Letters to the Editor
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They were all great, but the wrong person won
For me there was no contest -- Jillian had the most wearable, feminine line. Overall, though, this was the best season of PR and the most incredible finale episode. Bravo to all three designers!
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i'd like this message not to have our name on it
i could not subject my husband, yet less myself to "fierce" much longer. thank god it's over!
there must be a high (or low) bar to qualify as a reality tv show, but one of those standards is to always reward megalomania.
his designs were far from realistic and brought back junior high nightmares of poet sleeves and ruffled fronts. of course everyone thinks they're the shit when they're 21. it's so NEW...unless you crack a book and see that it's been done before.
not to mention that the editing of the show was a dead giveaway that he would win. it was the christian show full of horrible comments to his models not to eat and him spraying his own hair?
i cannot believe that he was the viewer's choice. who watches this? ok, i do, but who actually votes for this?
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Christian's Line
As it went by, I said to my wife, "It's Cavalier versus Big Bird: the Gay Musical."
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. . .
Christian's win is no surprise. They never choose the wearable, commercial designers. Every season there has been that one person who makes it to Bryant Park with a slightly conservative collection, focus on craftsmanship whose designs could easily translate off of the runway (think Kara Saun, Daniel Vosovic, Laura Bennett, Jillian). They present great collections but are tossed off in favor of their more daring competition (Jay McCarroll, Jeffrey, Christian). I think the designs aren't the only things playing a part in the judging. Kara Saun et alia would have an easier time finding work because of their more approachable designs. The only shocker was when Chloe won, but in my opinion that was because Santino was the Jay of the second season and they wanted to reach for someone different(or those fierce Tim Gunn impressions were coming back to bite).
I think that there is kind of a repeating cast of characters: the costumer, the craftsman, the innovator, the longshot, the new ager etc. Though, despite investing blood, tears and TiVo space all season only to have all hopes dashed, I'll still come back for more.
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Fierceness Rules the Runway
Fashion is art. That is what Christian created with every outfit. Dior, LaCroix, Vuitton, Prada, and any other number of world famous designers all make exquisite fantasy runway pieces. Christian's ombre dress and feather gown were exactly in that couture mold. His voluminous coats and cigarette pants are precisely what I would wear if I was a movie star, model, or unbearably rich woman of leisure like ultra-chic Ms. Beckham. Yes, I wish that he would have subtracted one coat/pant ensemble for another short dress or skirt, but each outfit he presented beautifully illustrated the endless variations of his theme.
It will be easy for Christian to edit his designs for retail to a larger market. On the flip side, did anything that Jillian created transcend what you could procure at Macy's? Jillian's clothes were mostly cute and wearable (minus the cut-out front sweater and the pointy-shoulder blazer) but they didn't elicit an emotional response like Christian's did. Rami's gowns certainly qualified as high fashion as they were breathtaking; however, the rest of his designs were heavy and dowdy in horrible colors. A runway collection should take your breath away and that is Christian accomplished. Bravo to the little pixie!
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The "Losers" are the winners
What I don't understand is the false dichotomy on the show between "You get to show at Fashion week" and "You get to show at Fashion week and are in the running for the $100K"
Christian, Sweet Pea, and even Victorya still got to show at Fashion week-- still had the chance to be discovered, and have somebody else give them some money to create a line, get the attention of the fashion world, make connections, and otherwise make a splash in the fashion world.
If that's the big prize, than all 6 of them (and Victorya was like cut a long time ago) are winners.
I like watching the show because I like seeing artists do their work and make stuff-- but I am so un-interested in the pronouncements of Michael Kors and Nina Garcia (and even the contestants) on the fleeting and mercurial concept of "Fashion"
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Aesthetically Infantile Wins
The title says it. Chris March was the most mature and developed, and should have defeated Rami, and Jillian was aesthetically superior to Christian. The fashion world has its own peculiar density.
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beauregarde nails it
Ultimately, runway shows aren't about wearability or commercial appeal. It's about theatre. Art. Drama. It's about getting tongues wagging, jaws dropping. It's about creating an indescribable electricity in the venue.
Overlay that with capitalism and commerce, creating "buzz": pictures in the press. Interviews. He's a larger-than-life personality who is instantly quotable, memorable, unforgettable.
And? A superb craftsman. Craftsboy? CraftSprite?
Christian delivered. In spades.
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spoiled long ago
Christian should have been "auffed" weeks ago, when he designed that *monstrous* prom dress and threw a high school girl under the bus instead of owning up to his "hot trannie mess."
The fact that he didn't (and the fact that the judges were consistently "wowed" by his big shoulder pads, bolero jackets, and retro-80's Biker Chic week after week after week) clued me in.
That said, I'd rather look at his collection than Sweet P's, or Victorya's, or Ricki's.
But I was rooting for Jillian. Christian made "art", but Jillian created "fashion".
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Runway and Top Chef
These two shows make the most of the otherwise questionable invention of reality TV. For once our natural voyeurism is directed at something worthy of the attention.
There is nothing more depressing to me than watching the audition shows for American Idol (I swore off after one season). It's not so much the way it mocks talentless people. It's the pathos of seeing how seriously young people with no real future really believe in the American myth of self-invention. They don't want drab lives, music makes them feel alive, so the only way they can imagine color, attention, and energy in their lives is via pop music stardom; all they have to do is "believe in themselves." A big fat lie.
So I love the fact that those thousands might be watching Runway or Top Chef and seeing that there is creativity, purpose, and reward in other avenues. Misfits and rumpled souls of all kinds get to be admired professionals. You have to work your ass off and bring direction and determination to your life, but there is "drama" and art in making food, sewing fabric, and developing skills.