PR Episode 3 rundown

I'm going off the Bravo TV pictures again so if I misidentify a colour because of that you'll forgive me, I hope. Or maybe I'll just avoid naming colours at all, that might be safer...

First off, a note about Elisa: I notice that she has that same "Wow, check out the planet I'm on, I kinda like it here" look when she's caught casually as when she knows she's on camera, so I'm now about 95% sure it's not an act. She really is just sorta out there. Yay, out there!

Also, I still like Chris, I like Jack even more now than I did before, and Kit may actually be moving into "clothes I can root for" for me, despite that first thing she put out. On the flip side, I'm totally over Rami and still don't like Christian, who should still brush his hair.

Okay, first off, the challenge: design a menswear outfit for Today host and former football player Tiki Barber, which is a kinda cool challenge since making the designers step out of their comfort zone is definitely a challenge. Some people are dissing the challenge because the Today show is bland or whatever, but since Tiki said he likes a little extra colour or interesting texture, they had some room for creativity, and considering how much they struggled with the basics, I'm pretty sure giving them even fewer guidelines would've resulted in more hot messes.

I was a little disappointed with the results. I realize that menswear is a very different proposition from women's clothing, and if you're used to the latter the former can be really tough, but they were also given considerably more time in this challenge than average, which should've made up for it. In addition, the sharing of Jack's shorts-based pattern should've helped speed things up. I'm not sure I understand why they struggled so much with this given the extra time (a day and a half is something like three times what they got for the Bitten challenge), even though I'm aware that men's clothing is generally more tailored... I don't know. Maybe it really is 4 times harder.

By the way, Rami is a little bitch, isn't he? I mean, Jack specifically asked on camera if tracing the existing clothes was okay, and was told yes, and then later said he'd asked about sharing, and was told that was okay, too, so what the hell was Rami sniping about? Especially since his outfit wasn't all that great anyhow.

So, Tiki Barber, who I don't know much about other than what was said on the show (I stopped watching football a while back for some reason and don't really watch talk shows), seems like a nice guy, and it seems like he was trying hard to critique fairly when the runway show happened, which makes two episodes in a row where the guest judge was pretty cool, which is a nice contrast to Top Chef's guest judges, who are often assholes.



And, congratulations Jack! Even though he didn't do his vest (and I wish he had, since I'd love to have seen it) what he did make, tailoring flaws aside, was a nice design. I think the double-stripes thing saved it from being boring, especially with the bias-cut details. It had some nice touches, and it was a pretty nice outfit, so I'm not going to bitch about the win, even if I understand why some people were all 'eh' about it. (I'm looking at you guys, Project Rungay.)

I didn't like Kit's as much, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of putting together dark jackets with light pants, though I realize that's an opinion, not a fashion rule. And I think the judges were right that her choice of fabric made the outfit more interesting. The shirt seemed a little odd in the collar, but collars are probably one of the hardest parts of a fitted outfit, so I'm not surprised. If she'd won, I would've been okay with it.



The bottom two... I saw them coming. Carmen, I actually was starting to like her, but what she had was a hot mess... and she knew it was. I feel really bad for her, because honestly it must kinda suck to go home for a design of something you're never likely to make again, but I can't disagree that it was a pretty bad outfit.

I really wish I had a TiVo, because I remember agreeing Ricky's outfit was not very good, but the picture I have to work off of doesn't remind me why. I also remember being pretty sure he was going to go from the commentary, so when they named Carmen I was a little surprised... but only a little, cuz, well, see above.

(Note to self: win lottery and buy better TV and a TiVo.)



Jillian's was eh. I feel like I should like it more, since honestly it wasn't bad, but I just really didn't.

Christian's... I didn't like it, and it didn't fit his model well. The jacket had some potential, but, again, eh.

Rami is lucky no one called him on his trip to the 80s with that Members-Only-reminiscent jacket, an irony since another Carmen was called on a resemblance to said jackets. Seriously, throw a couple of useless loops of fabric on there and I'm pretty sure I owned that jacket in 25 years ago.

Sweet P's shirt and tie were a mess, but the pants looked really good, and may've been the single best-fitting thing up on the runway. I'm pretty sure she was in no real danger of going home, and I'm glad she didn't.

Steven had something really funky going on with his collar, and the pants were too long (but they didn't know their models' dimensions in advance, I don't think, and pants can be hemmed), but the idea looked pretty solid.

