit like taking a giraffe into the DMV. They find that Austin has won. Jay is encouraging and graceful in his reception of the news until they cut to a "bit" in which Jay attacks Austin later and we realize that we would devoutly watch a show of just these two goofing off every week.Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-28394878737201414182011-08-15T23:22:00.000-07:002011-08-16T00:20:24.259-07:001.5: Vanitas<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6KKVr26tQp0zJWItCNw-YPRMFrlBjxeiy-YKsNsGn16EJvgauxMLn2sZaqIK7pBq8zgUuzZPW4NPJbnsn3w5D9AGuUzGpZjy5zvtSo3Hf0aMVBF1cd3dE1I_KHgl206JiGLr5YBW1eUI/s1600/DSC_0256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6KKVr26tQp0zJWItCNw-YPRMFrlBjxeiy-YKsNsGn16EJvgauxMLn2sZaqIK7pBq8zgUuzZPW4NPJbnsn3w5D9AGuUzGpZjy5zvtSo3Hf0aMVBF1cd3dE1I_KHgl206JiGLr5YBW1eUI/s320/DSC_0256.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul & Laurie</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul: </b>There is little left in the daily lives of the people in modern day Western Civilization with as much symbolism (and superstition) as the wedding. While we didn't have a church wedding, I found when it was time to get married, I wanted a fairly traditional wedding because I wanted to feel as if I'd had a wedding. It's probably the Classicist in me that wanted the altar, the best man and maid of honor, the first dance, and the very classic wedding cake which we fed to one another gingerly, without succumbing to the crass (but very strong) impulse to smash it into one another's face. <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> As this was not my first marriage, and having not had a traditional wedding before, I felt that a more traditional ceremony would carry with it the weight, the gravitas that seemed be lacking in my former experience.<br />
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Marriage ought not be an institution one enters into lightly. The breakdown of the institution of marriage and the countless broken vows, abandoned trusts, and abuses it represents, is at the heart of the disintegration of our society. It is one of the deep roots of our rampant sense of hopelessness and cynicism. Marriage is one of the greatest investments a person can make in humanity. It stands as a last bastion of optimism, saying to the world: "There is such a thing as love, trust, and commitment. Let me show you by loving this person with all my heart for the rest of my life!" When these most precious of vows are no longer expected to be kept - what then can be counted on? When those most treasured words, "I do", really mean "I do, until I don't", what hope do we have for all the lesser promises?<br />
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A person who cannot be trusted with the most important things in life certainly cannot be trusted with the least. If a man will betray the trust of his wife, who will he <i>not</i> betray? Then the question broadens: who really can be trusted and is anyone trustworthy? Such are the beginnings of cynicism. And so, when I walked through our municipal park on Saturday afternoon and happened upon a wedding party smiling for the photographer, a dark voice in my head wondered, "How long do you suppose that will last?" My delight in their moment of joy and my hope for the future silenced it and forbade my lips to utter the thought aloud.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Wow! Let's see if I can make this any heavier.<br />
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We are but a vapor. Given enough time, even the most permanent of structures on this planet will fall. The pyramids will fall eventually. We are all future dust. We have the opportunity of this moment in time and every moment is a tick toward oblivion. I feel this keenly as we watch Project Runway, and I feel that it is an important lesson. First of all, every moment I am watching Project Runway is a moment that I am not reading Proust (which is why the writing project is so important. Every episode gets Laurie and I one click closer to Gladwell's 10,000 hours of writing.) But also, everyone on the show, the beautiful models, the life-filled designers with their careers stretched before them, from sainted Austin to lugubrious Wendy and every Jay in between, the established and slightly jaded hosts, even the sage Tim Gunn, and we the audience are all future corpses. Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come; make her laugh at that.<br />
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I wonder, Laurie, if you could talk a bit about the wedding dress, what it means and varieties thereof.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Well, I'll assume you are asking me for a woman's perspective on its significance, and in short I'd say that what it means, as this episode somewhat illustrates, depends upon the woman wearing it. In my grandmother's generation a woman would often wear her best dress, or else choose a new dress in her favorite color. She had good reason to expect she would be married until she died, for better or for worse, and so a wedding was serious, but hopefully happy, business. White is the current traditional color for a wedding dress, especially for a first wedding. Though white for a time symbolized the virginity of the bride, it didn't always, and it seldom does now.<br />
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Perhaps it's that cynic in me that calls to my attention that the more lightly the institution of marriage is regarded in our culture, the more heavily the emphasis is placed on the wedding. A whole section of the magazine rack at Barnes & Noble is dedicated to publications for brides. I'm not sure I've ever seen a magazine devoted solely to marriage (which is not to say there is not such a thing). Little girls, and big girls dream of their wedding day, envisioning in elaborate detail the dress, the flowers, the place, the music, maybe even the groom. For many women, a wedding is seen as the crowning moment of all childhood fantasies, the pinnacle, really, of her life. This is <i>her</i> day. It must be perfect. And, so, to get back to our focus here, the dress must be perfect.<br />
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Having lived a few years myself, and having been to lots of weddings, I've noticed that the dress and the fuss, or lack thereof, over the wedding is often a pretty good reflection of the personality and character of the bride. Brides who like to keep things simple and elegant will likely choose just such a wedding and dress. A woman who is demanding and perfectionist in day-to-day life cannot be expected to be less so when it comes to the most important day of her life. And so it goes. (As I've been known to say, you can't expect a bridezilla not to become a wifezilla.) <br />
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As to the varieties....let's just say there are as many varieties as there are brides.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> The models seem to be an endless wealth of disturbing revelations on this show and for that I salute them. I think the first startling realization this week was that the models are children. We realize this because the challenge is to make a wedding dress for the models, who become the designers' clients for the week. The models come to the designers with their ideas for their perfect wedding dress and they are the ideas that little girls would have for a wedding dress. We suddenly notice their ages next to their names in the interview clips (I'm pretty sure they were there all along) and these are 16, 17, and 18 year olds. Jay comments on how they all want to look like Disney princesses. <br />
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It's much like Kurt Vonnegut's revelation from <i>Slaughterhouse Five</i> (and, in other ways, Thomas Mann's <i>Death in Venice</i>.) We are talking about children. We fetishize them and we treat them like they are immortal in our own mortal insecurities. Youth is handled too strangely by those who have passed it; you'd think they were never young themselves. We elevate the young to the level of gods and thereby reveal our low opinion of wisdom, the effects of which we may be currently reaping in our economy and international relations. We shall talk a bit more about this in the next episode.<br />
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Speaking of which, this episode also illustrates the corruption that even a little bit of power brings. Some of the models behave abominably being given the little scrap of power of the course of their design. Tim Gunn gives Jay the advice to tell his model "You know, there's a reason why you're a model and I'm a designer."<br />
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I was reminded of Thomas Gainsborough, the English painter who was so brilliant at portraiture, but who would much rather have been painting landscapes. But Gainsborough gots to get paid, son. And so the designers get a harsh lesson in the realities of working life. Mr. Gunn's advice speaks to the uphill battle of not giving an inch lest one loses a mile, which is sound. <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Except, that is, when the compromise prevents the losing of a mile in the sacrifice of an inch, which, I assure you, in real life is often the case, and the only way such things as democracies are able to function at all. But I think, Paul, you are just overstating your point for the sake of making it. In the case of our designers, it came to a matter of degrees of compromise that made the difference in the end. In this contest heel-digging would have been just as disastrous as complete giving in, since the first question asked in the judging was whether or not the "bride" got the dress she had dreamed of. The trick for the designer was to listen to her dream and convince her that the dress he made <i>was</i> that dream dress while also creating something real and tasteful.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Well, I would say I was almost overstating, but I think that part of a designer's job is to take the information supplied by the client, mutate it into a hybrid with their own style, and possibly show the client something they didn't even know that the desperately wanted.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Well put.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0DCFSbxScyw4BgMAc8uG2eOeZsMIOKMLqLWOcp6yN2zYJ6HcvBNefkPqUFidchK99kar2_l0ycpVhTF4PZHk9q1U7W_XnUDGneO6nxXAv9mnqPP9nlS-RWPXc9KGUxwQQ3tmSWaMa5c/s1600/Season-1--Episode-5-project-runway-58739_640_480.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0DCFSbxScyw4BgMAc8uG2eOeZsMIOKMLqLWOcp6yN2zYJ6HcvBNefkPqUFidchK99kar2_l0ycpVhTF4PZHk9q1U7W_XnUDGneO6nxXAv9mnqPP9nlS-RWPXc9KGUxwQQ3tmSWaMa5c/s320/Season-1--Episode-5-project-runway-58739_640_480.