The Sane(-ish) Side of Fashion

You readers all know by now that I love America's Next Top Model. The things I love about it (the crazy photo shoots and the whole "what will Tyra do next" anticipation) keep me watching. The absurd amount of drama that takes place in the model's house, on the other hand, I do NOT love. It's just mean girls that don't know how to get along, fighting for an hour every Wednesday. But I watch anyway, because of the reasons I mentioned above. So when I heard all the buzz about Project Runway, I ignored it because I figured it would be like ANTM, only without the crazy. Boring. But, after seeing it mentioned a few times in both Rachel K. and Angela's blogs, I decided it was worth a try, since we seem to have the exact same taste in TV shows. I took advantage of the Project Runway season 4 marathon the Oxygen channel was having last week, and now I'm addicted for life.

Here are the reasons I like the show:

1. Tim Gunn Have you ever seen him interact with other people? He is a fantastic man. His title on the show is "Mentor." He takes that responsibility to heart, and makes everyone around him feel better about themselves. He gives gentle advice to the designers on how their horrible design could improve. (He's always right, by the way. The ones that ignore him get shredded by the judges for the very problems he's pointed out, while the ones that take his advice usually end up in the top 3.) I love it when he steps back from the design, puts his hand on his chin, and just clucks at it for a few seconds. He went on Biggest Loser for a few seasons and helped the contestants find a good look after losing all that weight. He has a gift for helping people look great and feel fabulous.

2. What Could They Possibly Come Up With Next? Now, I've only seen one season, but in that season, they managed to have the designers come up with appropriate clothing for WWE Divas (meaning, very scanty clothes that can be used in a wrestling match--not easy), Prom at a Catholic school, while dealing with the 17-year-old girls that have very strong opinions on the matter, wearable couture made from items chosen at the Hershey's store in Times Square (some of them were quite fabulous), and clothes made from old clothing chosen by women who had lost a lot of weight. One guy had to make everyday wear from a ginormous tacky wedding dress. I think that was his last day on the show. The element of crazy is there, but on a calmer level. And the crazy comes from the contestants while they are all together in a room, sewing like mad and trying to figure out how to get twizzlers to stick on a skirt. It's not the "I'm skinnier than you and my boyfriend is hotter, and who dumped out my Red Bulls" kind of drama. I think this is partly due to the fact that all the contestants are grown-ups.

3. The Sewing Angela, here is my tragic story. When I was 11, I was in 4H sewing. We were supposed to make an item of clothing for the fair. I decided to keep it simple and make an elastic-banded skirt. There is very little you can do to mess up something that has only 2 pieces to it. Somehow, I failed tragically. It was a combination of not being able to sew in a straight line on a machine and putting enough elastic in the waistband to fit a baby elephant. So I ended up with a crooked skirt that fell right off. Oh, and did I mention that we had to model these skirts? Yeah. So when I watch this show and see these people come up with a design, a pattern, and a perfectly sewn item with 24 hours of work total, it's a miracle. Especially when those items have multiple parts to them, or are made out of candy bar wrappers and rolos. Amazing!

4. The Calm Okay. I know I watch ANTM because of Tyra's crazy unpredictability, but I admit, it's refreshing to watch the judges be calm and rational. They sit in their directors chairs, marking their scorecards, and discuss with the designers what went wrong with their designs before they get the boot. Case in point: Rami from season 4 made beautiful dresses, but they were all the same kind of dresses. You could count on him to drape fabric in a Roman toga fashion, whether it be for Prom or for everyday wear. And so, when he did that for the 8th time, and it was coming down to his future at Fashion Week, they told him exactly why they weren't sure he deserved to be there. They were clear, and he took the advice and did an amazing collection for Fashion Week. (I actually liked it better than the winner's.) So there's something to be said for sanity.

As for this season, they are now in LA instead of New York. They had to come up with a red carpet look, whether it be for the VMAs or the Oscars. One poor designer had a complete meltdown, but ended up being a favorite at the end of the day. Another spent hours smocking a dress, and when his model showed up, the measurements she had given him were 6 inches off, and he was stuck with nothing but a collar. (It's nice to know that even models lie a little about their size.) He ended up sewing a piece of almost completely transparent fabric onto the collar, and then onto the model. So basically, she was naked. It was good for him that there was another designer that made a tiny spacesuit dress that was a little on the crazy side. Actually, it looked like something Miss J would wear, so maybe we'll see it in a few weeks when America's Next Short Top Model airs. That designer got the boot instead. I honestly can't remember their names yet. Give me a few weeks and I'll know them. But there you have it. My new favorite obsession.