Project Runway finished up it's fourth season last night by proclaiming Christian,Lord of the Fierce,as the winner. Many of his fans will be pleased and I have to say that while most of his stuff is a little overboard,even for me,the guy is talented and original,to say the least. So,congrats,Christian!
To make life easier,in talking about each designer's collection,I'm choosing two outfits from each one to highlight what I did and didn't like about them. Since Christian won,I'm starting with his(in reverse order of how the designers presented their lines at Fashion Week).
What I liked about Christian's collection was the boldness-the man is totally in love with the look of the runway and while it's not always easy to see the practicality of most of his clothes,the beauty is in the concept more than the details. This ruffled and feathered evening gown is beyond amazing,like someone on the Island of Dr Moreau had gotten some serious fashion sense.
The downside of that is the limited use of color in Christian's line;he relied heavily on black and beige,which was very dull on the eyes after awhile. Also,some of his designs did not showcase the models very well,like this dress that looked like some crepe paper lantern with a belt smooshed in the middle of it to fit the girl.
Christian can make ready to wear items,as we've seen over the course of the show,but obviously he prefers to make clothes for models rather than people(as Rami pointed out during the pre-show prep time). He'll get plenty of work just from that,with Posh Spice(the guest judge for the finale)being first in line there but I hope that he can branch out his style and stretch his ideas to fit more than just the slenderellas of the world.
Jillian had a number of knitwear items in her collection,which were very feminine and flattering to the figure. She also had her usual failsafe of well made jackets that looked smart and snappy and went well with a number of pieces on display. I particularly like the way the sleeves on the upper arm of this jacket were layered which made the tight twirled hem of the skirt that much more fresh and appealing.
Not all of her knits did so well;this french striped top has terrible poodle pom-pom
sleeves that only Cruella De Vil would love. There were alot of preppy,horse riding type of outfits included as well,which is fine but rather limiting in variety.
Jillian shares with Christian a small array of color choices;while she did occasionally throw in some gold or use red as an accent,the majority of her shades were in the darker side of the color wheel. Don't be afraid,guys...go into the bright!
Rami had the best use of color out of the three of them,in my opinion. Michael Kors might've found some of his shades to be too "Brady Bunch" but compared to the gloomy hues of the other two collections,any vivid tone was most welcome. He showcased his attention to texture and details in many of his pieces,creating beautiful woven designs on collars and in the bodices of some of his gowns.
Rami's evening gowns were the strongest parts of his collection,like this stunning creation using 18th century lace that looked timeless. Intricate,polished and poised are the words that come to mind here.
A couple of his dresses did have these caped sleeves,which turned me right off since they made the model look rather boxy on top. I liked Rami's clothes but I didn't really love them,which is probably why he didn't win.
Yes,Rami can make both fanciful and sensible styles but his outlook is rather conservative when it comes to fashion and as we've seen,he finds it very difficult when called upon to step out of his well established comfort zones. Project Runway,from what I've seen,prefers to award the brash and the bold rather than the play it safe types.
Next week begins a brand spanking new season of Top Chef,taking place in Chicago this time around. That should be fun and hopefully,we won't be getting as many fish dishes as we did the last time(enough with the ceviches,already!)and have some hot times ahead of us.
American Idol went all '80s on us this week,and I have to tell you that Danny Noriega is becoming a fan favorite around my household. The kid may be smart mouthed and sassy but one thing he is definitely not is boring(unlike a few other contestants that I'll be getting to in a minute).
There's plenty of cheesy tunes to pick from when it comes to the 1980s and if you're going to go down that road,you gotta have some pizzazz to pull it off. Danny has that and a kitsch factor of 11 in addition to that. Despite Simon's naysaying,I think that Danny's going to make it to the Top 12:
Someone who should not join Danny there is Luke Menard,who again takes home the Sanjaya award for his godawful rendition of "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go". If you're going to perform one of the most embarrassing songs of that decade,atleast buy a damn clue and get a little goofy with it:
DON'T WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO GO
JITTERBUGGING RIGHT INTO MY BRAIN,THANKS ALOT,LUKE!
Oh,and before we finish up with the fellas,one word about the David Hernandez stripper thing:who freaking cares,seriously? If Diablo Cody can be an ex-stripper and an Academy Award winner,then American Idol can certainly have a former male striptease artist as one of their contestants. Personally,I find him to be one of the most boring singers in the line-up-the only reason I even remember his name is because of this stupid hullabaloo over what he used to do for a living!
Over on the girls' side,I'm starting to worry about Brooke. Don't get me wrong,her singing is great yet once again,she took another harshly themed song and turned it into a folky sweet version that suits her best.
I am all for taking a tune that's been previously recorded and making it your own but this is like chewing bubblegum that has lost it's flavor overnight. "Love is a battlefield" is not the most powerful of Pat Benatar's songs but it does have some fury and punch to it. Brooke made it sound as turbulent as a mayonnaise sandwich.
Amanda,the Rock N' Roll Nurse,did much better this week with Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself(For Loving You)" and I would be greatly shocked if she wasn't in the Top 12 tonight,along with Carly Smithson who kicked ass with "I Drove all Night." I don't know why in the world Simon had a problem with it,maybe he's been sipping Paula's soda too much lately:
CAN'T HATE MYSELF FOR LOVING YOU
I'D DRIVE ALL NIGHT TO HEAR CARLY
Random Notes
Dirt: Season two of the sleazy tabloid series started up last Sunday and just like the first season,I wonder why I even care enough to watch this thing. Granted,it's not without some improvement;Courtney Cox's Lucy Spiller character works best in bitch mode and from the plotlines already shown and hinted at,it looks like they're going for more of the "ripped out of the headlines" stuff than the hidden lives of the fictional celebs created for the show.
Well,until I get the rest of the Complete Jane Austen back on PBS,guess I'll be checking into this mess for awhile.
New Amsterdam: Fox has at last debuted this series about an immortal cop seeking his one true love during centuries of life in Manhattan. So far,so good-another episode is on tonight after the AI results show(nice timeslot there,guys!). I don't know how long this show will be on but if it keeps up the good sense of humor that it seems to have already,it may have a shot at staying on the air for awhile:
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