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> It probably did not help that Jay picked Morgan as his model. "First thought, best thought" as the Beats were fond of saying, Jay. If you're worried about someone's professionalism due to their past behavior, you may want to listen to that. You don't keep going back to a restaurant you hated the first time in hopes that the chef will pull it together one of these days. Morgan has poor impulse control and gives no indication that she is working on this aspect of her character. And so Jay comes up with a gorgeous, column-like dress, which Morgan stumbles over on the runway.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> After, that is, he has tried unsuccessfully to convince her it needed to be shortened, a fact he dare not mention at the judging lest he be caught out as a designer who compromised what is more important in design (wearability) to what is less (client whim). And, by the way, the dress was pure elegance, in spite of what Morgan had in mind. When she saw it, she thought it was her idea. (I should mention, the photo at right and Morgan's posture in it do not begin to do justice to the beauty of the dress. It also does not show the sheer gold fabric peeking out about her feet. When upright, this dress presents a stunning column.)<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> There is a dumb-show in the middle of the episode which fleshes out (as it were) this theme. The designers decide to go out for an evening of carousing. Gripped by a voluntary drowning from the hands of Bacchus, Robert's behavior indicates certain animal instincts toward Alexandra. This manifests, on the streets of New York, in an attempt at showing off by way of gymnastics on scaffolding. His activity quickly turns into a trip to the emergency room. While I'm fascinated by how much literal bloodshed has already gone on this season, it is an abject reminder of the absurdity of existence. Robert has staples in the back of his head and has anointed the city streets with his vital juices. Fallen heroes are not exactly going to sing epic songs about this at Yggdrasil. The show is filled with moments where I keep thinking "Wow. What if that was the peak moment of my life? What would it be like for that to be my fifteen minutes of fame? What would my grandchildren think of me on my deathbed?"<br />
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Because I always bring things back to death, you see.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Life, I've noticed, has that uncanny habit as well. I'm little better. Somehow I've managed to turn the wedding dress episode into a dirge.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BgoaSkNwWJuJ_YV5wP8q_qWaDn5AGRGSi8_VAFvPSRPwEx58xuUYke8iFWwaQFC68Za7i6s90gqD6iDJDXE3DwgQie71PxSg9pip9tWNgXBhvKJm_3k5V_wWGdujn_gSt-Y0GYve4Ow/s1600/Project+runway+KevinJ4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BgoaSkNwWJuJ_YV5wP8q_qWaDn5AGRGSi8_VAFvPSRPwEx58xuUYke8iFWwaQFC68Za7i6s90gqD6iDJDXE3DwgQie71PxSg9pip9tWNgXBhvKJm_3k5V_wWGdujn_gSt-Y0GYve4Ow/s320/Project+runway+KevinJ4.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://hollywoodstar-news-ja.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> Olga hates Kevin's wedding dress because it is itchy, but she looks fabulous. Again, what if you had wedding photos from your dream wedding with a beautiful designer dress, but every time you passed the photo, some part of your brain recalled how uncomfortable it was to wear? The desires and responses for these dresses speak to a type. I might not go so far as to say reveal a lot about the young ladies because I don't know them, but we are responding to the images presented us. Olga, for example, wants a dress covered in diamonds and jewels but then demands to be let out of an outfit that is uncomfortable for a few moments.<br />
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The wedding dress, as I understand it, is a visual representation of person contained within and the promise of the life to come with her. Again, I'm only relying on the information provided me, but Olga seems like one whose wedding dress story arch belies a lady who requires full provision of comfort.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> Yes, Olga. The poor girl seemed to have lost track of the fact she was really a model and not a bride, and that this was not her real wedding or her real wedding dress. She looked nothing short of stunning, but wandered around eyes welling with tears and through pouting lips pleading pathetically "It itches. Take it off of me. Take it off of me." Her fantasy had taken over. She forgot she was a model and that this was only a contest that didn't allow enough time to sew a lining into the dress for her comfort. Her wedding day was ruined. Fortunately for Kevin, he had immunity from this episode's judging due to having been the winner of the last challenge. Unless I'm forgetting something, Olga never did get an opportunity to complain to the judges.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ty2P5-wgPApXgkyYTjZexl7aYlBNWMgQkJ3fOP4YkrCTudD_tLvbJDwV-RhVVOvApVnIXtUw-STJoFAliMGyWfPJyPMIUQog9PSDydzKwPQK5MFdF_LR8dbsRGGHPdhipZktELULMwA/s1600/projectrunwayllv9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ty2P5-wgPApXgkyYTjZexl7aYlBNWMgQkJ3fOP4YkrCTudD_tLvbJDwV-RhVVOvApVnIXtUw-STJoFAliMGyWfPJyPMIUQog9PSDydzKwPQK5MFdF_LR8dbsRGGHPdhipZktELULMwA/s320/projectrunwayllv9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Community Livejournal.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> Julia is Austin's model. Julia wants something wild and unconventional, something fun. In explaining the rules of the contest, the designers are told that even a red mini-skirt is okay provided they 1) make their client happy and 2) don't scuttle their own artistic vision in order to effect that outcome. So, with Austin. it looks like we're aces for a slam dunk (and many other mixed metaphors as well. Oh well. I've buttered my bread and now I must lay in it.) The end result is unconventional, wild, fun, and looks nothing like one's preconception of a wedding dress in modern Western civilization. The judges say, "I couldn't imagine anyone actually wearing that as their wedding dress!"<br />
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Judges, meet Julia. Julia would. Julia loves it. And I suddenly became aware that the standards are movable on this program. The judges are capricious which seems at once appropriate and glaringly unfair, much like fashion and much like life.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, that little exchange really bothered me. I, for one, really disliked the dress, but the judges had explicitly stated it could even be a "red miniskirt" when they set out the challenge. Then, when Austin presents a turquoise mini-dress with colorful train, the judges changed their rules to "it has to look like someone's idea of a wedding dress". To Austin's credit, he didn't argue with them. I, on the other hand had no problem announcing from the love seat in my living room that he had been betrayed. He followed their instructions, and he satisfied both his "client" and his own flamboyant artistic tendencies, and was penalized for it. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXAdj9yXcQfYUld5u7zLmsg7XgrHl_z_cMgqZ9Dt82FVilp1ZFcNs2KSYx-dxD-VnNcD6V4K4NFBlvYrIsB0Z81WF2z5JSNmViNujjGdfph9Ro4_VgO8aCRN7nrKcE4YRgb9LamtOlzM/s1600/Season-1--Episode-5-project-runway-58745_640_480.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXAdj9yXcQfYUld5u7zLmsg7XgrHl_z_cMgqZ9Dt82FVilp1ZFcNs2KSYx-dxD-VnNcD6V4K4NFBlvYrIsB0Z81WF2z5JSNmViNujjGdfph9Ro4_VgO8aCRN7nrKcE4YRgb9LamtOlzM/s320/Season-1--Episode-5-project-runway-58745_640_480.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Luckily for Austin, though, Nora's dress had problems of its own. You might remember Nora as the very young girl that we felt really ought to have been voted off in the last episode. This time, she behaved herself, stating she wasn't going to mess up like that again. But in her overplayed attempts to get along, this time she sacrificed her artistic vision. She forgot Tim Gunn's warning not to let the "brides" squash their artistry. She completely caved to her "client" and gave her the rose covered cupcake dress she wanted. The result was a run-of-the-mill wedding gown resembling a hundred gowns that could be purchased off the rack or from a catalog. It was Nora's time to go home. She handled her loss like a professional, evidence that she had learned at least one important lesson from her experience on Project Runway. I wish her well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8VaAY4fDcE1jg6ppZ50S1NffnnionuznmLKIDcEKtrim7tuldH1mjqInryzLl2DiXzWndfZRcXjit9kUsfVwOB6XzKMKw4sbAnXhjpyl4td5JG_UGCxbP4M7I7MN3e8l0AxkivWBH14/s1600/Project+Runway_kara_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8VaAY4fDcE1jg6ppZ50S1NffnnionuznmLKIDcEKtrim7tuldH1mjqInryzLl2DiXzWndfZRcXjit9kUsfVwOB6XzKMKw4sbAnXhjpyl4td5JG_UGCxbP4M7I7MN3e8l0AxkivWBH14/s320/Project+Runway_kara_1.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.osochic.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b></b> It occurs to me it might be nice to show the winning design by Kara Saun, who, prefers creating gold to creating drama, and so does not give us a lot to discuss. She does, however give us much to admire. Here is the winning wedding gown. All simplicity, glamor, and elegance - quite like the "bride" herself.<br />
