Dsquared2 Fall 2010 Collection

Everyone's favorite robotic twins put on a show.

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T Lo Interviews: Merle Ginsberg

Our girl Merle opens up about everything.

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Launch My Line: Eric's Collection

Let's send LML to bed by taking a final look at the collection that was all about winding up in bed.

Okay, this is going to be a fairly harsh review, but we want to say first that he seems like a pretty decent guy. There was no drama coming from him and we can't recall him ever saying a bad word about anyone else on the show. That's commendable. We also want to say that there's nothing wrong with a collection of sexariffic club wear in theory.

Okay, that was us being nice. It hurt. Let's move on.










Pause for a moment and reflect on the fact that the judges praised this I Dream of Hooker nightmare of a dress. This is a red carpet dress for the Adult Video Awards. All it needs are lucite heels and about 10 lbs of silicone.



This is a collection of one-button dresses. You know, the kind that fall to the floor after unhooking one strap or button, allowing you to step out of it and get on with business in your thong and fuck-me heels.

There's no greater criticism of the judges on this show than merely pointing out that this designer made it all the way to the end and even when they eliminated him, they gushed over his collection. Look, we hate to make unfair Project Runway comparisons, but Michael Kors would have been on the floor laughing his ass off at this collection and Nina would be off somewhere vomiting. Even Heidi would think some of these looks were a bit much.

Like we said, we have no problem with a collection that's all about sexy club wear. What we do have a problem with is how tacky and unimaginative all of it is. We don't exactly love, say, Baby Phat, but that's a design collection that plays in the same sandbox as this one and yet you can watch a Baby Phat runway show and not think the models are all walking petri dishes of venereal disease (Sorry, Amanda! We love you!). There's nothing fun about this kind of sexiness; nothing that starts from the point of the woman wearing the dress, instead of the man looking at the woman wearing the dress. That's why it's so easy to throw around words like "hooker" and "stripper" when talking about these looks. These aren't the dresses of women loving themselves and loving their bodies and having fun with their sexiness. These are the dresses of women who need attention from men when they go out, otherwise there's no point in going out.

[Photos: Trae Patton/BravoTV.com]


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Launch My Line: Merle's Collection

Time to check in with our girl Merle.

We said that we would have given the win to Merle and we almost talked ourselves out of that when we looked at Kathy's winning collection, but we're nothing if not fickle bitches and now we're swinging back around to the Merle side.

Not to be dismissive, but we've already talked about most of these looks, even if some of them have been altered. Rather than do a look by look rundown, let's just look at the collection as a whole.












Wow. Looking at it all together like this, we're struck by two things: how beautiful this collection is and how cohesive it is. There is only one look we don't like, the track suit, and even then we can admit that it's a pretty good design even if we don't like track suits.

Her color story is good, but she could have used some brighter or more saturated tones to offset all the overwhelming brown-ness. That orange and that pop of pink went a long way.

Here's the thing: judging by their commentary, it would appear that the biggest detriment to her winning the whole thing was her gimmick of making each outfit convertible in some way. We share that point of view with the judges. A gimmick, by its very nature, is going to cast the collection in a particularly down-scale light. Nothing wrong with putting a collection together of salable looks that the average woman could use to expand her wardrobe, but that's not what Merle and Thai did. They went for a particularly upscale aesthetic which forces the question: What woman out there is in the market for a red carpet gown that also converts into a cocktail dress? Answer: there's no such woman.

BUT.

She stated her gimmick with the first outfit and with every subsequent outfit. If the judges didn't think her gimmick was a good idea, they had a half-dozen chances to tell her that and they didn't. In a way, they kind of screwed her over because had the judges criticized her gimmick early, we have no doubt that Merle would have been smart enough to course-correct. She took every judge's criticism to heart and altered the offending garments accordingly. Had she known they didn't like the gimmick, she would have tossed it.

So now we're kind of back to saying that Merle should have won it. We didn't like the gimmick either, but every single one of these garments stands alone without it. That's a testament to both Merle and Thai. There may have been a gimmick involved, but they clearly put all their energy into making beautiful clothing first.

[Photos: Trae Patton/BravoTV.com]


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Launch My Line: Congratulations!

