Flashback Friday - The Fashion Show Postmortem

This post was originally published on the blog Blogging Bravo on July 30, 2009.
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The Fashion Show Postmortem

I used to write for Blogging Bravo, and one of the shows I covered there was one of Bravo's attempts at replacing Project Runway. Called "The Fashion Show," it wasn't bad, yet it wasn't particularly good, either.


The first season of The Fashion Show ended a week ago today; it's about time to take a look back and tear it apart make a critical assessment. A postmortem, if you will.

The show had both good and bad points. While I think we all were expecting it to be a real replacement for Project Runway, sadly, The Fashion Show did not deliver. Not that it was a bad show - I think if we didn't make comparisons to that other show, it could have seemed pretty fabulous. It gave us a bunch of talented up-and-coming designers, showing off their design skills while vying for both a cash prize and national recognition. But somehow it didn't seem to rouse the same passion in the viewer, didn't make us fall in love (or hate) with any one designer in particular. From what I can tell, it evoked a lot of general ennui. And some downright dislike.

What I Liked:

...Isaac Mizrahi being involved with the show, and the influential and knowledgeable Fern Mallis as judge.

...having a "quickfire"-type mini challenge and an elimination challenge.

...the home audience choosing the winner - as Issac says in the intro, TFS is about "real fashion for real people" and who is more real than those of us watching?

...the winning outfit available for purchase.

That's a pretty short list.

What I Disliked:

...Isaac Mizrahi as judge. While we like him in general and enjoyed watching him on his own show, he came off as a bit catty - ok, bitchy - on TFS. This is a man with a wealth of knowledge about the fashion industry and he could have been an enormous help to the designers as a mentor.

While we're on the subject of catty, I wasn't that crazy about the little conversations Isaac and Kelly would pretend to have after paying a visit to the designers in mid-process. "OMG! did you see that?" seems more appropriate coming from the NYC Prep kids than from professionals in the fashion industry. Well, Kelly isn't a professional, which brings us to...

...why Kelly Rowland? Because she sat in the front row at fashion shows? Wow, that makes me just as qualified! I think it would be fine if she were merely the hostess, but she is also a judge. I consider her neither a fashion professional nor a "real person" (she's a celebrity). I don't dislike Kelly, but I don't find her to be of much use to the show in general.

...while I did like the two-challenge-per-episode format, the time spent on the first challenge took away from time that could have been spent watching the designers interacting. Other than the bitchery between Daniella and Reco, we didn't get to see much of the designers' personalities, or how they bonded, something we're all used to on shows like PR and Top Chef. Face it - human interaction is part of the "reality" in a reality show.

...the overall look of the show was a bit drab and depressing. The workroom seemed gray, and was it really always night outside the windows? The lighting on the runway was also somehow off. The judging room was positively funereal.

...the cute catchphrases the Isaac and Kelly used when they cut a competitor. On Project Runway, Heidi's "auf wiedersehen" is natural - it means farewell, or until we meet again, in German. Heidi is German. Makes perfect sense. Every show now has to have its own version, and most are cheeseball. TFS is no exception, "we're not buying it" - ugh. And if that's not bad enough, Kelly has to say to the penultimate loser, "you're hanging by a thread." Or does she say...

That's what it sounds like to me.

Those are some of my thoughts. I also, for the most part, agree with Tom & Lorenzo's "Mid-Term Report." They have really contemplated the show and give some fabulous suggestions on improving things.

So what do you like and dislike about The Fashion Show? Do you want to see it come back for a second season? Would you make changes? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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The Fashion Show Ultimate Collection

Tonight is the season 2 premiere of Bravo's answer to Project Runway, The Fashion Show. TFS has been rebooted with a new hostess in the form of the rather intimidating Iman, and a new 2-team structure. But will it be better this time around? Watch tonight and find out.

Michael Kors Fall 2010 Video

The Fashion Show Postmortem

I wrote up a postmortem of The Fashion Show at Blogging Bravo. Please go read and leave a comment with your opinions of the show.

