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Saturday, August 2, 2008

Gettin' Bizet and Lookin' Sloppy


Chicken alert.

Bravo's certainly packing the show with man meat this year, aren't they? We can't say we disapprove.


This dress got a lot of compliments among the viewership, it seems. We are forced once again to ask if we were all watching the same show.


It's not that we hate it or anything. It's not ugly - in fact, Lorenzo thinks it's quite pretty - and it's for the most part, well made.


It's just kinda boring with a side of tacky.

Let's break it down, shall we?


We really like those colors together. We admit, we're suckers for tone on tone. It's also a well-constructed dress. It fits her well and we like the proportions (for the most part).


The detail on the bust is pretty and she was beautifully styled. A+ for presentation.

This concludes the nitty portion of our program. Moving on to the gritty...


This is supposed to be a "night on the town" dress. Question: What the hell town does she live in? Does it have bullfighters?


Was it National Ruffle Week and no one told us? Apparently, to this lot of designers, New York can be summed up by giant flounces.


It's not just that it's so prominent that it looks like it's eating the rest of the dress, it's that the fabric he used for it is too shiny and actually looks a little cheap. And as a design element, it's more appropriate for a Carmen costume than a "night on the town" dress.


Dress good. Make woman pretty.


Or, y'know...not.

Accuse us of giving our lust object a free ride if you want (although we did say last week's dress looked like a coffin liner), but on second and third glance, this wasn't as bad as we thought, at least in design terms.


It wasn't a bad starting point for a concept. A dress based on the idea of faded and discarded pieces of paper could have been interesting and even pretty.


The problem was in how the concept was realized. To start, he made really bad fabric choices. There is not one print in there that has any visual impact or even interest.


We realize the inspiration was a faded and weathered magazine, but he needed to find a way to make those elements pretty and in this case, he went a little too literal. She looks rained on and washed out. This needed at least a hint of bolder graphic elements peeking out.


Tim was spot on when he raised fit as an issue with this design. Unfortunately, Keith didn't appear to listen, since the dress came off somewhat shapeless. On the other hand, his model dropped out unexpectedly and fit would be the exact issue impacted the most by that.


We also didn't agree with the choice to make it look like dangling sheets of paper.


Layers, yes. Floaty, dangly slips of paper that look like a parade costume? No. As always, Nina put it best.


"It's not polished, the effect is sloppy when it should be more together. Maybe it has to do with the hem --"


"But that's my point of view."


"Honey, don't interrupt when Nina's talking, alright? Nina's the one with the scorecard, got that? You think you can just cut me off at the knees like that? Like some sort of editorial assistant? You think I don't still have power? I have power, kid. Say it."


"You have power, Nina."


"Yes. Now, if you had made the hem more even..."


More detailed pictures:



[Photos: Bravo/Barbara Nitke - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]
[Additional Pictures: Courtesy of ProjectRunway.com]

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