All over but the shouting.

So let's get to the shouting.

The most insanely obvious winner's edit of all time.

We don't have much to say about the finale. Despite our bitching, we do like this show, at least in theory. We're fine with its L.A.-based, retail-centered approach. We don't want a bunch of Project Runway ripoffs in the fashion reality TV pool, so it never bothered us that this isn't PR. We like the concept, liked the cast for the most part and liked more of the challenges than not. It's been a big, cheesy, brightly colored game show and we are absolutely a-ok with all of that.

What bothered us is the sheer inanity of the judging. It got to the point where it was torture having to listen to any of them speak. The two female judges are just as much mirror images of each other as the two male judges and there's really not all that much difference between any of them. It made for a very narrow, and very dull judging panel.

Our first impulse was that Merle should have won and to be honest, we still believe that, but we kind of talked ourselves into Kathy's win when we really sat down and examined it.


This was a knockout dress and she sold the hell out of it. We dig the hem.



She kind of loses us with the overabundance of zebra print. Although we do like the pantsuit and the cocktail dress.

It's all right. The judges made a big deal out of that kimono back and it is nice, to be sure, but we can't help thinking that the materials don't look rich enough for this gown.

We liked it better with the red sash.

Because we really hate that gold and turquoise color combination. This is our least favorite piece.

No complaints here. This is beautiful.

And we like this one too.

To be honest, we think this look was a big factor in her win. As we said, we really liked Merle's collection, but it wasn't without some weak points (which we'll get to later) and it was in some ways, fairly standard, Hollywood glamour with a little bit of NY style.

Kathy's was more unconventional and because of that, it had a stronger point of view. Now, color us surprised that those judges would even consider such a criterion, but we think that may have been it. The use of unusual colors, wild prints, challenging sillhouettes, and her braiding technique all combined to make a collection that definitely gets your attention and easily has some salable potential.

We'll have more on the other collections when we're damn well good and ready, kittens.

[Photos: Trae Patton/BravoTV.com]


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Launch My Line: Episode 7

Alright kittens, let's get down to it.

WANT: This show to be better.
NEED: This show to be over.

Here's an idea. How about instead of stunt-casting the Wonder Twinks, Bravo just reaches back into the pool of talent they helped nurture and use them to host/judge the show? Kara Saun had more interesting things to say, made better connections with the designers, and showed more comfort and ease in front of the cameras than Dan and Dean did the entire season. And think how much time could be saved without the twins having to change their outfits every time the camera sets up? Cast Uncle Nick as the host and get Kara Saun, Jay, and Laura to be the judges. We'd watch the HELL out of that. Wouldn't you?


So congrats, Kathy and Emil, who had to come up with a look that went from company party to a hot night club opening.

I don't know what "company" this chick works for but it's got a pretty lax dress code, wouldn't you say? The jacket's fine but the top is slutastic.

We like the skirt.

But we hate THAT. Gals, answer this: would you wear a flip-up skirt? It's like reversible wrap dresses. Clever, but who the hell would wear that?

Eric and Galina: Religious event to a high society cocktail party

We don't actually hate this. Maybe it's just that it's probably the least offensive look they've put out so far. It's not exactly classy or demur, but it is for those two.

THAT's awful, though.

We like the fabric they chose for the top and we like the idea of a bejeweled collar, but these two elements don't go together as well as they should.

Merle and Thai: Company party to a high society cocktail party

Not a bad entry, all things considered. She should have really had this one in the bag, though.

The jacket's kinda bleh.

But that back is spectacular.

And that hem is weird.

Louanna and Jim: Baby shower to a movie premiere

The judges said that Louanna failed to make a suitable baby-shower-to-movie-premiere outfit. You know why, judges? THERE'S NO SUCH THING. Not that it excuses the weirdness of this design. For one, the colors are pukey. Who wears a shiny white pants suit over a shiny pink blouse? Gross.

For another, there's just way too much volume all over this thing. Volume on the jacket sleeves...

Volume on the blouse...

And volume in the pants. Honey, turn the volume down. Oh wait. They sent you home. Never mind.


[Photos: BravoTV.com/Trae Patton - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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