A Trip to NY

I made a quick trip to NY last week in order to attend Bravo's The Fashion Show finale taping.

Merlin Castell being ushered into a white van after the show. No, it's not a van to the crazy house. At least I don't think it is...Johnny R was in there, too.

Of course I manage to squeeze in a few other fun things: a sniffing tour of the new goodies at Bergdorf and Saks; dinner at Otto with Laura K, David Dust, and the fabulous Roz;

(A white van, usually used to herd reality-show competitors from place to place, in front of Parsons. David and I snooped around but didn't catch Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, or anyone who appeared to be a Project Runway Season 7 designer. Rats.)

lunch at Fraunces Tavern after the TFS show with Laura, Roz, The Scarlett, Nancy T, and Malan Breton; and shopping with Laura, Scar, and Malan.

Malan took us to Jeffrey, in the Meatpacking District. The store is a mecca for fabulous shoes, including Manolos, Louboutins, Gucci, Dior, Prada, etc.

I have no place to wear such shoes, so after trying on a few pair, I wandered over to the fragrance and cosmetic area at the front of the store, home to brands like L'Artisan Parfumeur, Chanel, and Comme des Garçons. I found a lone bottle of Six Scents No. 4 Gareth Pugh and snatched it up - I had been contemplating its purchase for a few weeks now and couldn't resist. As the Chanel rep applied some new eye and lip colors on me, we chatted about The Fashion Show and the Real Whoreswives of New Jersey. I don't watch that show (nor any of the Whoreswives) but I had seen the second part of the reunion and at least knew who the hated Danielle was. Plus she was at the TFS taping that morning, not surprisingly segregated from the rest of the Whores.

After Jeffrey, we wandered down the street to the Matthew Williamson store. His stuff is so gorgeous! Here are examples of his wares for sale, the first from Fall '09 and the second from Summer '09 collections.

Despite the fashionable fun, I was glad to get home to my darling hubby....

The Fashion Show - Episode Three

Again no Bravo recaps, so I did what I could.

No time is wasted this week in getting to the Harper's Bazaar Mini-Challenge. Laura Brown comes out and the designers all pretend they're pleased to see her. She tells them as a successful designer, they need to know how to sew. Johnny and Haven immediately feel nauseated. The challenge this week is a sewing relay in four parts: 1) fix a shoulder pad; 2) sew on missing buttons; 3) repair a zipper; 4) hem a skirt. The team to complete the most tasks in 35 minutes wins, and the designer who completes his or her leg of the race the best wins this challenge and immunity from elimination in the next.

For some reason, the designers have to do all of it on the floor.

And...they are in the same teams as in the last two weeks.  John-Paul-George-Ringo's team wins, and Lidia gets immunity.  Mehrleen then says something about "dey unwesterwestermate our qualeetee." 

After this, each team gets to appoint a new leader: Lidia, Daniella, and Reco. 

Just really lucky, I suppose.

The Elimination Challenge is then announced: each team must design coats for the four seasons, each with its own unique functionality.  And the four coats per team must form a cohesive collection. The designers get together to pick seasons and discuss themes.  Reco has decided on "Aeon Flux." Or, as he puts it to Isaac, "a modern day excursion to Mars." He thinks he's completely brilliant.

After a cursory trip to the fabric store, the designers get to work. Because Reco Not-So-Suave has to work with a bunch of Can't Sew Morons, he opts to make their patterns so he can gloat about his immense talent.

Somehow Johnny doesn't think that sewing skills are all that important. "This competition isn't strictly based on sewing," he whines.

It might be more entertaing if it were.

Time for a visit from Isaac and Kelly!

By the looks they get as they enter the room, it's easy to see they are fast becoming every designer's favorite. Doesn't Haven look distressed?

They visit Andrew first, and he tells them about his short jacket that has a hem that magically gets longer when it rains.

They don't seem impressed. Kelly suggests that he's been playing it safe, and Andrew claims he'll work on the concept to make it more interesting.  The Terrible Two then move on to their next victim.