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Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-83928404748973164292011-08-12T17:38:00.000-07:002011-08-13T22:25:46.370-07:001.4: On The Damned Human Race<b>Paul:</b> There is nothing more excruciatingly human than the shared experience of man's inhumanity to man (man in the gender neutral sense. Sorry.) Tonight's episode was horrifying and at the same time absolutely compelling. Tonight's episode has wounded me deeply. There was a long moment of stunned silence in our house at the end, and I know that every one of us has spent the day that followed furiously gnawing the material like a rat trying to keep its teeth from growing into its brain. It was as if the makers of Project Runway planted a dirty bomb in my skull. I don't know why I'm still alive.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, it all turned dark in Episode 4. The contestants were set up, and I felt so too. Until now I really thought this show had some remarkably high standards for a reality series - that they were not setting people up to be as cut-throat as they can be for the sake of drama and ratings. Oh boy was I wrong. And the truly sad part is that none, absolutely NONE of this was necessary, either to weed out the weakest prospects or to make the show enjoyable. This was sheer pandering to the dark side of designer and viewer alike, and nothing more. It stripped bare the souls of the designers, exposing them for no better purpose than to gawk. Had some good come from it, I might not feel this way, but it didn't. The lesson was that honesty and integrity will lose you your career in fashion. The unintended lesson, is that fashion wastes a lot of good talent through its determination to destroy rather than nurture budding talent. In this manner, the fashion industry, as do so many others, destroys the very art it claims to promote. Ruthlessness may take you to the top in business, but all that means is that the creations the masses end up seeing may not be the greatest that could have been. The greatest may still lie in the imaginations of lawyers and others who have had their dreams beaten out of them because they refused to compromise their human values and integrity.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> While I agree with the statements you have just made, I would say that there was a value to this episode, albeit entirely unawares and I would venture to guess of no consequence to the production team. It was an encapsulation of some of the darkest aspects of all interpersonal interactions. The dark sides here are universal. I would also add that what you say about the fashion industry is true of the society we've created. We all waste a lot of talent through destruction. We all smash a lot of beauty for the sake of the mundane or the ugly or profit. People cut out their souls and serve it on a plate for gas money and cheap trinkets. We spend our lives doing things we don't care about and engaging in relationships with people who don't care about us. So many people spend so much of their lives complaining about other people instead of focusing on being one of quality themselves. I remember that old Charles Bukowski quote, "Frankly, I was horrified by life, at what a man had to do simply in order to eat, sleep, and keep himself clothed."<br />
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At the beginning of this episode, we are introduced to an up-and-coming rock and roll musician. Her name is Sarah Hudson. In the seven years between the making of that episode and now, nothing has happened that has made anyone in the room ever hear of her. More on that later. First, what turns out to be a pointless offing of another model in a voting session takes place, but that's just the Hors D'Oeuvres.<br />
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Ms. Hudson is planning a music video with a definite aesthetic (sort of an <i>Alice In Wonderland</i> for Non-Mathematics Majors.) All of the designers are to draft a design and "sell" their idea to Ms. Hudson. She gets to pick three. We're already beginning to feel like the train is taking the corner a little too quickly.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> It seems clear that this appearance is just as much a publicity push for Hudson as it is for the models and designers. No one, it would seem, appears on this show without a profit motive. But then, to be fair, everyone's got to make a living, and with the internet undermining/confusing the traditional TV/music industry profit mechanisms, a show's got to scramble to get its dollars wherever it can find them....As do, "in these tough economic times", we all.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Jay, Kevin, and Austin are chosen. Jay describes his concept as French prostitute from the year 2050, and I will tell you right now that one of the things about this episode that has me so deeply disturbed is why Jay did not win. His outfit was clearly, beyond the pale better than the other two. His crafting process seemed to have run completely smoothly, without a hitch. The only time we see Jay in the crafting montages are to get reaction shots over what's going awry with the other teams. Jay's outfit was perfection. It was a brilliant work of art. And it was shuffled off the stage having simply qualified at the end of the episode. I shook my fist at the angry sky and shouted "Why?!!?" until tears streamed down my reddened cheeks. Oh, but that's just the Amuse-bouche.<br />
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<b>Laurie</b>: I should probably interject here that one design would ultimately be chosen for the video from the three whose concepts were selected to be executed. After being selected from the field of nine, each of the three winners would be "lead designers" and required to choose two teammates from those whose designs Ms. Hudson had not selected to assist him (yes, she chose only <i>hims</i>) in the creation of the finished product. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> So, the groups go buy materials. Wendy Pepper employs a tactic that I often employ when someone starts complaining or talking about something I don't feel I should have to talk to that person about. She stares silently at Vanessa until Vanessa gets creeped out and stops talking to her. Wendy and Vanessa are on Austin's "team" and the dynamic comprises Sartrean Nausea. Wendy is clearly nursing a full bile duct over not having her own design picked. At this point she seems to be taking it out on Vanessa and the highly edited material that we are watching seems to suggest that Wendy has decided to keep her head down and do the work that is set before her.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, Wendy goes silent. Vanessa, on the other hand at first appeared to me to be stubborn heel-dragging the whole time, stating over and over, "I'm just not a very strong sewer". Though it seems like whining at the time, the course of the show finally led me to conclude that she was not trying to be difficult, she was actually concerned that she might be assigned tasks for which she was not skilled enough, that she would be leaned on and collapse. Her insecurities were showing and she couldn't cover them up without risking they would be revealed in the final product anyway.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I know that feeling.<br />
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Austin acts a lot like I do under pressure. He grows noticeably more theatrical in his mannerisms and is more likely to drop the occasional swear than his normal, reserved self would permit. For example, Vanessa not only sews through her finger, but about 1/4th of an inch of needle breaks off inside of it. As so often happens in emergency situations, people who are not going to be of any help immediately flock around and get in the way. Austin, not having any of it, physically pushes Robert away. As a Quaker, I find myself surprisingly okay with this and worry about what I'm becoming.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, you have a Quaker in you, but you also have a medical care worker in you. Emergency situations do not leave time for molly-coddling.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JkaIwBn9r7Hon8YdDhy0Mv909ORs6TsJrrX1H6FeEtwJI8KZqR4lmeOVTfyXaH59ziwxkiwwDTuoMwzgi3aJPWNSiZjy143NNp1hKzZtlceERWc_FPO7cMFuvyPwIbVs3RGImtTySu4/s1600/Season-1--Episode-4-project-runway-58730_300_450+Jay.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JkaIwBn9r7Hon8YdDhy0Mv909ORs6TsJrrX1H6FeEtwJI8KZqR4lmeOVTfyXaH59ziwxkiwwDTuoMwzgi3aJPWNSiZjy143NNp1hKzZtlceERWc_FPO7cMFuvyPwIbVs3RGImtTySu4/s320/Season-1--Episode-4-project-runway-58730_300_450+Jay.gif" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td></tr>
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<b>Paul:</b> Our hero Tim Gunn shows up briefly to offer two of the moments of sanity and wisdom in the show. If only we would all listen to Tim Gunn! I kind of wish Tim Gunn could show up in my personal life and do this for me when the need arises (Something like "Paul, I'm a little concerned about how much trans fat is on your plate right now.") [<b>Laurie</b>: Okay, that does it! How come if Tim Gunn says it you'll listen, but if I say it you only roll your eyes?] <b>Paul:</b> He says that Jay's dress is a work of genius simply on the merits of the vest alone <b><i>AND HE IS RIGHT!</i></b> And yet there were no riots in 2004 when Jay did not win this challenge. Second, and more importantly, Mr. Gunn expresses grave concerns about the level of professionalism on this project. The unspoken subtext in the context of the scene is that these people are in a privileged place and need to rise to the occasion. The unspoken subtext outside of the context of the scene, the life application of the Mr. Gunn's words, is that simply by virtue of being alive this is also true for all of us in all of our situations. We are all equal and all going through a difficult time. Suck it up and make it work.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> The picture at right is the only one we could find of Jay's amazing design. It's really too bad that the model is holding that brilliant detachable skirt instead of wearing it. It was a riot of color perfectly reflected in the colors in the model's hair.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Let's get angry at Nora for a while, shall we? Nora was the worst behaved beast on this episode. She threw tantrums; she flagrantly defied her designer (unlike Vanessa who covertly defied her designer); she even leaves at one point; she accuses the other people in the room of stealing something that she probably lost and seems to continue to do so for much longer than it would take to make a new one. She wastes the time they have to do their project with her faulty coping mechanisms. Vanessa starts singing in mockery toward Nora and for a split second we almost transfer all of our hatred on to her instead. Vanessa has a sort of arrested adolescence thing going on while Nora has mere adolescence.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Unfortunately, Nora wasted a lot of team time on tantrums and blame-shifting. To be fair, she is quite young. To be confused, I don't know she could behave in such a manner knowing full well all her words and actions were being watched and recorded. She was definitely not behaving in her own best interests. Stress was clearly taking its toll.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Then comes the judgment. As I said, Jay is shuffled offstage with nothing more than an atta-boy as a cue that things are about to get ugly. Remember how Laurie and I liked how the conniving, manipulation, and power plays between the contestants wouldn't work on this show because the judgment is done by outside forces? Well, they made short work of that tonight by pitting the remaining contestants onstage against one another, asking each who was the weakest link in their team. We all know it was Nora, but Nora says it was Kevin and somehow she is still on the show. <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> As if things hadn't gotten dark enough after forcing the losing designers to serve as employees of the winners, they pulled this <i>diabolus ex machina</i>, asking each person on each team to identify the weakest team member. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Austin stands between Wendy and Vanessa like a veal-calf being lead up to the guy with the bolt-gun, completely free of any suspicion of any malice or ill will. So trusting, he begins to sob when he his asked to go <i>Sophie's Choice</i> on his teammates. He even states at one point that he would rather leave than make this choice. Wendy breaks the ice by (metaphorically) plunging an ice pick into Austin's back without question, warning, or, indeed, reason. She says that he was a bad leader <b><i>AND SHE IS WRONG!</i></b> Although, in reference to our previous post, here is an example of integrity being a bad thing. She is openly acting like the Wendy Pepper we've come to know. Integrity is good, but good character with integrity is a little closer to the bull's eye. Austin then composes himself and decides that Vanessa lacks skill at sewing and therefore she was the weaker contestant. Vanessa agrees and, for some reason, decides to play the humble card.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>And here is where Austin retained and Vanessa earned my respect. Even in the choosing, Austin would only focus on a clear cut weakness in Vanessa's actual skills, one that did not come out of the blue, like a knife in the back. Vanessa had openly and repeatedly confessed to this very weakness. In addition, Austin was gentle and clearly full of regret in being required to speak this simple truth. He spoke the truth in love.<br />