Victorya's was kinda interesting, but I wish she'd get off black and white. I thought the jacket was really pretty cool, though. I suspect she should've been a contender for the win again, and this time with an outfit I didn't hate, but I think Tiki wanted colour, so maybe that's why not.

Kevin's purple shirt was way too intense (Dear Kevin: You keep telling us you're straight, but then you do things like this!), and the fit wasn't great, but it was a solid idea with some interesting touches. I think if it'd been put together a little neater it would've been a contender, too. Also, I forgot to snag a picture of it when I was doing the composite above, but trust me, I'm saving you from the purple.



My boy Chris was a little unimaginative in colour, which is kinda funny given his background and some of the things we've seen him wear, but it looked like it fit well. If he'd done a different colour for just one piece maybe it would've worked better... but I liked the outfit as an outfit, and as usual he did one of my favorite pieces.

And Elisa's may have been the most interesting and imaginative, though I question her colour choices (but not, I note, her fabric). I think what got her was the rather raw look of the shirt. It's not a bad shirt, but it's not right for the challenge quite; if she'd done a different neckline I think she could've been a contender for the win. Alas, I don't think what she did was Tiki's style.

So... just curious... when do we get to see the evidence this is the "best group of designers yet"? I'm waiting. I mean, I'm not saying they're bad, but so far I've been unwowed by most of the outfits sent down the runway.

Lastly, the Tim summary: seemed like he was a bit more there than the last couple weeks, but still not enough commentary from him. It's like they trot him out to make some taglines and show maybe two pieces of commentary. Come on, Bravo... you know he's one of the reasons PR is so popular, so stop cutting his airtime! (Continue reading...)

Bizarre colour changes, so new notes

Okay, it's not just me, right? The pictures I posted of Kit and Chris's outfit were BLACK, right? And I remembered it as black, too. But it's not. So...

I think I want to come down even more firmly on their side as having put together a cute outfit now that I've seen pictures of it in brown. Like, completely, totally brown, top and bottom. Granted, I wouldn't wear an all-brown outfit, so the comments I made before sort of apply, but at least it's two different shades of brown. If they'd done the leggings/capris (and now I'm not sure which it is, as I thought both were capri outfits but they appear to be both legging outfits now that I've gotten to see more pictures of them) in black and the top they did, I think I wouldn't have had anything bad to say about the outfit at all... and it definitely fits the line. So I think they should've gotten more props and Kit should've been a contender for the winner.

This is not the first time a Bravo picture or my perception of an outfit has later been contradicted by someone else's screencaps, either. Maybe it's their TV (their model looks a lot browner than I remember, too), but I'm pretty sure it's not entirely. I don't know. I'll try to keep a better eye out on it in the future. (Continue reading...)

Editing Episode 2

Okay, boys and girls, it's Photoshop time again! That's right, I've taken the losing outfit (Marion's) from Episode 2 and the two all-black capri+top outfits that I think needed some colour, and made some changes to them with my favorite editing tool. As with last time, the editing's a bit rough, but I think you'll get the idea.

First off, Marion's design:



While it does look better in less drab colours and with less knitty-looking fabric, unfortunately I think it still would've been in the bottom. The shape of the top is just... off. I think I see what he was trying to do and it was an interesting idea, but I think actually it would've worked far better paired with leggings or tights and done as a dress (with it extending a bit lower, obviously).

Kit's design (I think I got the shape of the top right, it was hard to see the line between top and pants):



I took the colour from the bracelet; I can't imagine it'd cost any more; brown is still an inexpensive colour. Incidentally, I also took a look at it in blue and that worked, too. And it definitely looks better to me than the all-black version.

Rami's design:



I took the colour from the bag, and it goes really well with the necklace as well (the headband has also been tinted slightly). Again, I can't imagine it'd cost any more, though I also took a look at how it'd look in green (also nice), and again, with a bit more contrast, I think this works better.

So, I stand by my statement: I wish both Kit and Rami (or their partners) had decided to not go monotone, and I wonder what would've happened if they hadn't. I suspect that Kit's would've been considered too simple, alas (which is a shame as I rather like it in part because it is simple, and fits the aesthetic of the Bitten line IMO), but maybe Rami would've gotten more attention. Not that he needs it. :) (Continue reading...)

PR #2, it leaves me blue

Yeah, I'm still sick, do you care? No, because no one is reading this. Well, that's okay, I'm writing it anyhow, albeit several days later than I meant to. And then I'll go on to work on Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I'm serious; because of illness, we put the turkey-making off. You don't care about that either. It's okay, I forgive you; I wouldn't care either.