James-Paul tells them his grandiose plans:

Wait - the Puffy Coat. Didn't Norma Kamali invent that hideous thing decades ago?  

After Isaac and Kelly leave, Daniella tells Andrew that he has to push the envelope and make the coat more extreme. If it gets longer, make it very long.  

When the models come in for their fitting, Reco takes the opportunity to tell us that Markus has a "good sense of style, but his execution is a negative 10." Nice to talk about your teammates that way, Reek.

Finally the sewing is done and the show must go on. The whole time, Reco obnoxiously tells everyone how much better he is than they.

As if to prove the point, Angel's zipper breaks and she is not allowed enough time to fix it before the models are gathered to go out.

Sad, when a model can't figure out a zipper, huh?

When James-Paul's sleeping bag coat comes out, Fern Mallis remarks to Isaac, "it has a casket-y feel that makes me uncomfortable." To which Isaac replies, "oh, I'm into caskets."  WTF? TMI!

Back in the Room of Doom, Kelly and Isaac are with Fern and Puffy Coat Queen Norma Kamali. Isaac tells the designers they did well overall this week, which was kinda shocking coming from him, especially considering all the eyerolling and smirking he did during his visit to the workroom earlier in the show.

Lidia's team is safe and goes to sit on the side. Daniella's team is given the win, which makes Reco's team the losers. Anna's coat - which is gorge - and Andrew's are the top two. Daniella tries to take credit for his design, being that she did give him lots of ideas and instruction, plus chose the fabric. Norma admonishes her, however, saying that a design director often doesn't get credit and that Daniella should have kept her big mouth shut. And maybe to spite her, they give Andrew the win.

Out of team Loser, they loved Reco's Martian snowsuit. An audience member had even called it "wearable" which was ridiculous.  It's a jumpsuit, people. As outerwear. Fine for 5 year-olds, but not so practical for an adult. But they couldn't give a prize to the best look on the losing team so they just went on to ridicule the other designers. Haven, whose coat was called a "hairdresser's smock with Mickey Mouse ears" was in the bottom two, along with Markus, whose coat exhibited some shoddy workmanship.  Isaac said they were worried he was more of a dreamer than a designer, and that Haven posessed more skills than she thought she had but lacked confidence. And lacking confidence was not as great a sin as being a dreamer, so Markus was given the boot.

And that's all folks. I can't do this anymore. No recap next week. Or the week after. Rinse and repeat.

The Fashion Show, Episode Two

For some reason, Bravo hasn't been putting up recaps of episodes on their site anymore. Last week I had a full episode to screen cap, but this week I only have 3 of the 4 previews (one has suddenly disappeared) and stills, so this is going to be short and sweet. Ok, probably not sweet.

At least we get one brief shot of naked male torso. Even if does belong to the PantyChrist.

And, right off the bat, Kristen packs her organic pickled-beet-juice hair dye and heads out of town with tears in her eyes. Apparently the harsh words from Isaac after the previous Elimination Challenge really upset the poor young thing. He was pretty mean, wondering if she should even be in the fashion industry after the outfit she put on the runway. Seriously, he was over-reacting. It wasn't that hideous - we've seen far worse on Project Runway. (Think Vincent Libretti. He produced week after week of dreck, yet someone else always got eliminated.)

Bye Kristen/Kristen (how is it spelled? - Bravo has done it both ways.) You've got a whole life ahead of you. Might want to work on growing some thicker skin though--Isaac isn't the only harsh critic you will find out there.

The designers gather in the workroom where Isaac and Kelly lie in wait with some fabulous news:

They couldn't find anther black velvet bag like the one Heidi uses, so they have decided to skip the whole picking teams thing each week. Keith has a problem with this situation.

Because Jean-Paul Jean-Georges Paul Michael Glaser James Earl Jones James-Paul won last week's Elimination challenge, it's up to him to choose one member from either his team or Mehrleen's team and donate him or her to Keith. He chooses to move Daniella, which makes both her and Mehrleen very hoppy.