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Vanessa, for her part, as Paul said, "played the humble card". When asked to name the weakest link, she named herself and explained briefly. I applauded.<br />
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At this point I fully expected that of the last two left to be judged, Nora and Vanessa, Nora would be the one to go home. You see, integrity and honesty go a long way, and, in my book, are at the heart of professionalism. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> The judges oust Vanessa, stating that the business is about selling one's self. I could almost agree with them were it not for the glaring fact that Nora wasted more time on Kevin's project than someone with the most basic sewing skills could waste. Come on, Michael Kors, which would you rather have in your studio? There would have been plenty of time to eliminate Vanessa later.<br />
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The final moment of the episode (well, the penultimate one) is the image of Austin Scarlett laying prone on the couch in the green room with his arm over his eyes, weeping bitterly, the sound of which echoes in our ears and haunts our dreams. It is the captured moment of a loss of innocence, of a gentle spirit first experiencing how harsh and wicked this world can be, the knowledge that somewhere in the world, something terrible is always happening to someone. In your highest moments of joy, someone somewhere is having the worst moment of their life. In that moment is childhood's awful realization that while you want to love and be friends with everyone, not everyone loves and wants to be friends with you. He also cries for the "lesser of two evils" choices in life that we are forced to make in full knowledge that we are still choosing evil. Hey presto, circumstances have just made us complicit in evil. Considering what he has just done to one mother figure on the show and what the other mother figure has just done to him, I sincerely hope that he has not gouged his own eyes out.<br />
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Austin is not being dramatic in weeping in this manner for these reasons. We are being reptilian for not weeping in that manner more often while having to live in this world. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-ytOJb0L1neDAB4HEu1b8Icapp8CtnNEm0LFWbAWvAjlMG8D1RP50wSVGQ6cCVrhFD755PHPZL1zs9jEfcpgYkIK25WcCcK9Y1p47xDWcH5vqvDQnAGdIeLjXd_2czSMBuqHRHfylnU/s1600/Season-1--Episode-4-project-runway-58731_640_480+Kevin%2527s+design.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-ytOJb0L1neDAB4HEu1b8Icapp8CtnNEm0LFWbAWvAjlMG8D1RP50wSVGQ6cCVrhFD755PHPZL1zs9jEfcpgYkIK25WcCcK9Y1p47xDWcH5vqvDQnAGdIeLjXd_2czSMBuqHRHfylnU/s320/Season-1--Episode-4-project-runway-58731_640_480+Kevin%2527s+design.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: www.fanpop.com</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Actually, the denouement of this episode belongs to Sarah Hudson (remember her? Me neither.) She is performing her song in the adequate but sub-Jay outfit designed by Kevin. The designers are in the audience dancing without a hint of irony. Indeed, it is a strange disposed time, but men may construe things after their fashion, clean from the purpose of the things themselves. <br />
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In the end, this episode reminds me of an axiom of my own devising that I spout fairly often which reflects my optimism and pessimism at the same time. It is this: "The world can be whatever we choose to make it. This is what we've chosen to make it."<br />
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Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-58448110880104455602011-08-11T22:26:00.000-07:002011-08-13T22:25:07.467-07:001.3: The Apotheosis of Wendy Pepper<b>Laurie:</b> The Episode 3 challenge was to design a holiday party dress (or some-such thing. The "party" part I'm not sure about, but the "holiday" part will turn out to be key.) for Banana Republic. The winning design would be featured in that year's catalog - a great honor for the designer. The designers are given a brief explanation of the BR line concepts for the year, one of which was "Art Deco", the other neither Paul or I can remember. They were then pretty much turned loose in the Banana Republic design area to choose from what looked like hundreds of already approved fabrics, all coordinated to suit the appropriate schemes. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTh-RH1Lnsyrwlm_GYA5nHqNII6dZX0E9Eeegwq4yd5MJifihfrIbzhINHNFO4v5aBJq8cZ2lc7KRc3Xa2QYLblo3NKO4wwjX8_FrP1kbrz4cuEKRN27KR8-lYtV81Nd9dsfczGs_WtQ/s1600/Banana+Republic+80%2527s.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTh-RH1Lnsyrwlm_GYA5nHqNII6dZX0E9Eeegwq4yd5MJifihfrIbzhINHNFO4v5aBJq8cZ2lc7KRc3Xa2QYLblo3NKO4wwjX8_FrP1kbrz4cuEKRN27KR8-lYtV81Nd9dsfczGs_WtQ/s320/Banana+Republic+80%2527s.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://fashionfilmstudies.blogspot.com/2010/11/1980s.html" id="if-op" title="http://fashionfilmstudies.blogspot.com/2010/11/1980s.html">http://fashionfilmstudies.blogspot.com/2010/11/1980s.html</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> Our favorite in-house moment in the Banana Republic episode was when the lady on the television screen who represented Banana Republic seemed to suggest that Banana Republic was and had always been a high end clothing store exclusively focusing on the elegant and simple. Laurie and I groaned at the Stalinist revisionism. Gina said, "What? What are you guys groaning about?" We then explained how the Banana Republic we remember from our respective childhoods was like a safari costume store with a fake, snake wrapped jeep in the foyer and hooting monkey sounds. [<b>Laurie:</b> Fake palm trees! I loved that store!! Ah, the great Safari Renaissance of the 80's! Crocodile Dundee, Romancing the Stone, Indiana Jones, Out of Africa, Toto's <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22349%22%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/embed/azVqekQBK8g%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E"><i>Africa</i></a>, Duran Duran's <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22349%22%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/embed/oOg5VxrRTi0%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E"><i>Hungry like the Wolf</i></a>....a lovely khaki and white jungle!]<br />
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<b>Paul</b>: Yes, it (wisely) reinvented itself, but those were the humble beginnings of the company: a vision to dress the world like novelty musician <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA">Professor Elemental.</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://www.guerrillageek.com</td></tr>
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Wendy Pepper started this series as the matronly figure. In the first episode she was featured taking charge of her house-mates, offering comfort, direction, and great heaping helpings of scolding and guilt (this show is like a fun-fair for my internal psychoanalyst.)<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, Wendy. From her very first moments on the very first episode she went about her "mothering" in every group situation she was placed in. She gave every impression of being the "grown-up" in the group, the glue that would keep their sanity in tact. Mommy will take care of you. Mommy will take care of everything. Behind the scenes, however, when pulled away from the group to confide her feelings for the camera/viewer, her true colors flared. Her mommy routine was a farce, some kind of <i>Survivor</i>-eque ploy which made sense somehow to her. She seemed to imagine herself outsmarting everyone. The idea of outsmarting a team of fashion designers, well, it rang a little silly in our living room. And her tactics smacked of scenes from the kind of high school drama class that I would be allowed to participate in - poorly conceived, poorly timed, and poorly acted.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> She would be featured in the kind of scenes where my eyes tend to glaze over and I wake up with a splitting headache: those scenes in which cast members are employing strategy against their teammates. There is one such exchange between Wendy and Vanessa (who also is not going to win.) They are in the laundry room and Wendy tells Vanessa that she shouldn't be mean to her or something. [<b>Laurie: </b>which she wasn't being, so the look on Vanessa's face was as confused as ours] <b>Paul:</b> I really hope nothing that will be important later happened in that scene. In my brain, I think that scene was about 10 hours long.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> It wasn't 10 hours long, but it was 10 hours worth of stupid, crammed into about 30 seconds. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> My brain unzipped the file. Wendy, our own tin-horn Richard III, appears absurd in that there is no profit whatsoever to manipulating her interpersonal relationships with the other designers. The show is structured in such a way that the other designers have no bearing on the judging aside from the quality of their work.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> This is one of the things I've liked about the show thus far. Scheming and conniving don't seem to profit anyone. I can only hope it continues on like this.