Audrey Hepburn as "Eliza Doolittle" in My Fair Lady.  (1964)

 

Feeling inspired?

Last night was the premiere of Season 4 Project Runway and I was right there at 10pm glued to the TV set to see what divalicious craziness would ensue.

My initial reaction to the episode:  Why do all the designers seem way overqualified for this show?  Part of the appeal from the earlier seasons for me was the fact that not everyone had garments with their name stitched into them.  They were for the most part just people with a passion for fashion and wanted to see if they really had what it takes to be a fashion designer.  Not so this time.  Everyone seems to be some sort of professional designer, costume designer, model, clothier, or somehow has ties to the fashion industry as their main career.  I was a litle disappointed by that.

The designers:  Surprisingly, no drama in this first episode, but I guess that's good.  Looks like there may be some next week though.  Everyone is extremely confident in their abilities and good natured.  Everyone also seems so over the top.  I liked it better when it was just a handful of colorful characters.  This season looks like they picked the most flamingly artistic guys they could find, and then tossed in a few mildly interesting women to tone it down a bit.  Right then.

The thing is, most of the designers look like remixes of many of the designers from previous seasons.  I've noticed that there is definitely a formula at work here.  Get a really flamboyant type (Austin, Andre, Kayne, Christian), one black person (Kara Saun, Zulema, Michael, Carmen), a foreigner (Vanessa, Kara, Malan, Uli, Rami), an asian and/or latino or both (Mario, Chloe, Stacey, Raymundo, Diana, Lupe, Victorya), throw in a nut or two with a splash of snark (Wendy, Jay, Santino, Daniel F., Laura, Vincent, Kit, Elisa), add some cry babies and a liberal dousing of gayisms and voila!  Project Runway!!  They really should try to surpise us sometimes.

Regarding the challenge and designs:  This was a pretty easy challenge in my opinion.  The garments were really nicely done and looked great which is probably due to the enormous amounts of experience that the designers possess.  Designers whose outfits I really liked: 

                        
Christian                             Jack                                                Chris                                    Rami

And bringing the hate:

                
Simone                                    Elisa                                         Kit

My reaction to Elisa's dress (before Heidi's "poo" comment aired):  "That blue dress looks like she's shitting a rainbow salad" 

Not good.

I predicted that Christian would win and Simone would be out.  I was 1 for 2.  Rami's dress was indeed the most elegant, but I thought his was almost too obvious, but he deserved it.  No real surprises there.  Simone's crappy sew job may have passed in Season 1, but not in this crowd.  Sorry Simone, you're 3 seasons too late!

That said, last night's episode was pretty much drama free by PR standards, although the teaser preview for next week looks like some of the niceness wears off.  I can't wait.  I still say it's going to be hard to top Season 2, but I'm hoping for at least a few new catch phases.

I love Tim Gunn, but "Make it Work" is starting to work my nerves.

...with these:




Ha, ha...gotcha!!!

So what's new in your world?

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I was recently wondering what some of the previous season's contestants of Project Runway were up to when I got my New York Magazine about a week ago with this cover story:

The Near-Fame Experience.

Mr. "I didn't steal the bitch's dye. And that's fo' sho!" himself (Jay McCarroll) claimed he was broke and homeless. Turns out he was stretching the truth a little, but still. Good to see that Santino, Kara Saun, and Nick Verreos is doing well. As much as I hate to admit it, Wendy Pepper seems to be doing okay for herself as well, and judging from the last pics I saw of her, she actually looks good! Man, I hated that bitch on that show! Oh well, it was good entertainment though, even if they will ne-vah e-vah top Season Two.

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Lastly, it took exactly one month, but I finally finished The Deathly Hallows. Needless to say I am experiencing a bit of Post HP withdrawal. Not in the batshit crazy way that you might expect from Harry Potter crazoids, but in a weird reflective almost spiritual puzzle sort of way. Yes, this is/was originally written as a children's series, but I daresay it evolved into so much more. Thinking of the enormous amount of folklore not to mention the spiritual conflicts that the main character faced, this series has left me pondering things about my own beliefs. I have mentioned in previous posts that my father truly believed in fractured souls, symbolism, and the general sophistry of words and events throughout the history of the world. This was long before Voldomort and his horcruxes or the conspiracies of The DaVinci Code. This was him and I talking in the kitchen until the wee hours of the morning about the meaning of life and what awaits in the hereafter.

Take it for what you will, but I can't help but wonder if this single extraordinarily popular literary phenomenon signifies something more than what it may appear to be on the surface. Collective consciousness perhaps? Some other sort of magic? That a single series can capture so many people's hearts and minds, both young and old alike? What is it that people are craving that these books have provided for so many?

Interesting isn't it? I know it's something that I'll be thinking about for years to come.

• Behind the scenes fashion design drama
  
• Queen/Diva breakdowns every week or your money back
  
• Someone will always design some absolute GARBAGE
  
• Michael Kors' snips, barbs, and looks of utter disgust are PRICELESS
  
• Heidi Klum's cool elimination declaration. "Auf Wiedersehen!"