(I almost understood the red jumpsuit and cape from the first episode, but WTF is Mehrleen wearing this week? A dorky fleece hat with earflaps, one of my Grandma's Polish table schmattes and something his own Mama knitted for him?)

For the Harpers Bazaar Mini-Challenge, Laura Brown comes out to smirk at the designers. She also tells them this challenge is about wearability and saleability. Each team gets a box of clothing containing both high-end and affordable items. The team must sort through the garments and correctly separate the pricey from the cheap, dressing their forms in the corresponding outfits.

Team Tubedress, you are the next contestants on the Price is Right! Come on down! After a couple of tries, they got their outfits correctly arranged in 7 minutes and 29 seconds. Team Harem Pants sucked at the challenge and took nearly twice as long to complete the task. Team Bolero wins in a mere 3 minutes and 47 seconds.

Next up is the Elimination Challenge. But first, the teams must each pick a new Team Leader. James-Paul becomes leader of Team Bolero; Team Tube Dress chooses Anna (who? oh yeah, the girl who looks like she needs to sleep for about a week), and Team Harem Pants chooses Haven.

Isaac has really missed his calling. He should have become a conductor instead of a fashion designer. He announces the challenge:

Ooh...a socialite! Well, someone has to spend daddy's money and keep designers in business! And the socialite du jour is Tinsley Mortimer. Which is almost as ridiculous a name as Mortimer Snerd. She is, however, slightly better looking than said Snerd. At least she's experienced higher-quality dental care.

This poor pitiful waif has soooo many party invitations, she doesn't know what to do! So instead of opting to send a check while staying home in her pajamas to catch up on her reading (like, books, not, like, fashion magazines), she has decided to attend every damn function. And of course she has *nothing* to wear to any of them! Pardon me while I search for that tiny violin....

Not only do the designers have to come up with appropriate outfits for Mrs Topper Mortimer (Gad, these names make me want to slit my wrists; don't rich people have anything better to do than make up cutesy names for their children?) they also have to create an appropriate hairdo for each outfit.

Wow - bleached blond hair as a signature. How novel. Why hasn't anyone else ever thought of that? Judging from the many photos of Mrs Mortimer on the Web, she wears her hair down most of the time; sometimes it's wavy and sometimes it's straight, but she never combs enough of it over her face to obscure it. And what's with the raccoon eyes?

Anyway, that's the challenge - design a head-to-toe look, hair and all. For less than $40. Yes, that sends some designers into a tizzy.

Because James-Paul's team won the mini-challenge, they each get $50 to spend. Wow - some advantage.

The teams then discuss their collections. Tinsley gave no indication of what she is looking for, so the designers have to pretty much make things up. On team James-Paul:

J-P then goes on to say that stealth fighters were "new." Kiddo, they were around since the 80s. Probably before you were born. However perplexed she might be, Angel takes the theme literally and decides to make paper airplanes to affix on her dress.

Anna Needs-Sleep wants her team to pay attention to detail, knowing that the low budget won't pay for luxe fabrics. Smart gal.

And Haven wants her team to go with her favorite look - Linda Evans, circa 1980s. Dynasty. (Ok, maybe stealth fighters are newer than Linda Evans.) At the fabric shop, team-mate Laura wants to buy some bright red tulle, but the others shoot her down. She buys it anyway, much to Haven's chagrin.

She thinks they're ganging up on her and they're not articulating why they don't like the red. If all of your teammates hate the red, honey, then there's no need to give an explanation. It's four against one. 

Meanwhile, that's not the only issue that Team Haven is having. Johnny admits that he finds sewing difficult. 

And Reco complains that "Markus, he don't have one piece made." 

Regardless, it's time for the designers and models to head to the TRESemmé Product Placement Lounge to discuss hair with Jeanie Syfu of the weirdly-cut bangs.

Isaac and Kelly then pay the designers a visit. Mentors, they ain't. Bitches, they is.

Afterwards, they make like high school girls and go into the hall to talk about the designers behind their backs.