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> There are two key points made by Wendy Pepper in this episode. First of all, one of the other designers gives her a mini-makeover. A quick montage of the past two voting sessions confirms our memories of Ms. Pepper looking on the bad side of frumpy. She is not dressing for the job that she wants. Not like Austin.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, I'm really surprised this has never occurred to her, and that her love of fashion stops short of her own person. Although not sloppy, she is also not fashionable. It would seem that a designer with an opportunity to be seen on national television for what will be a limited number of episodes would at the very least wear her own designs on camera as often as possible. I, for one, would not have packed a single outfit that was not among my very best and/or favorites.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> She decides to scuttle the strategies and focus on making good clothing. In short, Wendy Pepper's common sense seems to have caught up with her in this episode. I smiled slightly at watching the joy of someone discovering that they can have integrity for the first time, but in my heart I'm waiting for her to twirl a Snidely Whiplash mustache again. I'm noticing how they are framing shots and background music. There are cues, I tell you! Clues of her future Fisher Price scheming to further pad the duration of the season!<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> I think it caught up with her after the judges' comments during Episode Two, when they told her her "envy" dress didn't look finished. She admitted then that she had been wasting valuable time and creative energy on scheming that could have been used to actually craft professional looking products. I, too, hope she will stick to her work from now on. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> A lesser show probably would have made much of the fact that one of the most awful human experiences is captured on it. The designers are called upon to choose their model from the models made available for the show. There are as many models as there are designers. Ah, those with basic math comprehension are probably way ahead of me now, right? Every time a designer leaves, so must a model. The models are weeded out by the voting process.<br />
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There was a striking moment when the designers get to the end of the models and realize that the last designer will have to eliminate one by their choice. [<b>Laurie:</b> Truly, judging by the looks on their faces, so wrapped up were the designers in their own contest, that this was the first time it had ever occurred to any of them that they held a model's fate in their hands.] <b>Paul:</b> A strong reaction came from the designer who picked Morgan because she walks the runway so well. Morgan, as you well remember, was 3 hours late to a fitting, and I guess as her character is fleshing out in the series, that is not inconsistent with her normal behavior. I thought it was a foolish choice because models in New York are like the hydra. You cut one off and two grow in their place.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, in real life, but not in this competition. They were stuck with the hand that was dealt them. Wisdom should have dictated that a model who shows up is more valuable than one with a faintly less dynamic walk. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> And that kind of dehumanizing is exactly what we, the audience, and they, the designers, are suddenly made aware that we have been doing to the models. The designers seem to have a naked lunch moment of realization that they have been looking at the models, at least in the voting portion as living racks for their designs, but if you cut them they bleed, and if you vote them off they weep. A lot. We, the audience, realize that we have been doing the same. Granted, the show sets us up for it by giving bare minimum non-runway screen time to the models, but the point is well made. <br />
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There is also the inherent wickedness of the "voting into teams" process. I am sure you will join me in remembering it from physical education classes in public school. If you're anything like me, you probably also well remember the feeling of being the last one picked. I recall trying very hard for a time in PE, trying my hardest and doing my best, and still being picked last. Then I stopped trying at all and was still picked last. What an appalling lesson to teach a young person! What a perfect way to undermine a society by planting crippling insecurities into the merely nonathletic or less than optimumly physically attractive!<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> That story makes me so sad! I had similar experiences. I was always skinny and scrawny looking. I was also very capable of throwing a softball in the exact opposite direction from where I was aiming. Not good. Anyway, the model choosing process (except for the dirty musical chairs bit, of course) did not bother me so much because the designers seemed to be looking for something different each time and chose in different orders each time. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWLamyI4KZDz_ND0g4yCLkXFDZaj2Ta3dFxDZo9ZaE90PjSQzzKaaQR2OxnT8KBpHrU9fbtSfXDaLPVqQlALtQ3r5tHjj18726gd_swToFoLe2jyatHKK_9Y3WjJPajnrUU5byQ8MqPU/s1600/Austin+Scarlett+holiday+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWLamyI4KZDz_ND0g4yCLkXFDZaj2Ta3dFxDZo9ZaE90PjSQzzKaaQR2OxnT8KBpHrU9fbtSfXDaLPVqQlALtQ3r5tHjj18726gd_swToFoLe2jyatHKK_9Y3WjJPajnrUU5byQ8MqPU/s320/Austin+Scarlett+holiday+dress.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Austin Scarlett's "Holiday" dress</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> On to the contest: I liked Austin's dress although I had the feeling that he misunderstood the project in the same what that I did. They said they were looking for a "Holiday dress." What I had in mind (and I suspect Austin may have) is the sort of dress a lady would wear when she's on holiday. What they actually meant by holiday was the word people on television use instead of "Christmas."<br />
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So Austin comes up with what he calls "a winter floral." I love it, but then we had all pretty much decided on Austin as the winner the moment he stepped out of the cab at the beginning of Episode 1. Laurie makes the astute observation that he could have fixed the whole outfit by simply throwing a white fir over the model's shoulders.<br />
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<b>Laurie</b>: Unfortunately, I don't think he realized the flub until the actual judging. Otherwise I think he would have done just that and pulled it off. I loved the dress!<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Several of the other designers make dresses of the "I've never heard of Banana Republic" variety.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Foremost - meaning worst - among them, in my opinion was Starr's "Jester Dress". Mind you, she did not call it this; one of the judges did, at just about the same moment I said from my sofa, "It reminds me of a jester!" What was saddest about this was that at the beginning of the challenge, Starr - the lawyer/creator of the "envy is a cancer" dress - announced that she was an avid Banana Republic customer. If there was any style she understood it was <i>theirs</i>! <br />
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(By the way, I seem to be detecting a pattern among those being eliminated. The designers who remain locked in their own world, their own aesthetic, do not last. They need to be able to understand what is being asked of them and think outside their own aesthetic....And in another by the way, Starr dressed very cutely in unique outfits I suspect were of her own design. Her personal look was charming.)<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> The other winner in my estimation was Jay. Jay comes at the project with complete and vocal bewilderment. He has a very fixed and set vision of his style at this point in our journey. But then he notices a photograph of the Chrysler Building on the wall (why the Parsons' design room has a picture of the Chrysler Building on the wall is a topic I shall open to lively debate in the comments.) Using it as his Art Deco template, he crafts what I thought was the best dress of the show. This is a major point in Jay's character arch. This is the moment where I think he transcends good designer to gently kiss the lips of greatness.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> The limitations of this challenge forced Jay out of his safe zone and release the true artist that had been pent up there. Jay's dress was a silver satin <i>art deco</i> work of art with an intricately pieced bodice influenced, as Paul noted, by the Art Deco architecture of the Chrysler building. Absolutely inspired. I thought this dress should have been the winner. (I've tried like a madwoman to find a picture of this dress to post here, but no dice.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1D4-uXyw4-l8FovL9_EcFXBTkrUfY-Say8Ov-9ND-VBMrOfv7xMlczbLM9iUv8u7EXvFQBj2DOUi-RwWh7nIPkBkwN2Gf4v_csCjVAT6wpmgf2HuH-uTwxZsQ24e23hNFvyH47-iFwfg/s1600/Wendy+Pepper+Banana+Republic+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1D4-uXyw4-l8FovL9_EcFXBTkrUfY-Say8Ov-9ND-VBMrOfv7xMlczbLM9iUv8u7EXvFQBj2DOUi-RwWh7nIPkBkwN2Gf4v_csCjVAT6wpmgf2HuH-uTwxZsQ24e23hNFvyH47-iFwfg/s320/Wendy+Pepper+Banana+Republic+dress.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>http://tinyurl.com/3pdarvw</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> But he doesn't win because Wendy Pepper knows what a Banana Republic dress looks like. She even did her homework enough to know that they are featuring capes in that year's Winter line and chooses to include one in her design. And chooses to point this fact out to the judges, virtually nudging them with her elbow in the ribs as she does so.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Her's was a lovely and simply elegant design, and, I might add after her slap-dash efforts, professionally finished. Her new focus paid off.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I have absolutely no memory of any of the other dresses except for loser Starr. Hers is a cautionary tale. What if your fifteen minutes of fame is simply a televising of you crying over your dead hopes and dreams?<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> It was a really tragic moment for her. Of all the female contestants she, the practicing lawyer, seemed the most fragile. (Her delicate Audrey Hepburn looks didn't help matters either.) It was as if she'd put her heart on the line with this contest, and that with this loss her heart would finally shatter. Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-9170758667061023972011-08-09T18:20:00.000-07:002011-08-13T22:24:42.302-07:001.2 The pain caused by the good fortune of others<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZOBK4jllD3tlh-vma0263Udx-wOxgzS3Crqs6Gl4F3VRPaiWbtS6_gj20FVxhGyLTn7iF-gmm7kFaGmXet-3If0SHZyICQisE3TGbNCx6WBuWVXaXEnsKEnHi1IsItZmOSge5EoWy7rw/s1600/Jaysus.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZOBK4jllD3tlh-vma0263Udx-wOxgzS3Crqs6Gl4F3VRPaiWbtS6_gj20FVxhGyLTn7iF-gmm7kFaGmXet-3If0SHZyICQisE3TGbNCx6WBuWVXaXEnsKEnHi1IsItZmOSge5EoWy7rw/s320/Jaysus.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="st"><i>Would you buy haute couture from this man?</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Paul: </b>A little over a decade ago, I assistant directed a production of <i>Pippin</i>. Our production was a reboot of the musical into the world of high fashion. The entire cast was gorgeous and well dressed, all lissom and lithe young dancers if memory serves. I looked like what I looked like: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyD9lTSIRlQ7yHNns2bKQeAaF2aG0K-gRzYd2Rf3pUEs1hIbdaQoRuTM4hrE3pgtnqmuwloPhH4elwo-Hbo3d0tiOclhGkac6WhSX1pNo9_u6sOZFX-ObfDbvW2yiyDR56FA1RK2Sgxw/s1600/MONKKOOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyD9lTSIRlQ7yHNns2bKQeAaF2aG0K-gRzYd2Rf3pUEs1hIbdaQoRuTM4hrE3pgtnqmuwloPhH4elwo-Hbo3d0tiOclhGkac6WhSX1pNo9_u6sOZFX-ObfDbvW2yiyDR56FA1RK2Sgxw/s1600/MONKKOOS.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">I had my copy of the script for the show in one of those binders in which you can slide your own cover image. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0bspLAUY1S2PfsK3whZj0g3cDtmsdJWYbRHiiFFJqCnw3CajkEMYhtWDIbptX6o3H9GtAA1VQowHm7QVw9KTm0vAAwTGql1Tggix5EpSYEXnVJpBNHFlaCUzzaeHcPs7j_pYDRKCrebY/s1600/John%252BKoviak%252Bkoviaksn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0bspLAUY1S2PfsK3whZj0g3cDtmsdJWYbRHiiFFJqCnw3CajkEMYhtWDIbptX6o3H9GtAA1VQowHm7QVw9KTm0vAAwTGql1Tggix5EpSYEXnVJpBNHFlaCUzzaeHcPs7j_pYDRKCrebY/s320/John%252BKoviak%252Bkoviaksn.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Mine was a picture of model John Koviak from a Propaganda Magazine calendar (who, back in the 1990s, looked not unlike a goth Austin Scarlett. See above.) This was back in my goth period. I remember the director noticing it one day and asking me, "Is that what you wish you looked like?" And I was a little surprised because I hadn't realized that the answer was "yes."</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">I'm better now. Learning about the laws of entropy helped. The laws of entropy state that you will never again look as good as you look now. I have a theory that keeping that in mind is the trick to looking good in photographs. Anyway, I now have a much more healthy and embracing self-image, but, boy oh boy, if you think I'm a mess of maladjustment now, you should have seen me then! So there you go. My own male beauty image scale on loan from <a href="http://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/">Oscar Wilde</a>. [<b>Laurie:</b> You know you can never mention Oscar Wilde without making me think of <a href="http://images.wikia.com/harrypotter/images/5/56/Stephenfry300.jpg">Jeeves</a>, and the guy from <a href="http://991.com/NewGallery/Tears-For-Fears-Change---Withdraw-491111.jpg">Tears for Fears</a>, right?]</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<b>Paul: </b>The theme of this week's design challenge was: Envy. Yes, we live in a society whose economic system is based upon coveting. Yes, the unfettered avarice may finally be pushing our nation to have more in common with Greece than just democracy. But I'm going to breeze past the possible objections from people who would bring up the Madison Avenue-perpetuated culture of conspicuous consumption by crying <i>"Art!"</i><br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Good call, Paul. I remember the just-short-of-heated conversation we had at the beginning of <i>The Devil Wears Prada</i>....or was it <i>The September Issue</i>? Well, whichever, the <strike>argument</strike> discussion could as easily have come up in either case. I began both just disgusted by the fuss being made over what I consider trivialities, and most particularly the terrible way people are willing to treat one another for the sake of mere fashion. Now, don't get me wrong, I still find that sort of thing ridiculously offensive. Humans are infinitely more valuable than the clothes on their backs, and should never, ever, be valued by them or mistreated for the sake of them. However, in seeing the films through, and, of course listening oh so calmly (<i>wink</i>) to the somewhat different perspective offered by Paul, I was able to see some of the positive aspects of the world of haute couture, among them the fact that the industry employs many, many people at various socio-economic levels, among them many wonderful artists, and that last bit is to Paul's point. High fashion, at its best, is art. It promotes creativity and celebrates beauty. And for that reason Paul and I find it worthy of our attention. Now, as you were saying, Paul? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih550npuvUrLLkLxNlGzGWKgqjNageIC7cjux1xfp25wY-figtymugscm2_KKifsI5Xz6RqlaQFM6DDxdExvI0SRIS3qBXVFmQNbYyvcevTM98xjrwTd8rpwZguquYSkNXpyWaeoemHwA/s1600/Cotton_logo.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih550npuvUrLLkLxNlGzGWKgqjNageIC7cjux1xfp25wY-figtymugscm2_KKifsI5Xz6RqlaQFM6DDxdExvI0SRIS3qBXVFmQNbYyvcevTM98xjrwTd8rpwZguquYSkNXpyWaeoemHwA/s200/Cotton_logo.svg.png" width="200" /></a><b>Paul:</b> It was <i>The September Issue</i> because I remember when we watched <i>The Devil Wears Prada</i> you shot me a look when the Anna Wintour character in that one essentially makes my same argument. But back at good old Project Runway, our designers are given cotton [<b>Laurie:</b> in a not so subtle product placement I might add] <b>Paul: </b>and just about everything else they could possibly use to assemble an outfit which somehow deals with the topic at hand. I found the results surprising.<br />
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In a bit of a twisted joke, there is a surprise aspect of the contest. The completed outfits are vanned with their cotton-pickin' designers to an upscale boutique where they are to attempt to sell their outfits off the rack to the sort of people who are permitted inside upscale New York fashion boutiques. [<b>Laurie:</b> I should probably interject here that the sale was in the form of an auction. The designer who won the highest bid would be declared the winner of this episode's challenge.] <b>Paul: </b>Of course, the designers were focusing on art projects while those outside of the context of the show are more likely looking for clothes to actually wear. Jay's bizarre personal fashion choice for that day (see topmost photo) may have handicapped him in this portion of the contest.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yeah, Jay. To be fair, he, like the rest of the contestants, did not get up that morning expecting to be hawking his wares at an auction in an upscale boutique, and so his personal appearance left a lot to be desired. His hair hung loose. He wore little beard, and a sweatshirt with a Sacred Heart on the front . He joked about looking like Jesus and proceeded to refer to himself throughout his presentation as "Jay-sus". I did my level best, as a Christian, not to be offended. It's a secular world after all. But it grated on me. And apparently it wasn't only me. The shop's clientele seemed just about as uncomfortable as they might be if approached by a pushy street evangelist on Times Square. Jay-sus was off-putting on a number of levels. Beyond that, his creation was strange. The mannequin could not pull it off. It wasn't until it wrapped a living and walking model that his concept began to make any kind of visual sense. It was clearly a product of a man who would play "Jay-sus" in an expensive boutique. Interesting, creative, quirky, but limited in its marketability.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Paul:</b> One of the more interesting outfits was made by the young man with cornrows whose name I didn't bother to memorize as I expect he'll be out of my life within about 4 episodes. He chose penis envy and dressed the model in a pantsuit, complete with Freudian cigar. This was really, in my opinion, our first introduction to gender issues in the course of this show, but I'm going to let it go for the moment because I seriously doubt it shall be the last time we have occasion to talk about gender. And this is decidedly a post about envy, so we're just mentioning it in passing to remind you that it is a concept that exists. You can think about it on your lunch break and we'll all come back and talk about it later.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> The nameless one's name is Robert. I know that because I looked it up.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> For all I know, that could be true. <br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> I have to admit, I did not come away from these first episodes remembering <i>any</i> of the designer's names, only their creations. I was clearly more impressed with his design than you were, Paul. The episode is actually titled "Vision" (I know because I looked that up too). I must say, his vision of envy would never have occurred to me, but I really liked his finished product....I hope that isn't some kind of Freudian revelation of my own character. It was a svelte pantsuit: a vest with no blouse beneath, but an ascot tied around the neck, and exaggerated pin-striped pants which swung handsomely as the model walked. I didn't notice a cigar, but that doesn't mean there wasn't one. I tried and failed to find a picture to post here.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Austin and Wendy Pepper made Neil Gaiman-esque personifications of Envy.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Austin's vision in this one was less than inspired, in my opinion. But then, he doesn't come across as an "envy" kind of guy. So perhaps it's to his credit.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> You know, I liked it on the rack, but not on the runway. It had a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleficent">Maleficent from Disney's <i>Sleeping Beauty</i></a> quality to it that, I'm afraid, retained too much of that cartoonishness when placed on the model.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Good point. You're right. Now that you mention it, that is exactly what that dress resembled! As for Wendy, well, we didn't mention her in our discussion of Episode 1. Though she is a middle-age-ish mommy, who should have known better on at least two levels, her grocery store challenge in the first episode yielded a bunch of candy strung together just tightly enough to barely cover the critical parts of her model, with lollipops bonking her pelvic area with each step. The judges were not impressed and neither was I, but that obnoxiously self-confident guy performed even worse and saved her from being the first person ever eliminated from Project Runway.<br />