Anyhow, I want to take back everything I said about thinking Elisa should've gone home last week.

Yeah, that's right. I decided I love her. She's outré, and she knows it, but she's willing to take a left turn into our world and see how it works for her. It's great. And while I still wasn't thrilled with her outfit this week, I see that she does know what she's doing, and want to see what else she's going to do. If she wins the whole thing—which unfortunately I suspect is unlikely—I will laugh and laugh and laugh. Also, I take back any comparisons to Vincent. She's crazy, but she's actually a) talented and b) not scary so much as just... odd.

Okay, let's talk about the challenge. I don't have the serious love for Sarah Jessica Parker so many others do, mainly because I've never seen "Sex in the City", but I have seen her in interviews and such and she does strike me as an interesting person... and she was super-nice on the show, obviously thrilled to be part of it. I don't really know anything much about her clothing line, but it looks like it might be decent enough, and if their profit philosophy really does boil down to "we'll just take a fair profit and make it up on volume", then I really like them even if the clothes are more or less another Wal*Mart alternative. (They look like they might be better, though.)

Even without that in mind, the challenge was a great one... the idea of restricting these guys to $15 worth of fabric and making them make something reasonably fashionable and everyday out of it is just a terrific way to see how creative they are, IMO, and that's what all challenges should be about. Love the reactions people had to the budget, it was funny.

So, let's skip past all the work and to the clothes, except for mentioning that watching Elisa work and Sweet P's reaction to it was really, really funny.

First off, let me say, given the constraints, I am surprised that several designers managed to do the jacket/cap/vest thing and keep it under budget. That part was impressive. The clothing? Less so.

Once again, VictorYA (working with Kevin) made a shapeless dress, and bogglingly, won with it. I didn't like it. I liked the idea of a dress with a vest, but not the execution. Plus if you're going to make a black dress, why not give the vest a more intense colour? I did like the racer-back on the vest, but I think it hung oddly on the model.

The other contender for the win was Elisa's dress. She went with blue again, and I wonder if that's her signature colour or just a concidence? She paired it with a nice mid-tone grey for the cape. I don't like capes, and I'm not sure how practical it is to have one. The dress itself was not bad, nothing special though. But between her and VictorYA I'd rather she had won. Neither was my personal favorite.

So who did I like?



Ricky (working with Jack) gets my favorite of the week with this dress. I'm not too sure how well the butchy '80s styling would work for some people, but I actually kinda liked it, and aside from that, it's a cute dress in a pretty colour—not sure I'd look good in that colour myself but it's still a nice one. And I like the belt, though it might work better with a different one. Maybe it was a little too intense for the Bitten line, I don't know; most of what I've seen of it is in calmer colours. I'm not sure I like the sleeves, but overall it's nice.

In terms of actual cut and style, I also liked the top+capri outfits that Kit (with Chris) and Rami (with Jillian) put together, but I wish both of them had used something besides all-black. I hated the hair on Rami's model, too. Still, they're both the exact type of thing I could see myself going into a store and trying on, nice, normal, semi-sporty, inexpensive clothes. If they'd gone with some different-coloured shirts it just would've had more oomph, and maybe given one or both teams a better shot at the win.

The bottom two? Yeah, they deserved to be the bottom two. Marion (working with Steven) produced a depressing, stretchy, misshapen outfit, and Christian (working with Carmen) made a completely mind-boggling jacket, though the dress itself seemed fine. And as much as I hate to say it, since Marion seems like a nice enough guy, the aufing was deserved, because at least in Christian's case you could see the design and the construction and fabric choices were all fairly good... I don't know if anything could've salvaged Marion's other than starting over from scratch. I'm hoping Christian got a bit of a wakeup call there, but I doubt it. And someone please cut his hair, okay?

All in all I wasn't terribly wowed with the outfits this week... which makes two weeks in a row where I've been wondering why Tim Gunn keeps saying this is the best group yet.

BTW, I don't think we saw enough Tim this week but he looked extremely dapper (as usual) and seemed pretty happy to have SJP as the guest, though with him sometimes it's hard to tell if he's truly pleased or just being polite. And I loved his suit.

I think I'll throw together a 'what if' recolouring of the two all-black capri outfits later today, and to be fair I'll do one for Marion, though honestly I'm not sure it'll matter. (Continue reading...)