Finally, we have a Fashion Show. Team J-P has a pretty coherent collection. Team Haven has a nightmare. Team Anna looks pretty good.

Backstage during the show, Reco brings up his issues with Laura and her red tulle, which she used against the group's collective wishes. 

But even without it, her dress looked like hell. See for yourself.

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

Laura still didn't understand that her team did not want her to use the tulle.

Although Reco's main concern, apart from Laura's blatant disobedience, seemed to be that her use of that particular fabric would cause disharmony in the total look of the collection, I felt that there wasn't much cohesiveness there to begin with. 

After the show, they gather again for judging. Fern Mallis and the Socialite join Isaac and Kelly.

Anna's team was declared the winner, with the top two looks belonging to Anna and Daniella. And Daniella's rock-and-roll party look was deemed the winner. Funny, I distinctly remember Isaac and Kelly making fun of her outfit during Sneerfest....

Not bad. Not great, but not bad. And a version of it is on sale at Bravotv.com.

J-P's team is safe. Which leaves Haven's team as the big losers. Markus' unflattering outfit put him on the line, along with Johnny's Can't-Sew's safety-pinned together creation, and Laura's red tulle disaster.

Johnny was defensive over his "no more wire safety pins!" criticism and suggested that he be sent home. This infuriated Isaac who had a hissy fit and had to be given a paper bag to breathe into so he wouldn't faint away from sheer bitchiness. 

In the end, however, it was Laura who was given the boot. Her dress was simply hideous, tulle or no.  And her pink eyeshadow creeped everyone out.

Next week: More fashion! More sneering! 

The Fashion Show - Tonight!

Here are a couple of previews....

The Fashion Show, Episode One

A virtual clone of Project Runway, The Fashion Show also gives us both quirky and boring designers, fashion, and a whole lotta drama.

Episode 1 starts with an introduction of the designers, starting with young Kristin, who is rocking the headband.

We then meet James-Paul, who's decked himself out in fauxriental style, complete with wooden platform geta.

Like Christian, James-Paul also worked for Vivienne Westwood. That makes him edgy. Or fierce.

I was surprised to find that the next contestant is male. Not that he looks like a woman so much as the Lady in Red.

He also resembles the late, great....

That looks a lot like the hat that I got from the Enchanted Forest when I was 10. But mine only had one feather. And I probably looked more manly in it.

So. Merlin. Like the magician.

Next up is Reco Not-So-Suave, greatly resembling one of Fat Albert's gang. He started out designing for strippers. Not that they wear much.

I'm noticing several look-a-likes on the show. Is it me?

Johnny R. has an ego problem. It's so big, he's had to build an annex of hair to hold it all.

Gag.

This dude didn't get an introductory confidential, which means he's boring.

There appear to be several other boring contestants, including a bunch of conservatively-dressed brunette girls who look alike. Hmm...didn't one of those win Project Runway last time?

Jonny, a menswear designer, was too busy admiring his crotch to talk much to the camera.

Speaking of crotches, Andrew is an underwear designer who claims he's known as the "Panty Christ." Wonder if he's responsible for this "redneck tanktop?"

Kristin sums it up nicely.

Once all of the designers are gathered in the workroom, Isaac Mizrahi and his co-host enter.

A member of Destiny's Child? What, there were no aging supermodels available? Cindy Crawford is doing infomercials for skin care products - she seems desperate enough for a hosting gig. Anyway, nothing against Kelly Rowland - she clearly has better fashion sense than her pal Beyoncé - I just think it's an odd choice.

Isaac and Kelly (not to be confused with Regis and Kelly in any way) reveal the ultimate prize: 4 designers will be showing full collections in the finale, competing for a $125,000 cash prize from the lovely folks at TRESemmé. "Versions of" winning pieces will be available for sale at Bravotv.com.

They also announce that there will be a Mini Challenge every week. This week's Harper's Bazaar Mini Challenge is to design a little black dress - in one hour. Isaac then whips off the item he was wearing around his neck to reveal - a basic black t-shirt, which will be the basis for the LBDs.