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<b>Paul: </b>A distinction that that guy <span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;">assiduously </span></span>earned. <br />
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<b>Laurie: </b>Indeed! This time around I didn't think her design was bad. Though it was a weak effort at a personification of envy, but I did think it had a lot of potential as a dress. But that really was the key word: potential. The dress looked like it was an afternoon's sewing away from being finished. The judges noticed. There's a lot more that could be said about Wendy's performance, but I think I'll save it for another time. For now all that matters is that hers was once again not the worst in the pack, and so we'll be seeing her again.<br />
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Also, I really can't <i>not</i> mention the "envy is a cancer" dress developed by designer Starr, whose non-reality series job is as an attorney. The looks on the faces of the shop patrons when she explained that the bulbous red-petalled object over the left breast of the gown was not a flower, but a tumor, was a priceless moment of video. To be sure, fashion-as-social-statement does have a useful place in this world - ask Lady Gaga - but, unfortunately for Starr, Project Runway is not that place; neither was that little up-scale New York boutique. Envy can certainly be a cancer, but it does not inspire the kind of envy the average gown-buying woman might be looking to inspire when she dresses for a an evening out.<br />
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<b>Paul: </b>But the winning outfit went to designer Kara Saun (and rightly so, I think) who brought the moral compass. It's a soldier's uniform to illustrate how envy leads to greed which leads to war and destruction. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYAqNMh5FvDvStFxskxNMKHvKs2phwu79M_fyNaLOGLhaRPslGg2zCcTByw4ulthw_hr81w_lNr1X9yYtdttjI3CBagrRCTTNMOoMkX1Gj2KjV-7XkluYvydDmIVLTx-msjuEz5dT4G0/s1600/projectrunwayenvy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYAqNMh5FvDvStFxskxNMKHvKs2phwu79M_fyNaLOGLhaRPslGg2zCcTByw4ulthw_hr81w_lNr1X9yYtdttjI3CBagrRCTTNMOoMkX1Gj2KjV-7XkluYvydDmIVLTx-msjuEz5dT4G0/s1600/projectrunwayenvy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: http://www.tomandlorenzo.com</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Envy is rooted in discontent and, indeed, is unsustainable. It is a serpent that eats its own tail which (at the risk of leaning toward a political statement) is why it's a stone dumb basis for an economic system. It is also a universal lowest common denominator. In other words, coveting is a hard drug to kick.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">As for what we, as in Laurie and I, envy, it's not like it used to be for me. I'm a little horrified at the idea of looking like John Koviak now. There are not a lot of nouns that I envy, and I live pretty close to the lifestyle that I want to live. Although I do have twinges here and there when I hear about how a friend of mine from college is now teaching theater workshops, but then I know that he is jealous that I live in a place where I can paint the walls and own a dog. Serpent tail: It's a serpent's favorite dish!</div></div><br />
I do feel a little envious of people who find peace in their religious faith. For some, at least viewed from an outsider's point of view, their religious faith seems like a cool, refreshing drink of water on a hot day. For me, my religious faith is more like chemotherapy or a milliner working with mercury. <br />
Which is probably a healthy thing to envy as it is a good standard toward which I aspire, that of grasping internal peace over my existential condition.. I don't know. Is it healthy to envy healthy things?<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Wow, that was an unexpected turn! Your commentary, I mean, not the winner of the challenge, which I agree seemed appropriate. I also agree that it is right to covet what it is right for you to have. There is nothing righter than to hunger after the one thing that can truly satisfy. Not to dicker over words, because I know exactly what you mean, but in my experience of our religion, that one thing is a Person, not the religion we build up around Him. I have deep confidence that you will find peace there, and that to a certain extent, you already have. It is you, after all, who has spoken words of hope and peace during the dark nights of my own soul's chemo and Mad Hatter moments.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> So, what do you envy, Laurie? Come on. I gave. We can all stand to work on ourselves here and be reflective.<br />
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<b>Laurie: </b> Alright, I'll give. I'd like to think that the little green monster never bites me, but that's not really true. I'd have to say, my greatest temptations toward envy come from a couple of places: people who have a University education, and people who make their living solely from creating art - writers, painters, musicians, etc.Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-90056549808964648052011-08-07T16:19:00.000-07:002011-08-13T22:23:23.389-07:001.1: I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys.<b>Paul:</b> So, I've decided that one of my key narratives for this project is that Tim Gunn, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Gunn">"on-air mentor"</a> for the designers, is a bodhisattva. He exists to guide others on the path to enlightenment, sometimes with gentleness, sometimes with an encouraging word, sometimes beating the catechumen with a metaphorical switch, but all with loving-kindness and a passion for the preservation of greatness in the art. He is a guardian of splendor and it is a show about guiding people to enlightenment. I feel that this is backed up by one of the few lines they gave host, Ms. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Klum">Heidi Klum</a>, to the effect of "The world of fashion is cut-throat. One day you're in, the next day you're out." So much like existence. And it plays into my Protestant pragmatism as well as my savage Darwinian view of reality every time Mr. Gunn delivers the kōan "Make it work."<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> I love that! "Make it work." I find the different challenges the show subjects the designers to during each episode incredibly appealing. I'm nothing if not a pragmatic soul, and so much of my own life, art, style, and basic survival have depended upon me doing just that: taking what I've been handed and making something of it. This mindset is so embedded in my personality that I often prefer to work with a "challenge" handed to me by another than to invent my own; I prefer working with what I already have laying around to going out and buying all new stuff. I think I find challenges helpful, in part, because they limit my choices from infinity to manageable numbers and provide boundaries, and a loose framework to begin with. For me there are few things more debilitating and paralyzing than a world of equally good choices. (In fact, this is one of the main reasons, besides lack of confidence, that I never finished my college education: I couldn't narrow myself down to a particular field of study, or focus on a particular career. I froze like a deer in the headlights of all those amazing possibilities.) Project Runway challenges each of its contestants with limitations in concept, in available materials, and in style. Whether the designers view these constraints as helps or hindrances may well prove their success or their undoing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">public domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>Paul:</b> As for fixing my protagonist wagon to Mr. Gunn, I grant you that the highly edited images flashing before us on a lighted screen are attempting to direct our attention to the flashy young designers. I, however, have this 9 season project before me like a tidal wave, and I understand that Heidi, Tim, Michael, and Nina are our through-line in this series. Tim is not one of the judges. He is our guru.<br />
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Mr. Gunn is one of those people who dress as I wish I could. He seems to always be in a suit (which is how I would dress if I could) that one could wear to a meeting, to a club, or to a supermarket just as comfortably, not seeming awkward in any of those settings.<br />
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I would also point out two of the key players in our drama. Immediately, everyone in my home loved contestant designer Austin Scarlett with his elvish charm, a sentiment that only grew as his strong work ethic and surprising toughness became evident.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCiupWBrlWJ_0fM4oyCYHsaM3abv3vN7aiFyLXiQ0001DFNhyphenhyphen6zeIlqIbcyYvTaiPNqc9Zf0cUoV5qlvnnPdGDYPos9w5BO56NLT-Z24NoA0fGjF7UciaH6g8cTT61SbzF5V-SyGbffYo/s1600/Austin_Scarlett_2_Shankbone_Metropolitan_Opera_2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCiupWBrlWJ_0fM4oyCYHsaM3abv3vN7aiFyLXiQ0001DFNhyphenhyphen6zeIlqIbcyYvTaiPNqc9Zf0cUoV5qlvnnPdGDYPos9w5BO56NLT-Z24NoA0fGjF7UciaH6g8cTT61SbzF5V-SyGbffYo/s320/Austin_Scarlett_2_Shankbone_Metropolitan_Opera_2009.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a class="external text" href="http://blog.shankbone.org/2009/09/21/metropolitan-opera-2009-opening-brings-out-the-stars/" rel="nofollow">Source:David Shankbone</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>He keeps his head down, does not party, does not enter into petty dramas, and produces some of the best work on the show. This is the same sort of "married to their work" ethic of some of our great artists. (Karl Lagerfeld, Lady Gaga, and Dolly Parton all spring to mind.) They are entirely focused on their work and, as a result, tend to be a bit otherworldly in their character.<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, Austin's childlike transparency in his enthusiasms is absolutely endearing. It is early on in the season, but he appears to be guileless. His focus is on his work. He appears determined to win, but to do it professionally, without any of the Machiavellian maneuvering becoming evident among some of the others even this early on. Also, it is early yet, (and I'm speaking from having watched two further episodes) but his own style is already emerging as strong and identifiable in its elegance and devotion to what I would call "classic beauty". <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> After two hours of pressurizing under the highly dramatic head-space of other contestants, it is jarring to see how tough Austin is when he sews through his finger. [<b>Laurie:</b> Well, excusing his initial squeal that is. He seemed in genuine awe that he had actually done such a thing. And he was not the last one to sew through a finger during that challenge! The stress took it's toll on one and all, albeit in different ways.] <b>Paul: </b>One imagines that the others, almost to a person, would have been sobbing and wailing messes had that happened to them. Also, Austin is cut from a whole cloth as it were. His style is holographic. I thought he was the only designer who dresses each day in the style of his design. The Mathers household is already prepared to cast its vote for the winner.<br />
