06 February 2008

ticky-tacky trash


oh, Project Runway - wtf? (and ricky: really, dude, W.T.F.?????)

ANY episode, of anything, that features a shopping trip to SPANDEX HOUSE, is not going to be good. no no no. isn't tim gunn's heart shrivelling up with these heinous, tacky challenges? ugly used denim from a filthy warehouse, now "diva" female "wrestlers" in spandex and sequins? REALLY?

are they ever going to get a challenge to make something pretty?

Ricky's time was long overdue. wasn't sorry to see him auf'd. Sweet P struggled, as usual, but managed to be better than Ricky (not so hard, aktualy).

Rami - jesus, Rami! - "draped a little shorts and top" - enough with the drapes! ARGH. and the barbie-pink was yucky. the draping and ruffling was too frou-frou.

Jillian's Bratz-doll costume was boring. I could see why it worked - sporty spice, i mean diva! - but i thought it was just a little plain. short shorts and a top? and she was sewing to the verylast second, as always? I was shocked when ninagarcia said it was her favorite. this confirms my belief that ninagarcia's taste is formed around her personal feelings toward a given designer.

Christian and Chris - again - were the story here. Since they are the only two designers left with anything resembling a personality, we got lots of them. Tacky wrestling gear is right up chris's draggy, costumey
alley, and he thrived. So Chris's Diva and he share a love of leopard-print (Chris darling, I'm hoping that is your lucky shirt, and that's why you ALWAYS WEAR IT). The Diva posed and meowed on the drawing table, and Chris just laughed and ran with it. It was a roomful of camp! This hoodie? i LOVE it. LOVE IT. I love the belled sleeves, i love the dark green sequined lining. I even love the green-leopard print velour fabric. if this was a regular-length hoodie, I would wear it, and I hate animal prints AND sequins. so bravo/a to Chris for creating a killer garment. The strappy bondage top was also ferocious (and how cute is christian's diva name? ferosha coutura!). That gartery thing is edgy - i kind of expect a knife to be tucked in there. It's totally glam and fab without being gaudy or too slutty - it's edgy enough to not look cheap and tacky. I was surprised the judges picked Chris for the win; Christian's was just as impressive. both their costumes were win-worthy; really, i wouldn't be surprised if the judges just flipped a coin for the win.


Christian brought the fierce, as always. when he said "chaps" I almost squealed - how perfect! It's amazing to me that Christian, who really does have a refined sense of high fashion, can also totally get the ticky-tacky aesthetic of WWE diva wrestling. As Professor Gunn notes in his blog, Christian's look is very high fashion even while embracing the - ahem - wrestling-glam aesthetic (read: slutty). Those chaps really are FIERCE, and Christian's delight with his own work was charming. Professor Gunn also writes that he "swooned" over this. And I can see why. I also loved that Christian chose the utterly sexy, but somehow still vaguely "classy," move of covering her up with nothing but a lace top. Having her boobs hang out was too easy and - evidently - too commonplace in the WWE ring (since the girls were falling out when they first met the designers). But nothing but lace is still totally hot and fierce, and Christian is the bomb. Notice though, that darling Princess Puffysleeves has STILL managed to create a short jacket and tight/skinny leggings. I love the way the chaps are ruffled, though, and not just flapping loose cowboy-style. It's feminine and functional and this chick looks FEERS!

these gimmicky challenges have really gotten old, though. Heidi says: "In fashion, you're either in or you're out" - but THIS is not fashion. Nothing from Spandex House is fashion. The designers came up with some good things - C&C Feers Factory in particular - but this is not fashion. Being able to make an ugly-ass tacky costume for WWE diva wrestlers does not qualify anyone to show at Bryant Park. It doesn't make anyone a Top Designer, either. and though it does demonstrate things like versatility, creativity, ability to work under pressure and strange constraints, it also doesn't really tell us much about what these kids can do with Real Fashion.

3 comments:

David Dust said...

CB -

I do ALL of my shopping at Spandex House!

Buh-bye Ricky!

Click here for DavidDust's latest Project Runway recap.

Library Diva said...

I LOLed at the results from this challenge. Here was something totally off the wall, yet we still got Rami's draped crap, Gillian's Gillian-esque outfit, Christian's skinny pants and top, and Ricky's Deb line.

To me, Chris and Sweet P are the two that are always surprising. Chris is just so inventive and original. Sweet P is more surprising in a bad way. You just never know what she's going to come up with. When she hits, she's dead-on (her prom dress and the denim dress that I know you hated but I still like). When she misses, though, watch out.

I predicted last weekend that we'd be waving farewell to Ricky this week. I think next week will be Sweet P's time to say goodbye, with our final four being Rami, Christian, Chris and Gillian. I don't think Gillian and Rami really deserve to go, though. Neither of them have been particularly imaginative, which is the worst sin on Project Runway (kinda the opposite of Top Chef, where execution generally beats concept). I think they've both gotten lucky in that there's always someone less imaginative, and there's never really anything wwrong with what they do.

Sweet P relies more on luck than anyone on the show, though. Look for it to run out next week.

Marius said...

cb, I'm loving your posts. Seriously, great stuff! Ok, I'm so relieved that Ricky was eliminated. He was the least talented of the bunch. And Sweet P needs to get with the program. I also loved Christian's design. And I agree that he has an impressive sense of high fashion, which is quite impressive when you consider his age.