The designers get to work.

Oddly, Merlin takes his white boots, puts them on a table, then rushes away.

After an hour, Laura Brown from Harper's Bazaar is brought out to rip apart the designs. She's fabulously snarky.

Finally she picks three that she likes: Merlin's, Keith's, and Johnny R's (even though she earlier said his shoulder pad detail was like a built-in airbag for accident protection). Now these three will become team leaders for the Elimination Challenge. And because they don't know everyone yet, they choose teams by dress, not dressmaker.

The challenge is rather complicated. Each team determines a "must-have" wardrobe item which each of the five team members need to duplicate, in addition to creating other separates to work with the "must-have." AND - all five team members' additional pieces must form a cohesive collection. Whew! Got that? I'm still not sure I do.

Everyone is full of ideas. Bad ones. Johnny talks his team into doing ugly gray satin "harem pants." But Reco recognizes them for what they really are:

Team Keith decides to make a reversable stretch wool pencil skirt that can be worn as a skirt or a short dress. Almost seems like a good idea, doesn't it?

Team Merlin decides on a bolero jacket, which he wants to make "yunk and fresh." So Daniella insists that it be navy. 

 
At the fabric store, Merlin decides to gather his team together to choose another color. But Daniella is such a pushy bitch, navy wins out.

Back in the workroom, Merlin is not happy with the cut of the jacket. It's too uniformy and old-ladyish for him, so he starts acting as bitchy as Daniella.

Finally, Merlin decides to take things in his own hands and crops his jacket, so all of his teammates have to follow suit. This makes Daniella upset.

Meanwhile, over on Team Ugly Gray Satin Harem Pants, Haven is having issues.

And on Team Pencil Skirt:

So...basically you're reinventing Spanx. Which inhibit curves. But you're probably not much into women in general, right, so you don't know from curves.

With a few hours left to finish, Isaac and Kelly come in to offer advice...

...and to laugh at the designers' hard work.

They are creating looks for day, for evening wear, for formal wear, etc. When asked about his look, Merlin gave the cryptic answer...

Isaac then realized he meant "after 5." They then went on to Team Too-Tight Skirt and told them...that the skirt was too tight.

Finally, the sewing is done. The next morning the gang gets ready to head to the runway. Once there, models suddenly appear (this is not a contest for them, apparently) and are hurriedly sent through hair and makeup and are dressed.

[add product placement here]

[end product placement]

Surprise! Jonny's Spanx-like skirt proves to be too tight. But he manages to pull the thing up, completely hobbling the poor model.

Unlike Project Runway, where the runway show takes place in a cavernous and mostly empty room with only a handful of viewers, The Fashion Show is a real fashion show.

The audience is full of miscellaneous buyers and designers and other luminaries of the fashion world.

As the show begins, the designers must watch from backstage...

...and the judges chat amongst themselves during the show.

Afterward, the cameras turn to a couple of audience members for their opinions.

Then comes judging. Kelly and Isaac join forces with Fern Mallis and Elie Tahari and offer their opinions on the designers' presentation. It was cutting, but honest.

Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh!

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Ouch!

Team Ugly Gray Satin Harem Pants didn't offend anyone too much, so they were declared safe. Merlin's Team No! Not Navy! won the challenge. The two favorite outfits from this team were Merlin's "5 and up" and James-Paul's dress made up of a series of squares and rectangles. Ultimately, James-Paul won. A "version" of his dress is for sale at Bravotv.com

Team Too-Tight Skirt is the losing team, which means that one teammate will be eliminated from the competition. It's down to Kristin and her flowy white nightgown-like thingy and Jonny's Spanx.

Kelly lets loose with a barrage of unkind comments, supposedly from the audience.

And then the verdict was delivered. Although Kristin was "hanging by a thread" she survived to sew another day. Alas, Jonny did not. And Isaac gets to deliver his signature dismissal for the first time:

Next week: Daniella is bitchy! Everybody cries!