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There is also a tableau with a model named Morgan. She is three hours late for her fitting for the big fashion show because her mother died or some such nonsense. [<b>Laurie:</b> I believe the actual excuse was that her mother, whose job it usually is to wake her up failed to do so. Thus, she was a mere victim of her circumstances and her mother. Please read that with a mother's sarcasm.] <b>Paul: </b>Whatever. Her designer even takes to the street in an attempt of finding a model (Street Smarts tip: if you are walking down the street and someone comes up to you and asks you to come model for their fashion show and that Heidi Klum will be there, politely decline and keep walking no matter how nice of television cameras they have following them.) When Morgan arrives, Tim Gunn expresses to Morgan how bad this is. And, as usual, truth flows from the mouth of a Gunn. If everyone going through a difficult time stopped working, no work would be done on Earth. Everyone is going through a difficult fight. You do what you have to do in regular work and, as is the case here, if you're in a highly privileged position, you sacrifice everything on the altar of your real work. Oooo, how the judgment flowed against Morgan. <br />
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But then there's Jay, isn't there?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images North America) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Jay is a walking manifestation of insecurities. He drinks, smokes, and swears liberally. He dresses in arguably the most flamboyant manner of all of the contestants. He is puffy, and work shots reveal that he bites his fingernails. He constantly wears sunglasses, the sign of one forbidding the world from seeing the windows to their soul. Not to get ahead of myself, but he forms far too deep a bond of friendship with fellow-contestant Mario in the two days Mario is actually on the show, simply because they both smoke cigarettes. The man who falls apart when Mario leaves is a rare glimpse behind the hearty and baroque system of defense mechanisms. In short, I identify strongly with Jay. I also catch a few hints that his shall be pastiche of a redemption story (the acknowledgement of the profits of his pornography industry years as "dirty money," the clear leaps and bounds of his evolving command of style, and, of course, the Jay-sus thing.)<br />
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<b>Laurie:</b> Yes, his acknowledgment of the "dirt" that is the porn industry lent me a respect for Jay that I would not have had otherwise. Advocates of Porn spend a great deal of energy defending the "art, value, and dignity" of their work, arguing for it as a valuable outlet for pent up desires, and in that sense a social good. I'm reading into Jay's denunciation of it a recognition of how porn soils, demeans and objectifies everyone it touches.<br />
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<b>Paul:</b> I can't talk about the supermarket challenge without talking about one of the greatest minds of the past 100 years, a man who is responsible for so much of our daily lives and, indeed, a man without whose contribution to Western Civilization I daresay this show would not exist. I speak of Andy Warhol. Early Warhol took objects of everyday life (famously including a supermarket exhibit from whence comes his iconic soup cans) and offered them from a completely different perspective, that of high art, to illustrate their beauty and universality. <br />
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He said, "What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca-Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca-Cola, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."<br />
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<b>Laurie</b>: I'd never heard that quote, but I really like it. I'd never really given thought to the unifying/equalizing cultural power of mass-marketing/production.<br />
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Also, I think I should interject here that Episode One's challenge took all the designers to a supermarket and gave them $50 to spend on everything they would need to produce a dress for an evening out on the town - or something along those lines. <br />
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<b>Paul:</b> Indeed, employing materials culled from a common supermarket in the first episode was a wise move. It reaches out to the faceless audience of common people (that's you and I), extending an inviting hand into the often esoteric world of fashion. Granted, I wouldn't even give odds on the likelihood of Heidi Klum ever having to set foot in a supermarket again in her life, but this portion of the contest served to reinforce that, say what you will, the world of fashion infuses the very air that we breathe. Whether we choose to accept it or not, it is a force that guides so much of all of our lives.<br />
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<b>Laurie</b>: And I think it bodes well for the our contest, that not one of the Season One designers purchased a coconut or a melon.Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-38957258726449954022011-08-06T21:49:00.000-07:002011-08-13T14:12:41.276-07:00Pardon Our DustThe intention was to start the Project tonight. One hopes that Netflix will use their upcoming increased revenue to buy DVDs that aren't unwatchably scratched. And so we are delayed for a few days.Laurie M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15840896949617719814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165780972341556938.post-61741166200912000212011-08-05T10:50:00.000-07:002011-08-05T23:43:07.820-07:00Salvete!<b>Paul: </b>Keenly aware of the clanking chains of my own mortality, I have a great love of and propensity for long-term, intellectually-broadening projects. Currently, on my other blog, I am reading and writing about Proust's<span class="st"><i> Remembrance of Things Past</i></span> and the entire Harvard Classics Library. I am writing a poem in every form covered in Ron Padgett's <i>Handbook of Poetic Forms</i>. I am studying Latin because I like it. I am writing a play.<br />
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Laurie and I love to write, however the major obstacle in blogging is in having a steady stream of topics to discuss. <br />
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I also have a strong interest in fashion, as well as the visual arts in general. I feel that one ought to fill one's senses with beauty and greatness in hopes that beauty and greatness is what will come spilling back out of one, out of the abundance of one's heart.<br />
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Laurie and I are not people who go around saying "We don't watch television." We are two people who simply don't. We listen to a lot of NPR. We watch movies and surf about the internet. We have full time jobs and are baffled that other people have time for things like television in their lives. The television, with its archaic advertisement structure, is not something that I loathe. It is something that I generally forget even exists.<br />
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I joined Twitter several years ago on a lark (which I think is the bird in the Twitter logo) and remember so many arguments from the Hater community contending that Twitter was vapid and shallow. Very soon after joining and giving ear to those arguments, I had a time when a loved one went to the hospital with a severe medical emergency. Through Twitter I was able to post to everyone I knew instant updates on what was happening with my loved one and I in that situation. I suddenly became aware that it is not the medium, it is the people who use it that make it vapid or deep or beautiful or terrible or boring or, as is so often the case, insufferable.<br />
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So, Laurie and I were on vacation and visiting my parents. They were watching a television show called <i>Project Runway</i>. I had heard of same, but, again, it was only nestled deep in a temporal lobe crenelation, not intended for instant recall. We enjoyed it tremendously and I had a moment of what I feel was divine (and I hope was celestial) inspiration. We have Netflix. We like to write. We like to have long term projects. <i>Project Runway </i>is currently in its 9th season.<br />
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This project will not be so tawdry as simply recapping episodes which we've just watched. In fact, it is my hope that you can profit from (and be amused by) this project without ever watching the show. This is an art project, an intellectual exercise, with a dash of social commentary, the catalyst of which is a major television show. The matter of the project is that Laurie and I shall watch every episode of <i>Project Runway</i> and then write. I expect it to be a blog about life, existence, and a grand unified theory through the lens of a popular "reality" television show. <br />
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Beauty, truth, human value, perception, economic theory, entropy, philosophy, theology, art, skill, addiction, conflict, history, ignorance, grief, fear, and joy are just a few of the topics I expect the project to open for unique exploration in this format. Part of the appeal is to have a constant stream of topics to write about. Another appeal is to attempt to mine depth from an unusual source in an attempt to help ourselves (and I may dare even be pretentious enough to suggest others) look at the world around us in different ways. <br />
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Again, you do not need to watch the show in order to understand what we are intending to do here. It is our intention to make this project interesting, accessible, and fun for all. But we have already ordered Season One. It is in the mail and we shall commence in a matter of a few days.<br />
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Still in my ignorance of the series, I am unsure if there's a kicky closer that they employ on the show which I might steal to close this blog like "Designers, DESIGN!"<br />
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More soon.Paul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.com1